The ALTO Transport Information Publication Service
draft-ietf-alto-new-transport-07
| Document | Type | Active Internet-Draft (alto WG) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Roland Schott , Y. Richard Yang , Kai Gao , Lauren Delwiche , Lachlan Keller | ||
| Last updated | 2023-03-13 | ||
| Replaces | draft-schott-alto-new-transport, draft-schott-alto-new-transport-push | ||
| RFC stream | Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) | ||
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| Additional resources | Mailing list discussion | ||
| Stream | WG state | In WG Last Call | |
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| Document shepherd | Mohamed Boucadair | ||
| Shepherd write-up | Show Last changed 2023-03-05 | ||
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| Consensus boilerplate | Yes | ||
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| Send notices to | mohamed.boucadair@orange.com |
draft-ietf-alto-new-transport-07
ALTO Working Group R. Schott
Internet-Draft Deutsche Telekom
Intended status: Standards Track Y. Yang
Expires: 13 September 2023 Yale University
K. Gao
Sichuan University
L. Delwiche
L. Keller
Yale University
12 March 2023
The ALTO Transport Information Publication Service
draft-ietf-alto-new-transport-07
Abstract
The ALTO Protocol (RFC 7285) leverages HTTP/1.x and is designed for
the simple, sequential request-reply use case, in which an ALTO
client requests a sequence of information resources, and the server
responds with the complete content of each resource one at a time.
ALTO incremental updates using Server-Sent Events (SSE) (RFC 8895)
defines a multiplexing protocol on top of HTTP/1.x, so that an ALTO
server can incrementally push resource updates to clients whenever
monitored network information resources change, allowing the clients
to monitor multiple resources at the same time. However, HTTP/2 and
later versions already support concurrent, non-blocking transport of
multiple streams in the same HTTP connection.
To take advantage of newer HTTP features, this document introduces
the ALTO Transport Information Publication Service (TIPS). TIPS uses
an incremental RESTful design to give an ALTO client the new
capability to explicitly, concurrently (non-blocking) request (pull)
specific incremental updates using native HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, while
still functioning for HTTP/1.x. TIPS also provides an ALTO server to
concurrently push specific incremental updates using native HTTP/2 or
HTTP/3 server push.
Status of This Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute
working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet-
Drafts is at https://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
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Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
This Internet-Draft will expire on 13 September 2023.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2023 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (https://trustee.ietf.org/
license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document.
Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components
extracted from this document must include Revised BSD License text as
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provided without warranty as described in the Revised BSD License.
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.2. Notations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. TIPS Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. Basic Data Model: Incremental Representational State
Transfer (iREST) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1.1. iREST Resource Location Schema . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2. High-level Service Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.3. TIPS Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.4. TIPS Workflow . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
2.5. TIPS With HTTP/1.x . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
3. TIPS Information Resource Directory (IRD) Announcement . . . 14
3.1. Media Type . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.2. Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
3.3. Uses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
3.4. Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
4. TIPS Open/Close . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.1. Open Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.2. Open Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
4.3. Open Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
4.4. Close Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5. TIPS View Metadata Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.1. Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.2. Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.3. Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
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5.4. Refresh Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.4.1. Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.4.2. Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
5.5. Server Updates Directory Invariants . . . . . . . . . . . 28
6. TIPS Data Transfers - Client Pull . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6.1. Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6.2. Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29
6.2.1. Server Processing "Error" Conditions . . . . . . . . 30
6.3. Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7. TIPS Data Transfer - Server Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 30
7.1. Manage Server Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7.1.1. Start Server Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
7.1.2. Read Push State . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.1.3. Stop Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
7.2. Server Push of Incremental Updates . . . . . . . . . . . 34
7.2.1. Server Push . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.2.2. Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
7.3. Server Push Stream Management . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
7.3.1. Server -> Client [PUSH_PROMISE for updates graph on
Stream SID_tq] . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8. Operation and Processing Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . 37
8.1. Considerations for Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
8.2. Considerations for Choosing Updates . . . . . . . . . . . 38
8.3. Considerations for Cross-Resource Dependency
Scheduling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
8.4. Considerations for Client Processing Updates . . . . . . 40
8.5. Considerations for Updates to Filtered Cost Maps . . . . 41
8.6. Considerations for Updates to Ordinal Mode Costs . . . . 41
9. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
9.1. TIPS: Denial-of-Service Attacks . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
9.2. ALTO Client: Update Overloading or Instability . . . . . 42
9.3. Spoofed URI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
10. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
10.1. application/alto-tips+json Media Type . . . . . . . . . 43
10.2. application/alto-tipsparams+json Media Type . . . . . . 44
10.3. application/alto-tipsview+json Media Type . . . . . . . 45
11. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
12. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
12.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 46
12.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
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1. Introduction
Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) provides means for
network applications to obtain network status information. So far,
two transport protocols have been designed: (1) The ALTO base
protocol [RFC7285], which is designed for the simple use case in
which an ALTO client requests a network information resource, and the
server sends the complete content of the requested information (if
any) resource to the client; and (2) ALTO incremental updates using
Server-Sent Events (ALTO/SSE) [RFC8895], which is designed for an
ALTO client to indicate to the server that it wants to receive
updates for a set of resources, and the server can then concurrently,
and incrementally push updates to that client whenever monitored
resources change.
Both protocols are designed for HTTP/1.x [RFC9112] and, ideally, they
should be able to automatically take advantage of newer HTTP versions
such as HTTP/2 [RFC9113] and HTTP/3 [RFC9114]. However, there are
issues with both protocols when higher HTTP versions are used.
First, consider the ALTO base protocol, which is designed to transfer
only complete information resources. Hence, a client can run the
base protocol on top of HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 to request multiple
information resources concurrently, in concurrent streams, but each
request must be for a complete information resource; there is no
capability of transferring incremental updates. Hence, there can be
large overhead when the client already has an information resource
and then there are small changes to the resource. Next, consider
ALTO/SSE. Although ALTO/SSE can transfer incremental updates, it
introduces a customized multiplexing protocol on top of HTTP,
assuming a total-order message channel from the server to the client.
The multiplexing design does not provide naming (i.e., providing
resource identifier) to individual incremental updates. Hence, the
design cannot use concurrent per-stream server push or non-blocking
per-stream client pull, available in HTTP/2 and HTTP/3, because both
cases require the resource identifier. Additionally, ALTO/SSE is a
push-only protocol, which denies the client flexibility in choosing
how and when it receives updates.
This document introduces a new ALTO service called the Transport
Information Publication Service (TIPS). TIPS uses an incremental
RESTful design to provide an ALTO client with a new capability to
explicitly, concurrently (non-blocking) request (pull) specific
incremental updates using native HTTP/2 or HTTP/3, while still
functioning for HTTP/1.x. TIPS also provides an ALTO server to
concurrently push specific incremental updates using native HTTP/2 or
HTTP/3 server push. Specifically, this document specifies the
following:
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* Extensions to the ALTO Protocol to create, update, or remove an
incremental representational state transfer resource (iREST).
* A new resource type that specifies the iREST graph model for a
resource.
* URI patterns to fetch the snapshots or incremental updates.
1.1. Requirements Language
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "NOT RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and
"OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in BCP
14 [RFC2119][RFC8174] when, and only when, they appear in all
capitals, as shown here.
1.2. Notations
This document uses the same syntax and notations as introduced in
Section 8.2 [RFC7285] to specify the extensions to existing ALTO
resources and services.
2. TIPS Overview
2.1. Basic Data Model: Incremental Representational State Transfer
(iREST)
For each resource (e.g., a cost map, network map), the incremental
updates and snapshots can be represented using the following directed
acyclic graph model, where the server maps base resource IDs to
incremental update IDs that are assigned sequentially:
* Each node in the graph is a version of the resource, where a tag
identifies content of version (tag is valid only within the scope
of resource). Version 0 is reserved as the initial state (empty/
null).
