From mboxrd@z Thu Jan 1 00:00:00 1970 Message-ID: <4CB46549.2070901@ti-wmc.nl> Date: Tue, 12 Oct 2010 15:40:25 +0200 From: Michel Lammertink MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: text/plain; charset=ISO-8859-1 Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Subject: [Bridge] Why should static MAC address match one of the port MAC addresses. List-Id: Linux Ethernet Bridging List-Unsubscribe: , List-Archive: List-Post: List-Help: List-Subscribe: , To: bridge@lists.linux-foundation.org Hi all, I've read many messages on this mailing list with the question about setting a static MAC address on the bridge interface, but two questions remain: 1. Why should the MAC address of the bridge match the address of one of its interfaces? Setting the MAC address to a different value does not generate an error, but the bridge is not working properly (Local data does not arrive). 2. Why does the bridge by default choose the "lowest" MAC address, instead of the MAC address of the first port added, as is proposed by the standard [1]? [1] IEEE802.1D, Par. 7.12.5. Quote: "The Bridge Address may be the individual MAC Address of a Bridge Port, in which case, use of the address of the lowest numbered Bridge Port (Port 1) is recommended." Thanks in advance, Michel.