"Marcel" == Marcel Waldvogel <mwa(_at_)tik(_dot_)ee(_dot_)ethz(_dot_)ch>
writes:
Marcel> On Fri, Jun 25, 1999 at 10:42:21AM -0400, Paul Koning
Marcel> <pkoning(_at_)xedia(_dot_)com> wrote:
Hm, this sounds like IS-IS or OSPF or similar routing update
distribution protocols. Given that this is a long-studied area in
layer 3, it's probably a good idea to examine that literature.
There are plenty of pitfalls to be avoided, and at this point it
is known how to do so.
Marcel> Paul,
Marcel> would you happen to have pointers to good literature around?
"Interconnections", Radia Perlman (Addison-Wesley, 0-201-56332-0)
The IS-IS spec (ISO 10589, also RFC 1142).
The OSPF spec (RFC 2328)
I can't find citations for the papers by Eric Rosen or for the various
ones on routing update protocols by Radia Perlman. You might ask her
(radia(_at_)bcn(_dot_)East(_dot_)Sun(_dot_)COM).
(By the way, a timestamp may be better than a sequence number.)
Marcel> I don't see the advantages of a timestamp. The advantage of
Marcel> a sequence number is that you immediately know about holes,
Marcel> updates which you have missed. As long as entries are
Marcel> superseding each other, a timestamp is just fine, but if it
Marcel> is only additive (as with PGP), I feel that seqnos are more
Marcel> appropriate.
Good point, but make them bigger than 32 bits so you can avoid
worrying about wrapping (which is a problem, see Rosen). And you may
still want a timestamp, indicating when the counter was initialized,
so you can recover from loss of the counter state.
paul