* Each edge is transport data (update item). In particular, edge
from i to j is the (op, data) to transition version from version i
to version j.
* Node content is path independent (different paths arrive at the
same content)
A concrete example is as shown in Figure 1. Thick lines represent
incremental updates and thin lines represent snapshots. Note that
node content is path independent: the content can be obtained by
applying the updates from different paths. For example, assume the
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client already has version at 103: the version at 105 can either be
directly fetched as a snapshot or computed incrementally by applying
the incremental updates between 103 and 104, then 104 and 105.
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+======+
| 0 |
+======+
/ | \
ID0-101 / | |
/ | |
|/__ | |
+======+ | |
tag: 109783421097 -> | 101 | | |
+======+ | |
|| | |
ID101-102 || | |
\/ | |
+======+ | |
tag: 123566431234 -> | 102 | | |
+======+ | |
|| | |
ID102-103 || ID0-103| |
\/ | |
+======+ / |
tag: 123400881080 -> | 103 |<----/ |
+---------------+ +======+ |
| Base Resource | =====> || |
+---------------+ ID103-104 || |
\/ |
+======+ |
tag: 123566452654 -> | 104 | |
+======+ |
|| | ID0-105
ID104-105 || |
\/ /
+======+ /
tag: 123567838392 -> | 105 |<-------/
+======+
||
ID105-106 ||
\/
+======+
tag: 123566470983 -> | 106 |
+======+
tag: denotes the version of the resource at node i
ID###-###: denotes update item (op, data) to transition from
version at node i to version at node j
Figure 1: iREST Model Example
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2.1.1. iREST Resource Location Schema
To access each individual update, consider the model represented as a
"virtual" file system (adjacency list).
<tips-view-uri>
ug // updates graph
0
101 // full 101 content
103
105
101
102 // 101 -> 102 patch
102
103
103
104
104
105
105
106
push // server push metadata
...
Location -> resource naming (ID assignment)
- <tips-view-uri>/ug/<i>/<j>
Client Pull:
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug/0/105
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug/105/106
Server Push:
Use the URI as above
Figure 2: Location Schema for Figure 1.
Due to the sequential nature of the update patch IDs, a client can
long pull a future update that does not yet exist (e.g., the patch
from 106 to 107) by constructing the URI:
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug/<end-seq>/<end-seq + 1>
2.2. High-level Service Model
Conceptually, the TIPS system consists of 3 types of resources:
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* (R1) TIPS frontend to manage (create/delete) TIPS views.
* (R2) TIPS view directory, which provides metadata (e.g.,
references) about the network resource data.
* (R3) The actual network resource data, encoded as complete ALTO
network resources (e.g., cost map, network map) or incremental
updates.
+------------------------------------------------+
| |
+------+ |R1: Frontend/Open R2: Directory/Meta R3: Data |
| | "iget" base | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ |
| | resource 1 | | | | | | | |
| |-------------|---->| | | | | | |
| | incremental | | | | |-------->| | |
| | transfer | | | | | | | |
| | resource | | | | | | | |
| |<------------|-----| | +-----+ +-----+ |
|Client| | | | |
| | "iget" base | | | |
| | resource 2 | | | +-----+ +-----+ |
| |-------------|---->| | | | | | |
| | incremental | | | | | | | |
| | transfer | | | | | ------->| | |
| | resource | | | | | | | |
| |<------------|-----| | | | | | |
+------+ | +-----+ +-----+ +-----+ |
| |
+------------------------------------------------+
Figure 3: Service Model
Design Point: Component Resource Location
* Design 1 (Single): all 3 types at the same, single server
(accessed via relative reference)
* Design 2 (Flexible): all 3 types can be at their own server
(accessed via absolute reference)
* Design 3 (Dir + Data): R2 and R3 must remain together, though R1
might not be on the same server
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This document specifies Design 1 (keeping R1, R2, and R3 on the same
server) in order to simplify session management, though at the
expense of maximum load balancing flexibility (see Section 8.1 for a
discussion on load balancing considerations). A future companion
document may extend the protocol to support Design 2 or Design 3.
2.3. TIPS Terminology
This document uses the following components:
Network information resource:
A piece of retrievable information about network state, per
[RFC7285].
TIPS view (ts):
Defined in this document to be the container of incremental
transport information about the network information resource.
Though the TIPS view may include other transport information, it
has two basic components: updates graph (ug) and receiver set
(rs).
Updates graph (ug):
Contains a sequence of incremental updates and snapshots (called
update items) of a network information resource, based on the
iREST model defined above. Each incremental update is assigned a
sequence number, and a URI can be constructed using the sequence
numbers. A static network information resource (e.g., Cost Map,
Network Map) may need only a single updates graph. A dynamic
network information resource (e.g., Filtered Cost Map) may create
an updates graph (within a new TIPS view) for each unique filter
request.
Receiver set (rs):
The receiver set contains the set of clients who have requested to
receive server push updates.
Information Resource Directory (IRD):
Requested by an ALTO client to discover available information
resources provided by an ALTO server, per [RFC7285]. Each entry
in an IRD indicates a URI at which an ALTO server accepts
requests, and returns either an information resource or an
information resource directory that references additional
information resources. An ALTO server's IRD MAY define one or
more transport information publication services, which ALTO
clients use to request new TIPS instances.
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Figure 1 shows an example illustrating the TIPS abstraction. Each
ALTO client (Client 1, Client 2, or Client 3) maintains a single HTTP
connection with the ALTO server.
Network Information Resource:
a) Static resource (#1) such as NetworkMap
b) Filterable resource (#3) such as FilteredCostMap
+-------------+
+-----------+ +--------------+ | Dynamic | +-----------+
| Routing | | Provisioning | | Network | | External |
| Protocols | | Policy | | Information | | Interface |
+-----------+ +--------------+ +-------------+ +-----------+
| | | |
| | | |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------+
| ALTO Server |
| |
| +------------------------------------------------------------------+ |
| | Network Information | |
| | | |
| | +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ | |
| | | Information | | Information | | Information | | |
| | | Resource #1 | | Resource #2 | | Resource #3 | | |
| | +-------------+ +-------------+ +-------------+ | |
| | | / \ | |
| +-----|--------------------------------------/-------\-------------+ |
| | / \ |
| +-----|------------------------------------/-----------\-----------+ |
| | | Transport Information / \ | |
| | | / \ | |
| | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ | |
| | | tv1 |----+ +-----| tv2 | | tv3 |---+ | |
| | +--------+ | | +--------+ +--------+ | | |
| | | | | | | | | |
| | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+| |
| | | tv1/ug | | tv1/rs | | tv2/ug | | tv2/rs | | tv3/ug | | tv3/rs || |
| | +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+ +--------+| |
| +----|\---------/\---------|---------/---------------|-------------+ |
| | \ / \ | / | |
+------|--\-----/----\-------|-------/-----------------|---------------+
| \ / \ | / |
| +-/-----+ \ | / |
| / \ \ | / A single | A single
| / ==\==\===|===/== HTTP/2 or /3 ==|== HTTP/1.x
| / \ \ | / connection | connection
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+----------+ +----------+ +----------+
| Client 1 | | Client 2 | | Client 3 |
+----------+ +----------+ +----------+
tvi = TIPS view i
tvi/ug = incremental updates graph associated with tsi
tvi/rs = receiver set of tvi (for server push)
Figure 4: ALTO Transport Information
2.4. TIPS Workflow
The intended use case of TIPS is to run it as a service inside an
HTTP/2 or HTTP/3 connection (though it can run inside an HTTP/1.x
connection, without server push functionality). Specifically, an
ALTO client opens an HTTP connection with an ALTO server and uses
TIPS to retrieve a JSON object that contains a URI to a TIPS view of
each network information resource that the client wants to monitor,
along with a summary of each TIPS view (which provides, at minimum,
the start and end sequence number of the updates graph and a server-
recommended edge to consume first).
