Hi Gunter:

An update clarifying that the extended mobility behavior requires all PEs
to implement RFC9721 is much appreciated. I do not mind the erratum being
rejected in favor of a more verbose update to the RFC.

Thanks
Anand

On Wed, Aug 5, 2026 at 4:27 AM Gunter van de Velde (Nokia) <
[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Thanks, Anand.
>
> I agree that the sequence of events identifies a limitation in a mixed RFC
> 7432/RFC 9721 deployment. RFC 7432 assigns mobility sequence numbers per
> MAC address, so a legacy PE learning IPx-Mx is not required to make the Mx
> sequence number higher than the sequence number previously advertised for
> IPx-My. RFC 9721 Section 6.1 adds that requirement, but an RFC 7432-only PE
> naturally does not implement it.
>
> I do not think this establishes that RFC 9721 is backward incompatible,
> however. The example exercises the new IP-to-different-MAC mobility
> behavior at a legacy PE, which RFC 7432 never specified. Lack of the new
> behavior in an old implementation is not, by itself, backward
> incompatibility. The existing route encoding remains usable, and the
> previously supported mobility behavior continues to interoperate. The
> proposed corrected text therefore overstates the issue.
>
> My recommendation is to reject this erratum as submitted. A future update
> could usefully clarify that the extended mobility behavior requires the
> relevant PEs to implement RFC 9721.
>
> Before I proceed to reject this erratum, is there additional feedback from
> BESS WG?
>
> G/
>
> ------------------------------
> *From:* [email protected] <[email protected]>
> *Sent:* Thursday, June 11, 2026 8:04 PM
> *To:* [email protected] <[email protected]>;
> [email protected] <[email protected]>; Jorge Rabadan (Nokia) <
> [email protected]>; Gunter van de Velde (Nokia) <
> [email protected]>; [email protected] <
> [email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>;
> [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <
> [email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>;
> gunter <[email protected]>; [email protected] <[email protected]>
> *Cc:* [email protected] <[email protected]>;
> [email protected] <[email protected]>; [email protected] <
> [email protected]>
> *Subject:* [Technical Errata Reported] RFC9721 (9001)
>
>
> CAUTION: This is an external email. Please be very careful when clicking
> links or opening attachments. See the URL nok.it/ext for additional
> information.
>
>
>
> The following errata report has been submitted for RFC9721,
> "Extended Mobility Procedures for Ethernet VPN Integrated Routing and
> Bridging (EVPN-IRB)"
>
> --------------------------------------
> You may review the report below and at:
> https://errata.rfc-editor.org/eid9001/
>
> --------------------------------------
> Type: Technical
> Reported by: Anand Narayanan <[email protected]>
>
> Section Abstract says:
>
> Original Text
> -------------
> The extensions are backward compatible with existing EVPN-IRB
> implementations and aim to optimize network performance in scenarios
> involving frequent IP address mobility.
>
> Corrected Text
> --------------
> The extensions while backwards incompatible, allow EVPN-IRB
> implementations to deterministically handle scenarios involving frequent IP
> address mobility
>
> Notes
> -----
> The mobility procedures defined in RFC9721 does not seem backwards
> compatible with the procedures defined in RFC7432.
>
> Example:
>
> Premise:
>
> 1. An RFC7432 speaker has MAC Mx with sequence number = 1
> 2. An RFC9721 speaker has MAC My with sequence number = 2
>
> Sequence of Events:
>
> 1. The RFC9721 speaker learns a local ARP for IPx-My, and advertised
> MAC-IP route with sequence number 2
> 2. IPx moves to be behind RFC7432 speaker
> 3. RFC7432 speaker would simply advertise IPx-Mx with sequence number 1
> 4. When RFC9721 speaker receives the MAC-IP route advertised by RFC7432
> for IPx-Mx, it will be unable to remove it's local ARP binding because the
> remote route has an inferior sequence number.
>
> This makes the schemes not compatible with each other.
>
> Instructions:
> -------------
> This erratum is currently posted as "Reported". Please
> use "Reply All" to discuss whether it should be verified or
> rejected. When a decision is reached, the verifying party
> will log in to change the status and edit the report, if necessary.
>
> --------------------------------------
> RFC9721 (draft-ietf-bess-evpn-irb-extended-mobility)
> --------------------------------------
> Title               : Extended Mobility Procedures for Ethernet VPN
> Integrated Routing and Bridging (EVPN-IRB)
> Publication Date    : April 2025
> Author(s)           : N. Malhotra, Ed., A. Sajassi, A. Pattekar, J.
> Rabadan, A. Lingala, J. Drake
> Category            : Proposed Standard
> Source              : bess (rtg)
> Stream              : IETF
> Verifying Party     : IESG
>
_______________________________________________
BESS mailing list -- [email protected]
To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected]

Reply via email to