Subject: [magma] AD questions on magma-igmp-proxy-02.txt

From: Erik Nordmark <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 21 May 2003 11:28:01 +0200 (CEST)

I must have missed earlier WG discussions about this draft and
I'm quite concerned about the problem to be solved and the applicability
of the solution.
The draft is silent on both the problem and the intended applicability
so there isn't anything specific I can comment on.

My concern is that the solution seems to be yet another way to make multicast
less robust.
It requires manual configuration of the upstream and when the manual config
is incorrect there is no mechanism to even detect it is incorrect
and the effect is either 
 - partial multicast deliver (if you are so lucky)
 - persistent multicast routing loop 

So why ot just use a multicast routing protocol?
Is there a particular place where proxying is believed to be necessary?

I also have some more detailed question from reading the spec which I 
include here in order to not loose them, but my concern right not is not 
about these details.

Section 2.5 says there is some database but doesn't say what information
it needs to contain. It would be useful to included that to aid
correct implementation of the protocol.

I don't understand the paragraph in section 3 which talks about "lowest IP
address ... on the link". What problem is this solving? Need a picture.
If some other device wins (like a multicast router) wouldn't that just work
since the multicast router would forward the packets?

Section 4.3 says the device should be compliant with SSM.
If so there is no point in trying to make this document a proposed standard
until the SSM spec is ready to become a proposed standard.
Note that [HC01] is listed as an informative reference which is incorrect
AFAIK; in order for a device to be compliant with SSM the implementor
needs to read and understand the SSM specification. Hence it should be
a normative reference.

   Erik

_______________________________________________
magma mailing list
[email-masked]
https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/magma