In the simplest use case, the TIPS view summary provides enough
information for the client to continuously pull each additional
update, resulting in the following workflow:
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Client TIPS
o .
| Open HTTP connection .
|-------------------------------------->|
| .
| POST to create/receive a TIPS view .
| for resource 1 .
| ------------------------------------> |
| <tips-view-uri1>, <tips-view-summary> .
|<------------------------------------- |
| .
| GET /<tips-view-uri1>/ug/<i>/<j> .
| --------------------------------------|
| content on edge i to j .
|<--------------------------------------|
| .
| GET /<tips-view-uri1>/ug/<j>/<j+1> .
| --------------------------------------|
| content on edge j to j+1 .
|<--------------------------------------|
| .
| DELETE TIPS view for resource 1 .
|-------------------------------------> |
| .
| Close HTTP connection .
|-------------------------------------->|
o
TIPS: Transport Information Publication Service
Figure 5: ALTO TIPS Workflow Supporting Client Pull.
A client that prefers server push can use the following workflow:
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Client TIPS
o .
| Open HTTP connection .
|-------------------------------------->|
| .
| POST to create/receive a TIPS view .
| for resource 1 and add .
| self to receiver set .
| ------------------------------------> |
| <tips-view-uri1>, <tips-view-summary> .
|<------------------------------------- |
| .
| PUSH <tips-view-uri1>/ug/<i>/<j> .
| <-------------------------------------|
| .
| PUSH <tips-view-uri1>/ug/<j>/<j+1> .
| <-------------------------------------|
| .
| PUT to remove self from receiver .
| set of resource 1 .
|-------------------------------------> |
| .
| Close HTTP connection .
|-------------------------------------->|
o
TIPS: Transport Information Publication Service
Figure 6: ALTO TIPS Workflow Supporting Server Push.
2.5. TIPS With HTTP/1.x
While TIPS is designed to take advantage of newer HTTP features, TIPS
still functions with HTTP/1.x for client pull functionality only,
with the limitation that it cannot cancel any outstanding requests or
fetch resources concurrently over the same connection.
3. TIPS Information Resource Directory (IRD) Announcement
An ALTO server's IRD (Information Resource Directory) MAY define one
or more transport information publication services, which ALTO
clients use to request new TIPS instances. An IRD entry defining a
TIPS MUST declare the "media-type", and specify "capabilities" and
"uses" as follows.
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3.1. Media Type
The media type of the Transport Information Publication Service
resource is "application/alto-tips+json".
3.2. Capabilities
The capabilities declaration of TIPS is modelled on that defined in
Section 6.3 of [RFC8895].
Specifically, the capabilities are defined as an object of type
TIPSCapabilities:
object {
IncrementalUpdateMediaTypes incremental-change-media-types;
Boolean support-server-push;
} TIPSCapabilities;
object-map {
ResourceID -> String;
} IncrementalUpdateMediaTypes;
with field:
incremental-change-media-types: If a TIPS can provide updates with
incremental changes for a resource, the "incremental-change-media-
types" field has an entry for that resource-id, and the value is
the supported media types of the incremental change separated by
commas. For the implementation of this specification, this will
be "application/merge-patch+json", "application/json-patch+json",
or "application/merge-patch+json,application/json-patch+json".
Future extensions may define other types of incremental changes.
When choosing the media types to encode incremental updates for a
resource, the server MUST consider the limitations of the
encoding. For example, when a JSON merge patch specifies that the
value of a field is null, its semantics are that the field is
removed from the target and hence the field is no longer defined
(i.e., undefined). This, however, may not be the intended result
for the resource, when null and undefined have different semantics
for the resource. In such a case, the server MUST choose JSON
patch over JSON merge patch if JSON patch is indicated as a
capability of the TIPS. If the server does not support JSON patch
to handle such a case, the server then needs to send a full
replacement.
support-server-push: The "support-server-push" field specifies
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whether the given TIPS supports server push. If the "support-
server-push" field is TRUE, this TIPS will allow a client to start
or stop server push. If the field is FALSE or not present, this
TIPS does not provide server push.
3.3. Uses
The "uses" attribute MUST be an array with the resource-ids of every
network information resource for which this TIPS can provide service.
This set may be any subset of the ALTO server's network information
resources and may include resources defined in linked IRDs. However,
it is RECOMMENDED that the ALTO server selects a set that is closed
under the resource dependency relationship. That is, if a TIPS'
"uses" set includes resource R1 and resource R1 depends on ("uses")
resource R0, then the TIPS' "uses" set SHOULD include R0 as well as
R1. For example, a TIPS for a cost map SHOULD also provide a TIPS
view for the network map upon which that cost map depends.
3.4. Example
Extending the IRD example in Section 8.1 of [RFC8895], below is the
IRD of an ALTO server supporting ALTO base protocol, ALTO/SSE, and
ALTO TIPS.
"my-network-map": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/networkmap",
"media-type": "application/alto-networkmap+json",
},
"my-routingcost-map": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/costmap/routingcost",
"media-type": "application/alto-costmap+json",
"uses": ["my-networkmap"],
"capabilities": {
"cost-type-names": ["num-routingcost"]
}
},
"my-hopcount-map": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/costmap/hopcount",
"media-type": "application/alto-costmap+json",
"uses": ["my-networkmap"],
"capabilities": {
"cost-type-names": ["num-hopcount"]
}
},
"my-filtered-cost-map": {
"uri":
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"https://alto.example.com/costmap/filtered/constraints",
"media-type": "application/alto-costmap+json",
"accepts": "application/alto-costmapfilter+json",
"uses": ["my-networkmap"],
"capabilities": {
"cost-type-names": ["num-routingcost", "num-hopcount"],
"cost-constraints": true
}
},
"my-simple-filtered-cost-map": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/costmap/filtered/simple",
"media-type": "application/alto-costmap+json",
"accepts": "application/alto-costmapfilter+json",
"uses": ["my-networkmap"],
"capabilities": {
"cost-type-names": ["num-routingcost", "num-hopcount"],
"cost-constraints": false
}
},
"my-props": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/properties",
"media-type": "application/alto-endpointprops+json",
"accepts": "application/alto-endpointpropparams+json",
"capabilities": {
"prop-types": ["priv:ietf-bandwidth"]
}
},
"my-pv": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/endpointcost/pv",
"media-type": "multipart/related;
type=application/alto-endpointcost+json",
"accepts": "application/alto-endpointcostparams+json",
"capabilities": {
"cost-type-names": [ "path-vector" ],
"ane-properties": [ "maxresbw", "persistent-entities" ]
}
},
"update-my-costs": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/updates/costs",
"media-type": "text/event-stream",
"accepts": "application/alto-updatestreamparams+json",
"uses": [
"my-network-map",
"my-routingcost-map",
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"my-hopcount-map",
"my-simple-filtered-cost-map"
],
"capabilities": {
"incremental-change-media-types": {
"my-network-map": "application/json-patch+json",
"my-routingcost-map": "application/merge-patch+json",
"my-hopcount-map": "application/merge-patch+json"
},
"support-stream-control": true
}
},
"update-my-costs-tips": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/updates-new/costs",
"media-type": "application/alto-tips+json",
"accepts": "application/alto-tipsparams+json",
"uses": [
"my-network-map",
"my-routingcost-map",
"my-hopcount-map",
"my-simple-filtered-cost-map"
],
"capabilities": {
"incremental-change-media-types": {
"my-network-map": "application/json-patch+json",
"my-routingcost-map": "application/merge-patch+json",
"my-hopcount-map": "application/merge-patch+json",
"my-simple-filtered-cost-map": "application/merge-patch+json"
},
"support-server-push": true
}
},
"update-my-props": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/updates/properties",
"media-type": "text/event-stream",
"uses": [ "my-props" ],
"accepts": "application/alto-updatestreamparams+json",
"capabilities": {
"incremental-change-media-types": {
"my-props": "application/merge-patch+json"
},
"support-stream-control": true
}
},
"update-my-pv": {
"uri": "https://alto.example.com/updates/pv",
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"media-type": "text/event-stream",
"uses": [ "my-pv" ],
"accepts": "application/alto-updatestreamparams+json",
"capabilities": {
"incremental-change-media-types": {
"my-pv": "application/merge-patch+json"
},
"support-stream-control": true
}
}
Note that it is straightforward for an ALTO sever to run HTTP/2 and
support concurrent retrieval of multiple resources such as "my-
network-map" and "my-routingcost-map" using multiple HTTP/2 streams.
