Configuring Ethernet OAM Ethernet OAM Overview
OmniSwitch AOS Release 8 Network Configuration Guide December 2017 page 37-3
Ethernet OAM Overview
Ethernet OAM focuses on two main areas that service providers require the most and are rapidly evolving
in the standards bodies:
• Service OAM (IEEE 802.1ag and ITU-T Y.1731)—for monitoring and troubleshooting end-to-end
Ethernet service instances.
• Link OAM (IEEE 802.3ah EFM Link OAM)—for monitoring and troubleshooting individual Ethernet
links.
These two protocols are both unique and complimentary. For example, Service OAM may isolate a fault
down to a specific service, but to determine exactly where the fault occurred within the network
infrastructure might also require the use of Link OAM.
Ethernet Service OAM
Ethernet Service OAM allows service providers to manage customer services end-to-end on a per-service-
instance basis. A customer service instance, or Ethernet Virtual Connection (EVC), is the service that is
sold to a customer and is designated by a VLAN tag on the User-to-Network Interface (UNI).
Elements of Service OAM
• Maintenance End Points (MEPs) and Maintenance Intermediate Points (MIPs)
– MEPs initiate OAM commands. MEPs prevent leakage between domains.
– MIPs passively receive and respond to OAM frames.
• Virtual MEP: creates an UP MEP on a virtual port.
• Maintenance Association (MA) is a logical connection between two or more MEPs.
• Point-to-point MA: logical sub-MA component only between two MEPs MA.
• Maintenance Domain: One or more MAs under the same administrative control.
• Maintenance Domain Levels: There are eight levels defined in 802.1ag:
– levels [5, 6, 7] are for customers
– levels [3, 4] are for service provider
– levels [0, 1, 2] are for operators
Multiple levels are supported for flexibility.
• Mechanisms: continuity check (CC), loopback, link trace
• Remote Fault Propagation (RFP): Propagates connectivity fault events into the interface attached to a
MEP.
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