Listed as follows are the configuration guidelines for a PBB service:
PBB services are supported only on 7210 SAS devices configured in network mode.
A PBB service instance (identified by the ISID) cannot be used to encapsulate customer payloads with additional VLAN tags, if that service instance is being used to transport frames received on a QinQ access SAP. If a particular service instance is in use by a QinQ access SAP, then the system drops the packets that are received with additional tags on all the SAPs (NULL or Dot1q) using the same instance. Packets received with one or more tags on a NULL SAP, more than one tag on a Dot1q SAP, and more than two tags on a QinQ SAP are classified as packets with additional VLAN tags.
Service MTU is not available for use.
Port-based SHG is available for use with I-VPLS and B-VPLS service. Service based SHG is not available for use in an I-VPLS and a B-VPLS service.
The system uses the internal loopback to flood/replicate BUM traffic received on the B-SAP, to create an additional copy for processing in the I-VPLS context. The system also uses the internal loopback to for egress port mirroring.
The user needs to ensure that aggregate amount of mirrored traffic in the system and the BUM traffic received on a B-SAP does not exceed the available internal loopback bandwidth. Ingress meters can be used to limit the amount of BUM received and processed from a B-SAP and user can limit the number of ports setup for port egress mirroring to control the maximum amount of traffic that needs to be circulated for two pass processing using the internal loopback. NOTE: If only PBB Epipe is used (no I-VPLS service is configured for use), then egress port mirroring can be enabled without affecting PBB traffic, since PBB Epipe traffic does not use the two-pass approach.
Multiple B-SAPs on the same port cannot be part of the same B-VPLS service. Two B-SAPs on the same port need to be configured in two different services.
Processing rules for packets received with multiple B-tags on a SAP:
If the B-Tag header has two tags, the packet is processed and forwarded appropriately and sent out of an I-SID service or another B-VPLS B-SAP.
If the node is acting as a pure BCB (with no ISID/service termination), then the packets are flooded and switched appropriately and if the node is acting as a BCB + BEB, then the packets are flooded and switched appropriately on the B-SAPs, but they will not switched or flooded to a I-SAPs (both VPLS and Epipe I-SAPs).
PBB I-tag etype is not configurable, it is set to 0x88e7.
PBB B-tag etype is not configurable; it is set to 0x8100.
PBB packets received from a destination MAC address other than the one configured in the Epipe service is not accepted by 7210 devices.
In the current release, PBB packets with UCA bit set are dropped.
Aging of MAC addresses learned in the B-domain - As long as a Customer MAC (C-MAC) or an Epipe service is associated with an B-SA/B-MAC, do not age out the B-SA. When the last customer MAC ages out or the last Epipe service using the particular B-SA MAC is removed, remove the corresponding B-SA entry. This means that as long as an Epipe service is associated with a particular PBB destination MAC address, the corresponding B-MAC will not age out and will occupy an entry in the Layer 2 learning table. Note, that if only I-VPLS is in use, then aging out of C-MAC will automatically trigger aging out B-MAC, when the last C-MAC associated with the B-MAC is aged out.