Future IETF Meeting Network Requirements
bofreq-livingood-future-ietf-meeting-network-requirements-02

Document Type Abandoned BOF request
Title Future IETF Meeting Network Requirements
Last updated 2025-02-06
State Abandoned
Editors Jason Livingood , Sean Turner
Responsible leadership Roman Danyliw
Send notices to (None)
bofreq-livingood-future-ietf-meeting-network-requirements-02

Name: Future IETF Meeting Network Requirements

Description

For many years, the IETF has provided its own network at IETF meetings, operated by the IETF Network Operations Center (NOC), which is staffed by a mix of contractors and IETF community volunteers. This network is now a required feature, as documented in BCP 226 and is vital to the standards process as any onsite failure can significantly reduce the output of an IETF meeting. Providing this network and the associated remote participation service is a significant undertaking, both in onsite resources and the financial cost of ~$900k per year. Most of the equipment is donated by sponsors, saving us ~$1.5m in capital costs.

The time is now right for a fundamental re-examination of the requirements for an IETF network and the best way to deliver that. This conclusion is supported both by the report from the second IASA2 retrospective, which has an action to address this, and work within the NOC/LLC to determine the future management structure. This BoF is intended to begin this process, looking solely at the high-level issues and not getting into technical details.

The key questions to be answered are:

  1. What is the purpose of the IETF network?
    • Just a conference network?
    • A showcase for the quality of our standards?
    • A platform for experimentation and development of new protocols?
    • A test of the cutting edge?
  2. What networks need to be provided where?
    • All of the networks across the whole venue or specific networks in limited areas?
    • Do we still need an IETF network in the main hotel(s)?
  3. What is the best NOC to deliver this?
    • All contractors or the current mix of contractors and volunteers?
    • Volunteers as the bridge between the NOC and the IETF community?
  4. How is the NOC "managed"?
    • How does the NOC relate to the volunteer IETF leadership structure (i.e. the IESG) or is it solely a contracted function under the LLC?
    • How are the volunteers found, selected and managed?
    • What form of reporting should the community get? (including dashboards and presentations at plenary)
  5. Who/how do we decide what the specific features and expectations are of the IETF network?
    • For reference only, as this is too detailed for this BoF, these expectations could include:
      • Uptime/reliability
      • Speed/latency
      • Coverage
      • Device age/variety
      • Privacy vs monitoring data
      • Specific protocols
      • Geo-location of the address block

Required Details

  • Status: (not) WG Forming
  • Responsible AD: Roman Danyliw
  • BOF proponents: Jason Livingood <jason_livingood@comcast.com>, Sean Turner <sean@sn3rd.com>
  • Number of people expected to attend: 50
  • Length of session (1 or 2 hours): 2 hours
  • Conflicts (whole Areas and/or WGs)
  • Chair Conflicts: IETF Chair
  • Technology Overlap: None
  • Key Participant Conflict: TBD

Information for IAB/IESG

Not applicable - this is an administrative BoF

Agenda

  1. 0:00 - 0:10 -- Welcome and Note Well

  2. 0:10 - 0:50 -- Current state
    * 15 Mins - The IETF Network, what is provided and how (Joe Clarke)

    • The different networks
    • The kit
    • External connectivity and addressing
    • Monitoring, data collection and deletion
    • 15 Mins - Brief history of the NOC, current structure and how it operates (Sean Croghan)
    • The Jim era
    • Volunteers, Linespeed, Meetecho and their roles
    • Site visits, pre-meeting venue visits
    • Meeting setup, meeting operations, helpdesk, teardown
    • In-between meeting calls, equipment management, strategic retreats
    • 10 Mins - Process by which the NOC decides what it provides (TBD)

  3. 0:50 - 1:50 - Key questions
    * 20 Mins - What is the purpose of the IETF network? (TBD)

    • Just a conference network?
    • A showcase for the quality of our standards?
    • A platform for experimentation and development of new protocols?
    • A test of the cutting edge?
    • 20 Mins - What networks need to be provided where? (TBD)
    • All of the networks across the whole venue or specific networks in limited areas?
    • Do we still need an IETF network in the main hotel(s)?
    • 20 Mins - What is the best NOC to deliver this? (TBD)
    • All contractors or the current mix of contractors and volunteers?
    • Volunteers as the bridge between the NOC and the IETF community?
    • 20 Mins - How is the NOC "managed"? (TBD)
    • How does the NOC relate to the volunteer IETF leadership structure (i.e. the IESG) or is it solely a contracted function under the LLC?
    • How are the volunteers found, selected and managed?
    • 20 Mins - Who/how do we decide what the specific features and expectations are of the IETF network? (TBD)

  4. 1:50 - 2:00 -- Wrap-up & Next Steps
    * 5 mins - Wrap-up (Jason Livingood)
    * 5 mins - Explore consensus on alternatives to potentially take to wider community discussion or other next steps (Jason Livingood)