In working on some control plane draft material, I've run across an
inconsistency in the use of the concept of a "virtual network instance"
(or VNI) between the problem statement and framework drafts.
The problem statement draft does not define "virtual network instance"
and uses that term more or less interchangeably with "virtual network"
to refer to a specific virtual network. Here's an example with both
terms used in the same sentence near the top of p.5:
A key requirement is that each
individual virtual network instance be isolated from other virtual
network instances, with traffic crossing from one virtual network to
another only when allowed by policy.
The framework draft defines Virtual Network Instance (VNI) as effectively
being the portion of a virtual network that is instantiated in an NVE:
VNI: Virtual Network Instance. This is one instance of a virtual
overlay network. It refers to the state maintained for a given VN on
a given NVE. Two Virtual Networks are isolated from one another and
may use overlapping addresses.
Something's wrong here. Back in February, Thomas Narten proposed that
we use the problem statement terminology consistently in the framework
draft, but there hasn't been any further discussion.
Speaking for myself, the problem statement draft's usage seems more
intuitive (an "instance" of a virtual network is a virtual network, not
part of one, as is the case in the framework draft), but we've had the
VNI acronym around in the framework draft for a good long time now.
If it were ok to change the framework draft, I would prefer:
VNLI: Virtual Network Local Instance. This is an instance of a
virtual overlay network on a specific NVE. The VNLI refers to the
local state and associated processing for a given VN on a given
NVE. Within an NVE, VNLIs are isolated from one another and
may use overlapping network addresses.
But that's just my 0.02 - what should be done about this?
Thanks,
--David
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David L. Black, Distinguished Engineer
EMC Corporation, 176 South St., Hopkinton, MA 01748
+1 (508) 293-7953 FAX: +1 (508) 293-7786
[email protected] Mobile: +1 (978) 394-7754
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