Proxy-ND and the Router Flag in Neighbor Advertisement Messages

RFC 4861 describes the use of the (R) or ‟Router” flag in NA messages as follows:

The use of the ‟R” flag in NA messages impacts how the hosts select their default gateways when sending packets ‟off-link”. Therefore, it is important that the proxy-ND function on the 7750 SR, 7450 ESS, or 7950 XRS must meet one of the following criteria:

  1. Either provide the appropriate R flag information in proxy-ND NA replies

  2. Flood the received NA messages if it cannot provide the appropriate R flag when replying

Because of the ‟R” flag, the procedure for learning proxy-ND entries and replying to NS messages differs from the procedures for proxy-ARP in IPv4: the router or host flag is added to each entry, and that determines the flag to use when responding to a NS.