I am trying to design a three layer campus network solely with Mikrotik devices. I would like to use Mikrotik L3 switches in the core and distribution. What scares me is the dependancy of L3HW on bridge. I fear L2 loops between the bridges. One may argue that they are unlikey to happen when PVIDs on "routed ports" are kept unique. Problem is that mistakes happen. Another problem is STP in such a design and a possible unwanted exchange of BPDUs between separate L2 domains. I believe I have solved all the problems in my lab but still doubts remain. So what is the theoretically correct, complete and recommended way of setting up "routed port" on a Mikrotik L3 switch? I wish a clear specification was included in the official RouterOS documentation.
I was under the misconception that a port must be part of a bridge to benefit from L3HW. The documentation and most YouTube content focus exclusively on bridge+VLAN inter-VLAN routing, which implies bridge membership is required. It is not.
@mudrc How did you setup the routed port? Did you remove it from the bridge and configure an IP address directly on the port?
I want to use a routed port as a transit link to my 10 Gbps WAN router. How did you confirm that L3 HW works for traffic between the routed port and VLANs on the bridge?
Exactly. The routed port is not a part of the bridge. IP address is assigned directly to the port. I use iperf3 for testing in order to confirm it is running at wire-speed (i.e. L3HW). I also watch CPU. It is close to zero.