Date: Mon, 18 Jul 2022 09:35:33 +0100 From: Norman Gray <gray@nxg.name> To: Kevin Oberman <rkoberman@gmail.com> Cc: FreeBSD Questions <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org>, Kristof Provost <kp@FreeBSD.org> Subject: Re: Why can't I add a loopback interface to a bridge? Message-ID: <00939711-A51C-4ADA-B68F-9D12B2F9645B@nxg.name> In-Reply-To: <CAN6yY1seXEHnk_NmJ%2Bh0_YQb5YBAdKy7CUKB4w51nw-29i-WAQ@mail.gmail.com> References: <988896FB-9986-4955-A3B7-9CEC810D8E6E@nxg.name> <D122341F-37FC-48A4-BD1F-D26773A26BCD@FreeBSD.org> <E3BC2970-D68C-48AC-84DA-5DC82460C6E4@nxg.name> <CAN6yY1seXEHnk_NmJ%2Bh0_YQb5YBAdKy7CUKB4w51nw-29i-WAQ@mail.gmail.com>
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Kevin, hello. On 14 Jul 2022, at 18:31, Kevin Oberman wrote: > What may be missing is the concept of a bridge is that it is a layer 2 > connection between two or more 802-like devices. Such devices use MAC > addresses and an IP address is a layer 3 entity. Trying to mix such on > a > bridge would imply a routing capability (layer 3) which really does > not > make sense with a layer 2 device. Indeed -- the presence of both layer 2 and layer 3 elements in the if_bridge(4) description at least contributed to my confusion. In my simple-minded picture of 'a switch', the only layer 3 element is a possible management interface. However Kristof's remark that > An if_bridge is not just a switch, but also a NIC that’s plugged > into that switch. is a valuable one, to the extent that I think it would be worthwhile somehow incorporating it into the manpage, in the paragraph starting 'A bridge works like a switch,...' I do see that amongst the examples at the end of the manpage there there is a remark 'The bridge can be used as a regular host interface at the same time as bridging between its member ports', so there is an implication of 'a NIC that's plugged into the switch'. Best wishes, Norman -- Norman Gray : https://nxg.me.uk
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