Skip to content

L2 vs L3 Handling

InfraLynx distinguishes layer 2 and layer 3 relationships explicitly so topology consumers can reason about switching and routing behavior without guessing intent from raw connections.

Layer 2

Layer 2 relationships represent adjacency and propagation at the switching layer.

  • cable-link captures a physical connection
  • l2-adjacency captures a switching adjacency between interfaces
  • vlan-propagation captures VLAN movement across an eligible link or interface boundary

Layer 3

Layer 3 relationships represent addressing and routed adjacency.

  • l3-adjacency links an interface or routed hop to an IP-level node
  • VRF, prefix, and IP hierarchy remain explicit and ID-based

Separation Rules

  • L2 edges do not imply L3 reachability
  • L3 edges do not imply physical adjacency
  • VLAN membership does not embed interface objects
  • routing and switching relationships can coexist on the same inventory objects

Example Scenario

An interface can:

  • participate in a cable-link
  • form an l2-adjacency
  • propagate one or more VLANs
  • bind to one or more IP addresses through separate l3-adjacency edges

This keeps physical, broadcast, and routed semantics separate while still allowing end-to-end tracing.