The resource "update-my-costs-tips" provides an ALTO TIPS based
connection, and this is indicated by the media-type "application/
alto-tips+json".
4. TIPS Open/Close
Upon request, a server sends a TIPS view to a client. This TIPS view
may be created at the time of the request or may already exist
(either because another client has an active connection to a TIPS
view for the same requested network resource or because the server
perpetually maintains a TIPS view for an often requested resource).
The server MAY keep track of which clients have an active connection
to each TIPS view to determine whether or not it should delete a TIPS
view and its corresponding updates graph and associated data.
4.1. Open Request
An ALTO client requests that the server provide a TIPS view for a
given resource by sending an HTTP POST body with the media type
"application/alto-tipsparams+json". That body contains a JSON object
of type TIPSReq, where:
object {
ResourceID resource-id;
[JSONString tag;]
[Object input;]
[Boolean server-push;]
} TIPSReq;
with the following fields:
resource-id: The resource-id of an ALTO resource and MUST be in the
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TIPS' "uses" list (Section 3). If a client does not support all
incremental methods from the set announced in the server's
capabilities, the client MUST NOT use the TIPS service.
tag: If the resource-id is a GET-mode resource with a version tag
(or "vtag"), as defined in Sections 6.3 and 10.3 of [RFC7285], and
the ALTO client has previously retrieved a version of that
resource from ALTO, the ALTO client MAY set the "tag" field to the
tag part of the client's version of that resource. The server MAY
use the tag when calculating a recommended starting edge for the
client to consume. Note that the client MUST support all
incremental methods from the set announced in the server's
capabilities for this resource.
input: If the resource is a POST-mode service that requires input,
the ALTO client MUST set the "input" field to a JSON object with
the parameters that the resource expects.
server-push: Set to TRUE if a client desires to receive updates via
server push. If the value is FALSE or not present, the client
does not accept server push updates.
4.2. Open Response
The response to a valid request MUST be a JSON object of type
AddTIPSResponse, denoted as media type "application/alto-tips+json":
object {
JSONString tips-view-uri;
TIPSViewSummary tips-view-summary;
} AddTIPSResponse;
object {
UpdatesGraphSummary updates-graph-summary;
[Boolean server-push;]
} TIPSViewSummary;
object {
JSONNumber start-seq;
JSONNumber end-seq;
StartEdgeRec start-edge-rec;
} UpdatesGraphSummary;
object {
JSONNumber seq-i;
JSONNumber seq-j;
} StartEdgeRec;
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with the following fields:
tips-view-uri: Relative URI to the TIPS view of a network resource.
When creating the URI for the TIPS view, TIPS MUST NOT use other
properties of an HTTP request, such as cookies or the client's IP
address, to determine the TIPS view. Furthermore, TIPS MUST NOT
reuse a URI for a different object in the same connection.
It is expected that there is an internal mechanism to map a tips-
view-uri to the TIPS view to be accessed. For example, TIPS may
assign a unique, internal state id to each TIPS view instance.
However, the exact mechanism is left to the TIPS provider.
tips-view-summary: Contains both an updates-graph-summary and an
optional server-push boolean value which is set to TRUE if and
only if the client indicates server push.
The updates-graph-summary field contains the starting sequence
number (start-seq) of the updates graph and the last sequence
number (end-seq) that is currently available, along with a
recommended edge to consume (start-edge-rec). How the server
calculates the recommended edge depends on the implementation.
Ideally, if the client does not provide a version tag, the server
should recommend the edge of the latest snapshot available. If
the client does provide a version tag, the server should calculate
the cumulative size of the patch updates availabe from that
version onward and compare it to the size of the complete resource
snapshot. If the snapshot is bigger, the server should recommend
the first patch update edge starting from client's tagged version.
Else, the server should recommend the latest snapshot edge. If
the client indicates server push, the recommended edge will be the
first content pushed.
If the request has any errors, the TIPS service MUST return an HTTP
"400 Bad Request" to the ALTO client; the body of the response
follows the generic ALTO error response format specified in
Section 8.5.2 of [RFC7285]. Hence, an example ALTO error response
has the format:
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HTTP/1.1 400 Bad Request
Content-Length: 131
Content-Type: application/alto-error+json
Connection: Closed
{
"meta":{
"code": "E_INVALID_FIELD_VALUE",
"field": "resource-id",
"value": "my-network-map/#"
}
}
Note that "field" and "value" are optional fields. If the "value"
field exists, the "field" field MUST exist.
* If the TIPS request does not have a "resource-id" field, the error
code of the error message MUST be E_MISSING_FIELD and the "field"
field SHOULD be "resource-id". The TIPS service MUST NOT create
any TIPS view.
* If the "resource-id" field is invalid or is not associated with
the TIPS, the error code of the error message MUST be
E_INVALID_FIELD_VALUE. The "field" field SHOULD be the full path
of the "resource-id" field, and the "value" field SHOULD be the
invalid resource-id.
* If the resource is a POST-mode service that requires input, the
client MUST set the "input" field to a JSON object with the
parameters that that resource expects. If the "input" field is
missing or invalid, TIPS MUST return the same error response that
resource would return for missing or invalid input (see
[RFC7285]).
4.3. Open Example
For simplicity, assume that the ALTO server is using the Basic
authentication. If a client with username "client1" and password
"helloalto" wants to create a TIPS view of an ALTO Cost Map resource
with resource ID "my-routingcost-map", it can send the following
request:
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POST /tips HTTP/1.1
Host: alto.example.com
Accept: application/alto-tips+json, application/alto-error+json
Authorization: Basic Y2xpZW50MTpoZWxsb2FsdG8K
Content-Type: application/alto-tipsparams+json
Content-Length: 41
{
"resource-id": "my-routingcost-map"
}
If the operation is successful, the ALTO server returns the following
message:
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/alto-tips+json
Content-Length: 291
{
"tips-view-uri": "/tips/2718281828459",
"tips-view-summary": {
"updates-graph-summary": {
"start-seq": 101,
"end-seq": 106,
"start-edge-rec" : {
"seq-i": 0,
"seq-j": 105
}
},
"server-push": false
}
}
4.4. Close Request
An ALTO client can indicate it no longer desires to pull/receive
updates for a specific network resource by "deleting" the TIPS view
using the returned tips-view-uri and the HTTP DELETE method. Whether
or not the server actually deletes the TIPS view is implementation
dependent. Likely, a server will remove the client from a dependency
set associated with the TIPS view. A server will not want to delete
a TIPS view if another client is using it. The DELETE request looks
like:
DELETE /<tips-view-uri>
The response to a valid request MUST be 200 if success, and the
corresponding error code if there is any error.
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If the connection between the client and TIPS provider is severed
without a DELETE request having been sent, the server MUST treat it
as if the client had sent a DELETE request because the TIPS view is,
at least from the client view, per-session based.
5. TIPS View Metadata Directory
An ALTO client can read the metadata directory of the TIPS view to
understand its full contents beyond the intial summary provided.
