On Thu, 12 Apr 2007 11:20:18 +0200 Iljitsch van Beijnum <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote:
> > Dear NANOGers, > > It irks me that today, the effective MTU of the internet is 1500 > bytes, while more and more equipment can handle bigger packets. > > What do you guys think about a mechanism that allows hosts and > routers on a subnet to automatically discover the MTU they can use > towards other systems on the same subnet, so that: > > 1. It's no longer necessary to limit the subnet MTU to that of the > least capable system > > 2. It's no longer necessary to manage 1500 byte+ MTUs manually > > Any additional issues that such a mechanism would have to address? > Last I heard, the IEEE won't go along, and they're the ones who standardize 802.3. A few years ago, the IETF was considering various jumbogram options. As best I recall, that was the official response from the relevant IEEE folks: "no". They're concerned with backward compatibility. Perhaps that has changed (and I certainly) don't remember who sent that note. --Steve Bellovin, http://www.cs.columbia.edu/~smb