DURHAM, N.H.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL), an independent provider of broad-based testing and standards conformance services for the networking industry, announced today that during November 26 – December 1, 2012, multiple Layer 2 switch companies met at the University of New Hampshire InterOperability Laboratory (UNH-IOL) to perform the first interoperability testing of the control plane of TRansparent Interconnect of Lots of Links (TRILL) since the IETF standardized the protocol. TRILL solves current Layer 2 Spanning Tree limitations by allowing a fairly large Layer 2 cloud to be created such that nodes can move within the cloud without changing their IP addresses, while using Layer 3 routing techniques, including shortest paths and multi-pathing.
Hewlett-Packard Networking and Extreme Networks participated in the Plugfest, providing Layer 2 switch platforms to test with one another. Ixia and Spirent Communications also participated, providing test equipment to simulate TRILL control plane traffic as well as large scale TRILL networks. In addition, Ralph Droms, IETF Area Director for the TRILL Working Group, provided guidance on implementation concerns while visiting the Plugfest. "The IETF TRILL protocol standard brings the benefits of modern routing, including multi-pathing of both unicast and multi-destination traffic, to Layer 2, improving utilization, robustness, and scaling,” states Donald Eastlake, IETF TRILL Working Group Co-Chair. “TRILL can be incrementally deployed and reduces spanning tree to whatever bridges remain in the TRILL network. There are now over 2,000 different sites, each with multiple switches installed, based on pre-standard versions of TRILL. Half a dozen major equipment vendors have announced specific TRILL switch products and I expect that number to increase. The UNH-IOL TRILL Plugfests are very important for interoperability between these implementations.”
"We are pleased to see that the number of TRILL implementations is growing. Vendors dedicated to global standards enable the future of interoperability for newer standards such as TRILL” said Christina Dube, Senior Manager of Ethernet Switching Technologies at the UNH-IOL.
This first event serves as a preliminary step in a series of Plugfests planned by the UNH-IOL to progress TRILL implementation and deployment. The next event is scheduled to take place in the week of March 25, 2013 at the UNH-IOL in Durham, NH, USA. Future events will focus on data plane activity as well as large scale TRILL networks. To participate in these Plugfests, interested parties should contact Christina Dube at christina.dube@iol.unh.edu.
For more information regarding the details of this event, please read the ‘Testing TRILL’ whitepaper.
About the UNH-IOL
Founded in 1988, the UNH-IOL provides
independent, broad-based interoperability and standards conformance
testing for data, telecommunications and storage networking products and
technologies. Combining extensive staff experience, standards bodies
participation and a 32,000+ square foot facility, the UNH-IOL helps
companies efficiently and cost effectively deliver products to the
market. For more information, visit http://www.iol.unh.edu/,
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