5.1. Request
An ALTO client requests the updates graph's metadata directory by
sending an HTTP GET request with the media type "application/alto-
tipsview+json". The GET request looks like:
GET /<tips-view-uri>
An ALTO client can also read the metadata directory of just the the
updates graph (perhaps to calculate a new shortest path to the end of
the graph after not having fetched for a period of time). The HTTP
method is a GET, and looks like:
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug
An ALTO client can also read the metadata of an individual edge in
the updates graph. The HTTP method is a GET, and looks like:
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug/meta/<i>/<j>
5.2. Response
If the TIPS view is closed, the ALTO server MUST return an error HTTP
message with status code 404 (Not Found) and media type "application/
alto-error+json".
The response from the server, if no error, for the entire metadata
directory of the TIPS view is the UpdatesDirectory object indicated
as "application/alto-tipsview+json" media type:
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object {
GraphDirMeta meta;
UpdatesGraph updates-graph;
PushState push-state;
} UpdatesDirectory : ResponseEntityBase;
object {
ResourceID resource-id;
Tag tag;
} GraphDirMeta;
object-map {
JSONString -> EndSeqUpdates;
} UpdatesGraph;
object-map {
JSONString -> UpdateItemMeta;
} EndSeqUpdates;
object {
JSONString media-type;
JSONString tag;
JSONNumber size;
} UpdateItemMeta;
object {
Boolean server-push;
NextEdge next-edge;
} PushState;
object {
JSONNumber seq-i;
JSONNumber seq-j;
} NextEdge;
with the following fields:
meta: Specifies the network resource-id TIPS view to which the
directory corresponds and the version tag of the directory itself.
updates-graph: Contains a map of edges in the updates graph (start-
seq to end-seq). Each edge has a corresponding update-item-meta
which includes the edge's media type, resource version tag, and
size of the content in kilobytes. Note that two different edges
will share the same resource version tag if they connect to the
same end-seq node in the graph.
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push-state: Contains server-push boolean which is set to TRUE if the
client has indicated server push. Otherwise, it is set to FALSE.
push-state also contains next-edge which indicates the next edge
that will be pushed to the client. If server-push is FALSE, next-
edge is NULL.
5.3. Example
GET /tips/2718281828459 HTTP/1.1
Host: alto.example.com
Accept: application/alto-tipsview+json, application/alto-error+json
Authorization: Basic Y2xpZW50MTpoZWxsb2FsdG8K
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/alto-tipsview+json
Content-Length: 1239
{
"meta": {
"resource-id": "2718281828459",
"tag": "125351264356"
},
"updates-graph": {
"0": {
"101": {
"media-type": "alto-costmap+json",
"tag": "109783421097", "size": 1000000 },
"103": {
"media-type": "alto-costmap+json",
"tag": "123400881080", "size": 1004000 },
"105": {
"media-type": "alto-costmap+json",
"tag": "123567838392", "size": 1008033 }
},
"101": {
"102": {
"media-type": "application/merge-patch+json",
"tag": "123566431234", "size": 4040}
},
"102": {
"103": {
"media-type": "application/merge-patch+json",
"tag": "123400881080", "size": 3000}
},
"103": {
"104": {
"media-type": "application/merge-patch+json",
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"tag": "123566452654", "size": 8000}
},
"104": {
"105": {
"media-type": "application/merge-patch+json",
"tag": "123567838392", "size": 10000}
},
"105": {
"106": {
"media-type": "application/merge-patch+json",
"tag": "123566470983", "size": 4040}
}
},
"push-state": {
"server-push": false,
"next-edge": null
}
}
5.4. Refresh Directory
An ALTO client can refresh the updates graph directory without re-
fetching the whole updates graph object.
5.4.1. Request
An ALTO client requests the TIPS view metadata directory by sending
an HTTP GET request with the media type "application/alto-
tipsview+json" and the version tag of the TIPS view directory it has
currently. The GET request looks like:
POST /tips/2718281828459 HTTP/1.1
Host: alto.example.com
Accept: application/alto-tipsview+json,
application/merge-patch+json,
application/alto-error+json
Authorization: Basic Y2xpZW50MTpoZWxsb2FsdG8K
Content-Type: application/alto-tipsparams+json
Content-Length: 43
{
"tag": "125351264356"
}
5.4.2. Response
The server may return the whole directory or the incremental changes,
using merge-patch. A patch response looks like:
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HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/merge-patch+json
Content-Length: 212
{
"meta": {
"tag": "543353364839"
},
"updates-map": {
"0": {
"101": null,
"107": {...}
},
"101": null,
"102": null
}
}
5.5. Server Updates Directory Invariants
A server may change its updates graph (to compact, etc.), but it must
satisfy the following invariants:
* Continuity: ns -> ne, anything in between ns and ne also exists
(implies ni -> ni + 1 patch exists), where ns is start-seq and ne
is end-seq
* Feasibility: let n0 denote the smallest version in N (where N is
the complete set of nodes in the updates graph), the server can
provide a snapshot of n0. In other words, there is always a
direct link to ns
* "Right shift" only: if a server provides [n1, n2] at time t and
[n1', n2'] at time t'. If t' > t and get [n1', n2'], then n1' >=
n1 and n2' >= n2.
For example, using the example model in Section 2.1, assume at time
0, the server provides the valid set [101, 102, 103, 104, 105, 106].
At time 1, both [103, 104, 105, 106] and [105, 106] are valid sets.
However, [102, 103, 104, 105, 106] is not a valid set as there is no
snapshot of the version at 102 and [104, 105, 106] is not a valid set
as there is no snapshot of the version at 104. Thus, there is a risk
that the right content of the version at 102, in the first example,
and 104, in the second example, cannot be obtained by a client that
does not have the previous version at 101 or 103, respectively.
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6. TIPS Data Transfers - Client Pull
TIPS allows an ALTO client to retrieve the content of an update item
from the updates graph, with an update item defined as the content
(patch or snapshot) on an edge in the updates graph.
6.1. Request
The client sends an HTTP GET request, where the media type of an
update item resource MUST be the same as the "media-type" field of
the update item on the specified edge in the updates graph.
For example, if the client wants to query the content of the first
update item (0 -> 101) whose media type is "application/alto-
costmap+json", it must set the "Accept" header to "application/alto-
costmap+json, application/alto-error+json" in the request.
The GET request looks like
GET /<tips-view-uri>/ug/<i>/<j>
For example, if the client wants to query the content of the first
update item (0 -> 101), it can send a request to
"/tips/2718281828459/ug/0/101".
6.2. Response
If the request is valid (ug/<i>/<j> exists), the response is encoded
as a JSON object whose data format is indicated by the media type.
It is possible that a client conducts proactive fetching of future
updates, by long pulling updates that have not been listed in the
directory yet. For long-pull prefetch, the client must have
indicated the media type which may appear. It is RECOMMENDED that
the server allows for at least the prefetch of <end-seq> -> <end-seq
+ 1>
Hence, the server processing logic SHOULD be:
* If ug/<i>/<j> exists: return content using encoding.
* Else if ug/<i>/<j> pre-fetch is acceptable: put request in a
backlog queue.
* Else: return error.
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6.2.1. Server Processing "Error" Conditions
It is RECOMMENDED that the server uses the following HTTP codes to
indicate errors, with the media type "application/alto-error+json",
regarding update item requests.
* 404 (Not Found): if the requested TIPS view does not exist or is
closed.
* 410 (Gone): if an update has a seq that is smaller than the start-
seq.
* 415 (Unsupported Media Type): if the media type(s) accepted by the
client does not include the media type of the update chosen by the
server.
* 425 (Too Early): if the seq exceeds the server prefetch window
* 429 (Too Many Requests): when the number of pending (long-pull)
requests exceeds server threshold. Server may indicate when to
re-try the request in the "Re-Try After" headers.
