On Jul 17, 2011, at 10:55 AM, Bob Armstrong wrote: Paul Koning wrote: It is legal to have multiple areas on a single Ethernet; the routing spec covers that case explicitly. If that is done, end nodes will communicate directly to a destination on the Ethernet even if off-area ... Given that Johnny's bridge program effectively creates a big Ethernet, does that imply that HECnet end nodes in different areas can communicate without an area router? Yes. But any L1 routers need help from L2 routers to get out of area. paul