[Nsi-wg] Bidirectional Link (was Re: [AutoGole] Ports relations)

[Henrik Thostrup Jensen]

On Wed, 25 Sep 2013, Jeroen van der Ham wrote:

>> Hmm… that seems to be an unneeded artificial restriction.  I should be 
>> able to build up my unidirectional topologies into other network 
>> constructs based on my needs.  Saying you can only have unidirectional 
>> topology is like saying you can paint as much art as you want but only 
>> using black.

Agreed 100%.

While most things are unidirectional at the bottom (there are exceptions 
like true ethers), some equipment can only be controlled from a 
bidirectional point of view (say, most switches). They are by all 
accounts bidirectional as that is what can be controlled.

> As soon as we would add this construct everyone would just use NML to 
> construct bidirectional topologies, and leaving out the unidirectional 
> part. Then if the need ever arises to do asymmetrical, unidirectional, 
> or disjoint return paths, then you can't because everyone is using 
> bidirectional constructs.

If everyone could just buy ready-made cars, no-one would assemble their 
own cars or build weird 7-cylinder combustion engines, and very few people 
would even know how a car worked.


     Best regards, Henrik

  Henrik Thostrup Jensen <htj at nordu.net>
  Software Developer, NORDUnet