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Service Requirements for Layer 2 Provider-Provisioned Virtual Private Networks
draft-ietf-l2vpn-requirements-07

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft that was ultimately published as RFC 4665.
Authors Yetik Serbest , Waldemar Augustyn
Last updated 2015-10-14 (Latest revision 2006-06-19)
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draft-ietf-l2vpn-requirements-07
INTERNET DRAFT                                           W. Augustyn 
   Internet Engineering Task Force                                      
   Document:                                                 Y. Serbest 
   draft-ietf-l2vpn-requirements-07.txt                            AT&T 
   June 2006                                                  (Editors) 
   Category: Informational                                              
   Expires: January 2007                                                
                                                                        
    
    
 Service Requirements for Layer 2 Provider Provisioned Virtual Private 
                                Networks 
    
   Status of this memo 
    
   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any 
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware 
   have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes 
   aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.  
    
   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that 
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts. 
    
   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."  
    
   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at 
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.  
    
   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at 
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.  
    
   Abstract 
    
   This document provides requirements for Layer 2 Provider Provisioned 
   Virtual Private Networks (L2VPNs).  It first provides taxonomy and 
   terminology and states generic and general service requirements.  It 
   covers point-to-point VPNs referred to as Virtual Private Wire 
   Service (VPWS), as well as multipoint-to-multipoint VPNs also known 
   as Virtual Private LAN Service (VPLS).  Detailed requirements are 
   expressed from a customer as well as a service provider perspective. 
    
    
   Table of Contents 
1  Conventions used in this document.................................4 
2  Contributing Authors..............................................4 
3  Introduction......................................................4 
 3.1  Scope of this document.........................................4 
 3.2  Outline........................................................5 
4  Definitions and Taxonomy..........................................5 
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 4.1  Definitions....................................................5 
 4.2  Taxonomy of L2VPN Types........................................5 
 4.3  VPWS...........................................................6 
 4.4  VPLS...........................................................6 
5  Service Requirements Common to Customers and Service Providers....7 
 5.1  Scope of emulation.............................................7 
 5.2  Traffic Types..................................................8 
 5.3  Topology.......................................................8 
 5.4  Isolated Exchange of Data and Forwarding Information...........8 
 5.5  Security.......................................................8 
   5.5.1   User data security........................................9 
   5.5.2   Access control............................................9 
 5.6  Addressing....................................................10 
 5.7  Quality of Service............................................10 
   5.7.1   QoS Standards............................................10 
   5.7.2   Service Models...........................................10 
 5.8  Service Level Specifications..................................10 
 5.9  Protection and Restoration....................................11 
 5.10 CE-to-PE and PE-to-PE link requirements.......................11 
 5.11 Management....................................................11 
 5.12 Interoperability..............................................11 
 5.13 Inter-working.................................................11 
6  Customer Requirements............................................12 
 6.1  Service Provider Independence.................................12 
 6.2  Layer 3 Support...............................................12 
 6.3  Quality of Service and Traffic Parameters.....................12 
 6.4  Service Level Specification...................................13 
 6.5  Security......................................................13 
   6.5.1   Isolation................................................13 
   6.5.2   Access control...........................................13 
   6.5.3   Value added security services............................13 
 6.6  Network Access................................................13 
   6.6.1   Physical/Link Layer Technology...........................13 
   6.6.2   Access Connectivity......................................13 
 6.7  Customer traffic..............................................15 
   6.7.1   Unicast, Unknown Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast 
   forwarding.......................................................15 
   6.7.2   Packet Re-ordering.......................................15 
   6.7.3   Minimum MTU..............................................15 
   6.7.4   End-point VLAN tag translation...........................15 
   6.7.5   Transparency.............................................16 
 6.8  Support for Layer 2 Control Protocols.........................16 
 6.9  CE Provisioning...............................................16 
7  Service Provider Network Requirements............................16 
 7.1  Scalability...................................................16 
   7.1.1   Service Provider Capacity Sizing Projections.............16 
   7.1.2   Solution-Specific Metrics................................16 
 7.2  Identifiers...................................................17 
 7.3  Discovering L2VPN Related Information.........................17 
 7.4  Quality of Service (QoS)......................................17 
 7.5  Isolation of Traffic and Forwarding Information...............18 
 7.6  Security......................................................18 
 
