Subject: deprecating dot3StatsEtherChipSets

From: John Flick <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 27 Jan 1999 17:15:41 -0800 (PST)

After consulting with the chair, we came to the decision to go ahead
and deprecate the dot3StatsEtherChipSets object.  I am in the process
of updating the draft (would like to submit the new draft tomorrow,
with the intent of forwarding it immediately to the IESG, along with
the MAU MIB draft).  This entails making the following changes to the
draft:

- change the STATUS field of dot3StatsEtherChipSets to
  'deprecated'

- remove dot3StatsEtherChipSets from the etherStatsBaseGroup
  OBJECT-GROUP

- Update the text of Section 3.4 to the following:

    3.4.  dot3StatsEtherChipSet

       This document defines an object called dot3StatsEtherChipSet, which
       is used to identify the MAC hardware used to communicate on an
       interface.  Previous versions of this document contained a number of
       OID assignments for some existing Ethernet chipsets.  Maintaining
       that list as part of this document has proven to be problematic, so
       the OID assignments contained in prevous versions of this document
       have now been moved to a separate document [28].

       The dot3StatsEtherChipSet object has now been deprecated.
       Implementation feedback indicates that this object is much more
       useful in theory than in practice.  The object's utility in debugging
       network problems in the field appears to be limited.  In those cases
       where it may be useful, it is not sufficient, since it identifies
       only the MAC chip, and not the PHY, PMD, or driver.  The
       administrative overhead involved in maintaining a central registry of
       chipset OIDs cannot be justified for an object whose usefulness is
       questionable at best.

       Implementations which continue to support this object for the purpose
       of backwards compatability may continue to use the values defined in
       [28].  For chipsets not listed in [28], implementors should assign
       OBJECT IDENTIFIERS within that part of the registration tree
       delegated to individual enterprises.

- Add the following to the Change Log (Section A.1):

      (10)  The dot3StatsEtherChipSet object has been deprecated.

      (11)  The dot3ChipSets have been moved to a separate document.

Let me know if this sounds acceptable.  If so, I will submit the
updated draft tomorrow (Thursday).

Thanks,
John

---

From: "Paul Moran" <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 08:50:47 +0000

To my knowledge, 3Com has never implemented or used the ChipSet objects on any
of the volume hubs/switches.
So I am happy for you to get rid of it.

Paul J Moran
Consultant Engineer
3Com