Messages in this thread | | | From | Eric Wieling <> | Subject | Subnet Proxy ARP: Let me count the ways. | Date | Tue, 2 Feb 1999 03:02:54 -0600 |
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>On Tue, 2 Feb 1999, Alan Cox wrote: >> > (more then half-year for sure; may be year). Since noone complained when this >> > ugly hack was removed I think that there was so little users of this "feature" >> > that chances to get this back is quite low... >> >> It wasn't simply removed. Proxyarping subnets is very unusual , slows the >> general code down and can be done in user space. That makes the entire kernel >> case look dubious. >> >> Alan
On Tue, 02 Feb 1999, Gregory Maxwell wrote: >Thanks for posting this. Now I know that I've got about 10 routers that >can't be upgraded to 2.2.. Oh joy!
There is a new wave of IP bridging devices out there. The ones that I have experience with are the Alcatel ADSL endpoints and the Paradyne Hotwire RADSL and MVL endpoints.
I am most familiar with the Paradyne MVL and RADSL products. Paradyne *does* have IP routing versions of their customer endpoint products (though the actual software that allowed you to set up the routing became available about 6 months ago -- almost 18 months after their "IP Routing" products were released.) The "IP Routing" versions of their customer endpoints are significantly more expensive than their bridging versions. Other than the problems with routing, I feel that Paradyne still makes the best xDSL products out there. They work over marginal lines and scale very well.
When I first worked with the Paradyne products and discovered that the customer endpoints didn't really support IP routing, I was shocked. My whole world view changed. It was kind of like when I discovered that an international high tech mfg of ships still did their payroll using a punch card machine. During both experiences I said to myself "I thought this technology was phased out 10 years ago!!!!".
Fortunately, when I was required to deploy the Paradyne RADSL and MVL products we were able to do Subnet Proxy ARP with the routers that the customer endpoints were hooked up to. It saved my ass and saved the company some major embarrassment. We used Linux 2.0.x to do Subnet Proxy ARP for a couple of customers and used the Subnet Proxy ARP features of Novell Netware 3.1x and 4.1x at most of the customer locations (since they already had Netware servers, we just put in another network card and did Subnet Proxy ARP)
What I'm really trying to say here is that Subnet Proxy ARP isn't only useful when you have a badly designed network. It's also useful when you run into limitations of bleeding edge equipment made by companies that would not know IP routing if it hit them upside the head - such as the companies that make xDSL products.
--Eric
-- Eric Wieling <eric@fnords.org> BTEL Consulting Services
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