On Thu, 30 Aug 2001, Brian E Carpenter wrote:
> I think this is a terrible idea for several reasons.
>
> 1) MPLS is not a global solution - if it survives at all in the long
> term, it will be limited to the core of large networks - and there is
> therefore no real reason to drag its complex mechanisms up into the
> simple IP layer. In particular we have IP-in-IP tunnel mechanisms,
> so the complex extension header replacing the S bit is unnecessary.
I agree.
The whole draft (and some say, MPLS itself, but let's not start a fight
here) appears to be built very heavily on the assumption that MPLS is
_the_ answer to IPv4 VPN, TE, etc. needs.
Instead of looking into how these could be done better, natively in IPv6
(there's one 20 bits under discussion right now..:), it's assumed that
MPLS infrastructure is still the answer, is required for these to be
accomplished, and needs to be more tightly integrated with IPv6.
MPLS may or may not be useful with IPv6, but I think at this point keeping
MPLS transparent wrt IP header is definitely the right way to go. At this
point, it's important to have a standard for transporting IPv6 in MPLS
networks, nothing else.
One particular point:
---
Some advantages of IPngLS, i.e. the integration of MPLS and IPv6,
are:
1. Descrease of complexity: It eliminates an extra header in the
system. In fact, there is no reason to use a new header if the
original one can fulfill all the tasks.
---
I'm sure there are a lot of ways one can revise IP headers to make MPLS
implementation less complex, but that doesn't mean the overall complexity
(or IP header complexity, which way more important) is decreased...
--
Pekka Savola "Tell me of difficulties surmounted,
Netcore Oy not those you stumble over and fall"
Systems. Networks. Security. -- Robert Jordan: A Crown of Swords
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