6.3. Example
Assume the client wants to get the contents of the update item on
edge 0 to 101. The request is:
GET /tips/2718281828459/ug/0/101 HTTP/1.1
Host: alto.example.com
Accept: application/alto-costmap+json, application/alto-error+json
And the response will be
HTTP/1.1 200 OK
Content-Type: application/alto-costmap+json
Content-Length: 50
{ ... full replacement of my-routingcost-map ... }
7. TIPS Data Transfer - Server Push
TIPS allows an ALTO client to receive an update item pushed by the
ALTO server.
If a client registers for server push, it should not request updates
via pull to avoid receiving the same information twice, unless the
client does not receive the expected updates (see Section 8.4).
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7.1. Manage Server Push
A client starts to receive server push when it is added to the
receiver set. A client can read the status of the push state and
remove itself from the receiver set to stop server push.
7.1.1. Start Server Push
A client can add itself explicitly to the receiver set or add itself
to the receiver set when requesting the TIPS view.
Explicit add: A client can explicitly add itself in the receiver set
by using the HTTP PUT method with media type "application/alto-
tipsview+json", where the client may optionally specify a starting
edge (next-edge) from which it would like to receive updates:
PUT /<tips-view-uri>/push
object {
Boolean server-push;
[NextEdge next-edge;]
} PushState;
object {
JSONNumber seq-i;
JSONNumber seq-j;
} NextEdge;
with the following fields:
server-push: Set to true if the client desires to receive server
push updates.
next-edge: Optional field to request a starting edge to be pushed if
the client has pulled the updates graph directory and has
calculated the path it desires to take. The server is MAY push
this edge first if available.
Short cut add: When requesting a TIPS view, an ALTO client can start
server push by setting the option "server-push" field to be true
using the HTTP POST method defined in Section 4.1.
Example of a client requesting a TIPS view and starting server push:
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Client -> server request
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:method = POST
:scheme = https
:path = /tips
host = alto.example.com
accept = application/alto-error+json,
application/alto-tips+json
content-type = application/alto-tips+json
content-length = 69
DATA
- END_STREAM
{
"resource-id": "my-routingcost-map",
["server-push": true]
}
Server -> client response:
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:status = 200
content-type = application/alto-tips+json
content-length = 196
DATA
- END_STREAM
{
"tips-view-uri": "/tips/2718281828459",
"tips-view-summary": {
"updates-graph-summary": {
"start-seq": 101,
"end-seq": 106,
"start-edge-rec" : {
"seq-i": 0,
"seq-j": 105
}
},
"server-push": true
}
}
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7.1.2. Read Push State
A client can use the HTTP GET method, with accept header set to
"application/alto-tipsview+json" (defined in Section 7.1.1) to check
the status of server push.
GET /<tips-view-uri>/push
Example:
Client -> server request
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:method = GET
:scheme = https
:path = /tips/2718281828459/push
host = alto.example.com
accept = application/alto-error+json,
application/alto-tipsview+json
Server -> client response:
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:status = 200
content-type = application/alto-tipsview+json
content-length = 519
DATA
- END_STREAM
{
"server-push": true;
"next-edge": {
"seq-i": 0,
"seq-j": 105
}
}
7.1.3. Stop Push
A client can stop receiving server push updates either explicitly or
implicitly.
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Explicit stop: A client stops push by using the HTTP PUT method to
/<tips-view-uri>/push, with content type "application/alto-
tipsview+json" and setting server-push to FALSE:
Implicit stop: (1) TIPS view is connection ephemeral: the close of
connection or stream for the TIPS view deletes the TIPS view from the
view of the client. (2) The client sends a DELETE /<tips-view-uri>
request, indicating it no longer is interested in the resource, which
also deletes the client from the push receiver set if present.
Note that a client may choose to explicitly stop server push for a
resource, but may not delete the TIPS view so that it can switch
seemlessly from server push to client pull in the case that the
server push frequency is undesirable, without having to request a new
TIPS view.
Example of explicit stop:
Client -> server request
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:method = PUT
:scheme = https
:path = /tips/2718281828459/push
host = alto.example.com
accept = application/alto-error+json
content-type = application/alto-tipsview+json
content-length = 69
DATA
- END_STREAM
{
"server-push": false
}
Server-> client response
HEADERS
- END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:status = 200
7.2. Server Push of Incremental Updates
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7.2.1. Server Push
The objective of the server is to push the latest version to the
client using the lowest cost (sum of size) of the updates. Hence, it
is RECOMMENDED that the server computes the push path using the
following algorithm, upon each event computing a push:
* Compute client current version (n_c). During initialization, if
the TIPS view request has a tag, find that version; otherwise n_c
= 0
* Compute the shortest path from current version to latest version,
n_c, n1, ... n_e (latest version). Note that the shortest path
may not involve the tagged version and instead follow the edge
from 0 to the latest snapshot.
* push /<tips-view-uri>/ug/n_c/n1
Note
* Initialization: the client MUST set SETTINGS_ENABLE_PUSH to be
consistent. If the client specifically requests a starting edge
to be pushed, the server MAY start with that edge, even if it is
not the shortest path.
* Push state: the server MUST maintain the last entry pushed to the
client (and hence per client, per connection state) and schedule
next update push accordingly.
* Push management: The client MUST NOT cancel (RST_STREAM) a
PUSH_PROMISE to avoid complex server state management.
7.2.2. Examples
Using the example updates graph in Section 2.1, a client can wait on
the server for incremental push, where the server first sends
PUSH_PROMISE:
Server -> client PUSH_PROMISE in current stream:
PUSH_PROMISE
- END_STREAM
Promised Stream 4
HEADER BLOCK
:method = GET
:scheme = https
:path = /tips/2718281828459/ug/0/101
host = alto.example.com
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accept = application/alto-error+json,
application/alto-costmap+json
Server -> client content Stream 4:
HEADERS
+ END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:status = 200
content-type = application/alto-costmap+json
content-length = 539
DATA
+ END_STREAM
{
"meta" : {
"dependent-vtags" : [{
"resource-id": "my-network-map",
"tag": "da65eca2eb7a10ce8b059740b0b2e3f8eb1d4785"
}],
"cost-type" : {
"cost-mode" : "numerical",
"cost-metric": "routingcost"
},
"vtag": {
"resource-id" : "my-routingcost-map",
"tag" : "3ee2cb7e8d63d9fab71b9b34cbf764436315542e"
}
},
"cost-map" : {
"PID1": { "PID1": 1, "PID2": 5, "PID3": 10 },
"PID2": { "PID1": 5, "PID2": 1, "PID3": 15 },
"PID3": { "PID1": 20, "PID2": 15 }
}
}
Server -> client PUSH_PROMISE in current stream:
PUSH_PROMISE
- END_STREAM
Promised Stream 6
HEADER BLOCK
:method = GET
:scheme = https
:path = /tips/2718281828459/ug/101/102
host = alto.example.com
accept = application/alto-error+json,
application/merge-patch+json
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Server -> client content Stream 6
HEADERS
+ END_STREAM
+ END_HEADERS
:status = 200
content-type = application/merge-patch+json
content-length = 7
DATA
+ END_STREAM
{
"meta": {
"vtag": {
"tag": "c0ce023b8678a7b9ec00324673b98e54656d1f6d"
}
},
"cost-map": {
"PID1": {
"PID2": 9
},
"PID3": {
"PID1": null,
"PID3": 1
}
}
}
7.3. Server Push Stream Management
7.3.1. Server -> Client [PUSH_PROMISE for updates graph on Stream
SID_tq]
The server push MUST satisfy the following requirements:
* PUSH_PROMISE MUST be sent in stream SID_tq to serialize and allow
the client to know the push order;
* Each PUSH_PROMISE chooses a new server-selected stream ID, and the
stream is closed after push.
