VPLS implementation

[sthaug at nethelp.no]

> > Are there any plans or ongoing work to implement VPLS in the network
> > stack?
> > 
> > http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Private_LAN_Service
> 
> If you don't need interoperability with others, you can
> theoretically achieve something like VPLS using if_bridge,
> if_gif, EtherIP and the "private" flag of if_bridge.
> 
> Of course it would be a static setup and you'll have to create
> full mesh connections for all the participating nodes.

The whole point of VPLS is to simulate a multipoint Ethernet segment,
possibly across a WAN and several MPLS PE routers. If you only have
a small network it is usually far simpler to just set up a suitable
collection of switches with VLAN trunks between them.

So the question is - *why* would you want FreeBSD to support VPLS? And
what exactly do you mean by implementing VPLS on FreeBSD? If you want
a multipoint bridge across several interfaces, this can be done. If
you want something with MPLS support (labels etc) it's a completely
different ball game.

Steinar Haug, Nethelp consulting, sthaug at nethelp.no