OAM Help!

Hi,
I am to design the performance managment and fault managment for an ethernet
gigabit switch. Please can anyone of you share any documents which you are
aware of may help me. I have absolutely no idea as to what OAM is and till
now i have only worked on routing. What exactly is OAM and any links anybody
is aware of ??

Thanks and Regards,
Mary Sheldon


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