Erik Nordmark writes: > The VNIC abstraction makes it a lot more natural to expose the NICs > characteristics and capabilities (hardware checksum, LSO, etc) to the > domUs, than the current Linux approach of using a bridge to connect the > domUs to the NICs.
Right; I agree with that. If that's the purpose of using bridges in Xen/LDOMs, then real 802-type bridges aren't what you want, and the VNIC abstraction is what you need. If the purpose is just to create a separate OS instance to run the bridging software (because you don't trust the daemons, perhaps), then running this new feature in Xen or an LDOM makes more sense. For what it's worth, this bridging project is about constructing 802-type bridges with Solaris, which means taking packets in one physical interface and forwarding them out another. It faces "downward" towards the interfaces. Other quasi-bridge-like things are out of scope, and many of them (such as the cases you're citing where packets are "bridged" between virtual nodes) are better handled by VNICs. The sort of learning and loop prevention mechanisms required for regular bridges don't apply there. -- James Carlson, Solaris Networking <james.d.carlson at sun.com> Sun Microsystems / 35 Network Drive 71.232W Vox +1 781 442 2084 MS UBUR02-212 / Burlington MA 01803-2757 42.496N Fax +1 781 442 1677
