[Three or four paragraphs giving a brief explanation of IP over ATM, what is a LIS, why an ATMARP server is needed since ATM is a non-broadcast multiple access (NBMA) network, and how IP addresses get mapped to ATM addresses for hosts to set connections up to each other and send the IP frames.]
One of the requirements for adding a host to a LIS is that it should have an IP address for itself on the LIS, just as adding a host to an Ethernet requires an IP address for the Network Interface. As has been documented in several places [1,2], manual configuration or reconfiguration of IPv4 networks is a tedious and error-prone activity.
[Two paragraphs on the IETF IPv6 Autoconfiguration work - stateful vs. stateless configuration, the fact that it is a good approach, but some open issues remain]
In parallel with the IETF Autoconfiguration work, a mechanism was required for the autoconfiguration of IP addresses for a number of LIS's within an ATM network. Work at Ascom nexion by the author, together with Jim Luciani, Hal Rosenstock, Bill Willcox and others lead to the architecture described in this paper.
[Summary of IP Autoconfiguration architecture at a level high enough to avoid proprietary details emerging.
Three tiers of address servers. There is one central point for entering lists of addresses to be used for the LIS's. Configuration Clients obtain a suitable number of IP addresses and use them to configure their host or hosts onto one or more LIS's.]
[In passing describe other approaches to configuration, from bootp to DHCP. Explain that the wider requirements in the overall IP auotconfiguration architecture (RARP server, SLIP/PPP interfaces, ethernet interfaces) lead to a larger implementation that just a LIS would have required.]
Closing summary of the benefits of autoconfiguration and noting some of the remaining issues to be solved in this area.
B. Doar
Nexion, Inc.
289 Great Road
Acton, MA 01720, USA
Tel: (508) 266 3468
Fax: (508) 266 2300
doar@pobox.com