Subject: [v6ops] Seapartion of topological location vs identity

From: Fred Baker <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 5 Aug 2021 01:28:55 -0700

This isn't exactly a new observation. You might look at RFC 1992 for the original reference.

I won't claim that the following is universally accepted, but I think it makes sense in the context of the definition of locator and identity. An IP address has two parts (more if these are subdivided): there is a topological locator that tells you what LAN you are targeting, and an identifier that tells you - within that LAN -which interface you are targeting. In IPv6, RFC 4291 calls these the "address prefix" and the "interface ID", and we might note that the interface ID primarily has benign the context of the relevant address prefix.

Some architecture have been designed that redefine the terms. LIST is an example. That's fine if the architecture in question is identified.

Personally, if we make the issue more complex than that - which is the stuff Phd dissertations are made of - we are asking for trouble.