RE: LLDP port ids

["David T. Perkins" <dperkins@dsperkins.com>]

HI,

Here are short descriptions of ifName and ifAlias:
ifName - the name of an interface used in CLI and other configuration
         commands for the device
ifAlias - a "scratchpad" for storing, typically, information about
          the "other end" of the "cable".
Given these definitions, I would use ifName, since the results from
ptopo would possibly be used to populate the value of ifAlias.

At 09:00 AM 2/23/2004 -0800, C. M. Heard wrote:
>On Mon, 23 Feb 2004, Romascanu, Dan (Dan) wrote:
>> To make the scope of the discussion more clear - the choice in
>> the discussion that we are having with the LLDP folks is between
>> ifAlias and ifName as an unique identifier for topology
>> connections. I agree with you that it is impossible for these
>> requirements to be met by ifAlias unless the user (via
>> management software) makes them happen. As you say, the
>> user/management software must assign a unique ID to ifAlias when
>> a link layer connection is nailed up, and must not change that
>> ID for as long as the link layer connection persists. However,
>> in my opinion ifAlias seems a better choice than using ifName,
>> which has by definition a semantics limited to device context,
>> and does not allow to be modified by SNMP MIB operations.
>
>Yes, I understood that, and I agree:  ifName is unsuitable for this
>purpose, and ifAlias is a much better choice.  The concern that I
>wanted to raise is that there is a loophole in the definition of
>ifAlias that allows an agent to refuse writes and always return a
>zero-length string.  That could be a problem, depending on what
>fielded agents actually do.
>
>Mike
Regards,
/david t. perkins