8. Operation and Processing Considerations
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8.1. Considerations for Load Balancing
TIPS allow clients to make concurrent pulls of the incremental
updates potentianlly through different HTTP connections. As a
consequence, it introduces additional complexties when the ALTO
server is being load balanced -- a feature widely used to build
scalable and fault-tolerant web services. For example, a request may
be incorrectly processed if
* the backend servers are stateful, i.e., the TIPS view is created
and stored only on a single server;
* the ALTO server is using layer-4 load balancing, i.e., the
requests are distributed based on the TCP 5-tuple.
Thus, additional considerations are required to enable correct load
balancing for TIPS, including:
* Use a stateless architecture: One solution is to follow the
stateless computing pattern: states about the TIPS view are not
maintained by the backend servers but are stored in a distributed
database. Thus, concurrent requests to the same TIPS view can be
processed on arbitrary stateless backend servers, which all
fetches data from the same database.
* Configure the load balancers properly: In case when the backend
servers are stateful, the load balancers must be properly
configured to guarantee that requests of the same TIPS view always
arrive at the same server. For example, the ALTO server may
configure layer-7 load balancers that distribute requests based on
URL or cookies.
8.2. Considerations for Choosing Updates
TIPS should be cognizant of the effects of its update schedule, which
includes both the choice of timing (i.e., when/what to trigger an
update on the updates graph) and the choice of message format (i.e.,
given an update, send a full replacement or an incremental change).
In particular, the update schedule can have effects on both the
overhead and the freshness of information. To minimize overhead,
TIPS may choose to batch a sequence of updates for resources that
frequently change by cumulative updates or a full replacement after a
while. TIPS should be cognizant that batching reduces the freshness
of information. The server should also consider the effect of such
delays on client behaviors.
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For incremental updates, this design allows both JSON patch and JSON
merge patch for incremental changes. JSON merge patch is clearly
superior to JSON patch for describing incremental changes to cost
maps, endpoint costs, and endpoint properties. For these data
structures, JSON merge patch is more space efficient, as well as
simpler to apply. There is no advantage allowing a server to use
JSON patch for those resources.
The case is not as clear for incremental changes to network maps.
First, consider small changes, such as moving a prefix from one PID
to another. JSON patch could encode that as a simple insertion and
deletion, while JSON merge patch would have to replace the entire
array of prefixes for both PIDs. On the other hand, to process a
JSON patch update, the ALTO client would have to retain the indexes
of the prefixes for each PID. Logically, the prefixes in a PID are
an unordered set, not an array; aside from handling updates, a client
has no need to retain the array indexes of the prefixes. Hence, to
take advantage of JSON patch for network maps, ALTO clients would
have to retain additional, otherwise unnecessary, data.
Second, consider more involved changes, such as removing half of the
prefixes from a PID. JSON merge patch would send a new array for
that PID, while JSON patch would have to send a list of remove
operations and delete the prefix one by one.
Therefore, each TIPS may decide on its own whether to use JSON merge
patch or JSON patch according to the changes in network maps.
8.3. Considerations for Cross-Resource Dependency Scheduling
Dependent ALTO resources result in cross-resource dependenies in
TIPS. Consider the following pair of resources, where my-cost-map is
dependent on my-network-map:
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
my-network-map (N) | 0 |-->|101|-->|102|-->|103|-->|104|
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
| \ \
| \ \
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
my-cost-map (C) | 0 |-->|101|-->|102|-->|103|-->|104|
+---+ +---+ +---+ +---+ +---+
|_______________________|
Figure 7: Example Dependency Model
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In pull-mode, a client can decide the order in which to receive the
updates.
In push-mode, the server must decide. Pushing order may affect how
fast the client can build a consistent view and how long the client
needs to buffer the update.
* Example 1: The server pushes N101, N102, N103, C101, C102 in that
order. The client either gets no consistent view of the resources
or it has to buffer N2 and N3
* Example 2: The server pushes C1, C2, C3, N1. The client either
gets no consistent view or it has to buffer C3.
Therefore, the server is RECOMMENDED to push updates in the ascending
order of the smallest dependent tag, e.g., {C1, C2, N1} before {C3,
N2}
8.4. Considerations for Client Processing Updates
In general, when an ALTO client receives a full replacement for a
resource, the ALTO client should replace the current version with the
new version. When an ALTO client receives an incremental change for
a resource, the ALTO client should apply those patches to the current
version of the resource.
However, because resources can depend on other resources (e.g., cost
maps depend on network maps), an ALTO client MUST NOT use a dependent
resource if the resource on which it depends has changed. There are
at least two ways an ALTO client can do that. The following
paragraphs illustrate these techniques by referring to network and
cost map messages, although these techniques apply to any dependent
resources.
Note that when a network map changes, the server SHOULD send the
network map update message before sending the updates for the
dependent cost maps.
One approach is for the ALTO client to save the network map update
message in a buffer and continue to use the previous network map and
the associated cost maps until the ALTO client receives the update
messages for all dependent cost maps. The ALTO client then applies
all network and cost map updates atomically.
Alternatively, the ALTO client MAY update the network map
immediately. In this case, the cost maps using the network map
become invalid because they are inconsistent with the current network
map; hence, the ALTO client MUST mark each such dependent cost map as
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temporarily invalid and MUST NOT use each such cost map until the
ALTO client receives a cost map update indicating that it is based on
the new network map version tag.
When implementing server push, the server SHOULD send updates for
dependent resource (i.e., the cost maps in the preceding example) in
a timely fashion. However, if the ALTO client does not receive the
expected updates, a simple recovery method is that the ALTO client
uses client pull to request the missing update. The ALTO client MAY
retain the version tag of the last version of any tagged resources
and search those version tags when identifying the new updates to
pull. Although not as efficient as possible, this recovery method is
simple and reliable.
8.5. Considerations for Updates to Filtered Cost Maps
If TIPS provides updates to a Filtered Cost Map that allows
constraint tests, then an ALTO client MAY request updates to a
Filtered Cost Map request with a constraint test. In this case, when
a cost changes, the updates graph MUST have an update if the new
value satisfies the test. If the new value does not, whether there
is an update depends on whether the previous value satisfied the
test. If it did not, the updates graph SHOULD NOT have an update.
But if the previous value did, then the updates graph MUST add an
update with a "null" value to inform the ALTO client that this cost
no longer satisfies the criteria.
TIPS can avoid having to handle such a complicated behavior by
offering TIPS only for Filtered Cost Maps that do not allow
constraint tests.
8.6. Considerations for Updates to Ordinal Mode Costs
For an ordinal mode cost map, a change to a single cost point may
require updating many other costs. As an extreme example, suppose
the lowest cost changes to the highest cost. For a numerical mode
cost map, only that one cost changes. But for an ordinal mode cost
map, every cost might change. While this document allows TIPS to
offer incremental updates for ordinal mode cost maps, TIPS
implementors should be aware that incremental updates for ordinal
costs are more complicated than for numerical costs, and ALTO clients
should be aware that small changes may result in large updates.
A TIPS can avoid this complication by only offering full replacements
as updates in the updates graph for ordinal cost maps.
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9. Security Considerations
The security considerations (Section 15 of [RFC7285]) of the base
protocol fully apply to this extension. For example, the same
authenticity and integrity considerations (Section 15.1 of [RFC7285])
still fully apply; the same considerations for the privacy of ALTO
users (Section 15.4 of [RFC7285]) also still fully apply.
The additional services (addition of update read service and update
push service) provided by this extension extend the attack surface
described in Section 15.1.1 of [RFC7285]. Below, we discuss the
additional risks and their remedies.
9.1. TIPS: Denial-of-Service Attacks
Allowing TIPS views enables a new class of Denial-of-Service attacks.
In particular, For the TIPS server, an ALTO client might create an
unreasonable number of TIPS views.
To avoid these attacks on the TIPS server, the server SHOULD choose
to limit the number of active views and reject new requests when that
threshold is reached. TIPS allows predictive fetching and the server
SHOULD also choose to limit the number of pending requests. In these
cases, the server SHOULD return the HTTP status "429 Too many
requests".
It is important to note that the preceding approaches are not the
only possibilities. For example, it may be possible for TIPS to use
somewhat more clever logic involving IP reputation, rate-limiting,
and compartmentalization of the overall threshold into smaller
thresholds that apply to subsets of potential clients.
9.2. ALTO Client: Update Overloading or Instability
The availability of continuous updates, when the client indicates
receiving server push, can also cause overload for an ALTO client, in
particular, an ALTO client with limited processing capabilities. The
current design does not include any flow control mechanisms for the
client to reduce the update rates from the server. Under
overloading, the client MAY choose to remove the information
resources with high update rates.
Also, under overloading, the client may no longer be able to detect
whether information is still fresh or has become stale. In such a
case, the client should be careful in how it uses the information to
avoid stability or efficiency issues.
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9.3. Spoofed URI
An outside party that can read the TIPS response or that can observe
TIPS requests can obtain the TIPS view URI and use that to send
fraudulent "DELETE" requests, thus disabling the service for the
valid ALTO client. This can be avoided by encrypting the requests
and responses (see Section 15 of [RFC7285]).
10. IANA Considerations
IANA is requested to register the following media type under ALTO
registry as defined in [RFC7285]:
* application/alto-tips+json: as described in Section 4.2;
* application/alto-tipsparams+json: as described in Section 4.1;
* application/alto-tipsview+json: as described in Section 5.2
10.1. application/alto-tips+json Media Type
Type name: application
Subtype name: alto-tips+json
Required parameters: N/A
Optional parameters: N/A
Encoding considerations: Encoding considerations are identical to
those specified for the "application/json" media type. See
[RFC8259].
Security considerations: Security considerations relating to the
generation and consumption of ALTO Protocol messages are discussed
in Section 10 of [RFC8895] and Section 15 of [RFC7285].
Interoperability considerations: This document specifies format of
conforming messages and the interpretation thereof.
Published specification: Section 4.2 of this document.
Applications that use this media type: ALTO servers and ALTO clients
either stand alone or are embedded within other applications.
Fragment identifier considerations: N/A
Additional information:
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Deprecated alias names for this type: N/A
Magic number(s): N/A
File extension(s): This document uses the media type to refer to
protocol messages and thus does not require a file extension.
Macintosh file type code(s): N/A
Person and email address to contact for further information: See Aut
hors' Addresses section.
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: N/A
Author: See Authors' Addresses section.
Change controller: Internet Engineering Task Force
(mailto:iesg@ietf.org).
10.2. application/alto-tipsparams+json Media Type
Type name: application
Subtype name: alto-tipsparams+json
Required parameters: N/A
Optional parameters: N/A
Encoding considerations: Encoding considerations are identical to
those specified for the "application/json" media type. See
[RFC8259].
Security considerations: Security considerations relating to the
generation and consumption of ALTO Protocol messages are discussed
in Section 10 of [RFC8895] and Section 15 of [RFC7285].
Interoperability considerations: This document specifies format of
conforming messages and the interpretation thereof.
Published specification: Section 4.1 of this document.
Applications that use this media type: ALTO servers and ALTO clients
either stand alone or are embedded within other applications.
Fragment identifier considerations: N/A
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Additional information:
Deprecated alias names for this type: N/A
Magic number(s): N/A
File extension(s): This document uses the media type to refer to
protocol messages and thus does not require a file extension.
Macintosh file type code(s): N/A
Person and email address to contact for further information: See Aut
hors' Addresses section.
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: N/A
Author: See Authors' Addresses section.
Change controller: Internet Engineering Task Force
(mailto:iesg@ietf.org).
10.3. application/alto-tipsview+json Media Type
Type name: application
Subtype name: alto-tipsview+json
Required parameters: N/A
Optional parameters: N/A
Encoding considerations: Encoding considerations are identical to
those specified for the "application/json" media type. See
[RFC8259].
Security considerations: Security considerations relating to the
generation and consumption of ALTO Protocol messages are discussed
in Section 10 of [RFC8895] and Section 15 of [RFC7285].
Interoperability considerations: This document specifies format of
conforming messages and the interpretation thereof.
Published specification: Section 5.2 of this document.
Applications that use this media type: ALTO servers and ALTO clients
either stand alone or are embedded within other applications.
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Fragment identifier considerations: N/A
Additional information:
Deprecated alias names for this type: N/A
Magic number(s): N/A
File extension(s): This document uses the media type to refer to
protocol messages and thus does not require a file extension.
Macintosh file type code(s): N/A
Person and email address to contact for further information: See Aut
hors' Addresses section.
Intended usage: COMMON
Restrictions on usage: N/A
Author: See Authors' Addresses section.
Change controller: Internet Engineering Task Force
(mailto:iesg@ietf.org).
11. Acknowledgments
The authors of this document would also like to thank Adrian Farrel,
Qin Wu, Jordi Ros Giralt, and the many others who reviewed and
commented on previous drafts of this document.
12. References
12.1. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2119>.
[RFC7285] Alimi, R., Ed., Penno, R., Ed., Yang, Y., Ed., Kiesel, S.,
Previdi, S., Roome, W., Shalunov, S., and R. Woundy,
"Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO) Protocol",
RFC 7285, DOI 10.17487/RFC7285, September 2014,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7285>.
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[RFC8174] Leiba, B., "Ambiguity of Uppercase vs Lowercase in RFC
2119 Key Words", BCP 14, RFC 8174, DOI 10.17487/RFC8174,
May 2017, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8174>.
[RFC8259] Bray, T., Ed., "The JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) Data
Interchange Format", STD 90, RFC 8259,
DOI 10.17487/RFC8259, December 2017,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8259>.
[RFC8895] Roome, W. and Y. Yang, "Application-Layer Traffic
Optimization (ALTO) Incremental Updates Using Server-Sent
Events (SSE)", RFC 8895, DOI 10.17487/RFC8895, November
2020, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8895>.
[RFC9112] Fielding, R., Ed., Nottingham, M., Ed., and J. Reschke,
Ed., "HTTP/1.1", STD 99, RFC 9112, DOI 10.17487/RFC9112,
June 2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9112>.
[RFC9113] Thomson, M., Ed. and C. Benfield, Ed., "HTTP/2", RFC 9113,
DOI 10.17487/RFC9113, June 2022,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc9113>.
[RFC9114] Bishop, M., Ed., "HTTP/3", RFC 9114, DOI 10.17487/RFC9114,
June 2022, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc9114>.
12.2. Informative References
[draft-schott-alto-new-transport-push]
Schott, R. and Y. Yang, "ALTO New Transport: Server Push",
Internet Draft ID, October 2022,
<https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-schott-alto-new-
transport-push/>.
[RFC7971] Stiemerling, M., Kiesel, S., Scharf, M., Seidel, H., and
S. Previdi, "Application-Layer Traffic Optimization (ALTO)
Deployment Considerations", RFC 7971,
DOI 10.17487/RFC7971, October 2016,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7971>.
Authors' Addresses
Roland Schott
Deutsche Telekom
Ida-Rhodes-Strasse 2
64295 Darmstadt
Germany
Email: Roland.Schott@telekom.de
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Y. Richard Yang
Yale University
51 Prospect St
New Haven, CT 06520
United States of America
Email: yry@cs.yale.edu
Kai Gao
Sichuan University
No.24 South Section 1, Yihuan Road
Chengdu
Sichuan, 610065
China
Email: kaigao@scu.edu.cn
Lauren Delwiche
Yale University
51 Prospect St
New Haven, CT 06520
United States of America
Email: lauren.delwiche@yale.edu
Lachlan Keller
Yale University
51 Prospect Street
New Haven, 06511
United States of America
Email: lachlan.keller@yale.edu
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