 
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 7.7  Inter-AS/SP L2VPNs............................................19 
   7.7.1   Management...............................................19 
   7.7.2   Bandwidth and QoS Brokering..............................19 
 7.8  L2VPN Wholesale...............................................19 
 7.9  Tunneling Requirements........................................20 
 7.10 Support for Access Technologies...............................20 
 7.11 Backbone Networks.............................................21 
 7.12 Network Resource Partitioning and Sharing Between L2VPNs......21 
 7.13 Interoperability..............................................21 
 7.14 Testing.......................................................21 
 7.15 Support on Existing PEs.......................................22 
8  Service Provider Management Requirements.........................22 
9  Engineering Requirements.........................................22 
 9.1  Control Plane Requirements....................................22 
 9.2  Data Plane Requirements.......................................23 
   9.2.1   Encapsulation............................................23 
   9.2.2   Responsiveness to Congestion.............................23 
   9.2.3   Broadcast Domain.........................................23 
   9.2.4   Virtual Switching Instance...............................23 
   9.2.5   MAC address learning.....................................23 
10   Security Considerations.........................................23 
11   IANA Considerations.............................................24 
12   Acknowledgments.................................................24 
13   References......................................................24 
 13.1 Normative References..........................................24 
 13.2 Informative References........................................24 
14   Editors' Addresses..............................................25 
15   Intellectual Property Statement.................................26 
16   Full copyright statement........................................26 
    

 
 
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1 Conventions used in this document 
   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", 
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED",  "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this 
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. 
    
2 Contributing Authors 
   This document was the combined effort of several individuals.  The 
   following are the authors that contributed to this document: 
    
          Waldemar Augustyn 
          Marco Carugi 
          Giles Heron 
          Vach Kompella 
          Marc Lasserre 
          Pascal Menezes 
          Hamid Ould-Brahim 
          Tissa Senevirathne 
          Yetik Serbest 
 
3 Introduction 
   This section describes the scope and outline of the document. 
    
3.1 Scope of this document 
   This document provides requirements for provider-provisioned Layer 2 
   Virtual Private Networks (L2VPN).  It identifies requirements that 
   MAY apply to one or more individual approaches that a Service 
   Provider (SP) may use for the provisioning of a Layer 2 VPN service.  
   The content of this document makes use of the terminology defined in 
   [RFC4026] and common components for deploying L2VPNs described in 
   [L2VPN_FR]. 
    
   The technical specifications to provide L2VPN services are outside 
   the scope of this document.  The framework document [L2VPN_FR] and 
   several documents, which explain technical approaches providing L2VPN 
   services such as [VPLS_LDP], [VPLS_BGP], and [IPLS], are available to 
   cover this aspect. 
    
   This document describes requirements for two types of L2VPNs: 1. 
   Virtual Private Wire Service (VPWS), and 2. Virtual Private LAN 
   Service (VPLS).  The approach followed in this document distinguishes 
   L2VPN types as to how the connectivity is provided (point-point or 
   multipoint-multipoint) as detailed in [L2VPN_FR].  
    
   This document is intended as a "checklist" of requirements that will 
   provide a consistent way to evaluate and document how well each 
   individual approach satisfies specific requirements.  The 
   applicability statement document for each individual approach should 
   document the results of this evaluation. 
    
   In the context of provider-provisioned VPNs, there are two entities 
   involved in operation of such services, the Provider and the 
 
 
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   Customer.  The Provider engages in a binding agreement with the 
   Customer as to the behavior of the service in normal situation as 
   well as exceptional situations.  Such agreement is known as Service 
   Level Specification (SLS) which is part of the Service Level 
   Agreement (SLA) established between the Provider and the Customer. 
    
   A proper design of L2VPNs aids formulation of SLSs in that it 
   provides means for proper separation between CE and PE, allows proper 
   execution of the SLS offer, and supports flexible and rich set of 
   capabilities. 
    
   This document provides requirements from both the Provider's and the 
   Customer's point of view.  It begins with common customer's and 
   service provider's point of view, followed by a customer's 
   perspective, and concludes with specific needs of a SP.  These 
   requirements provide high-level L2VPN features expected by a SP in 
   provisioning L2VPNs, which include SP requirements for security, 
   privacy, manageability, interoperability and scalability. 
    
3.2 Outline 
   The outline of the rest of this document is as follows.  Section 3 
   provides definitions and taxonomy.  Section 4 provides common 
   requirements that apply to both customer and SP respectively.  
   Section 5 states requirements from a customer perspective.  Section 6 
   states network requirements from a SP perspective.  Section 7 states 
   SP management requirements.  Section 8 describes the engineering 
   requirements, particularly control and data plane requirements.  
   Section 9 provides security considerations.  Section 10 lists 
   acknowledgements.  Section 11 provides a list of references cited 
   herein.  Section 12 lists the editors' addresses. 
    
4 Definitions and Taxonomy 
4.1 Definitions 
   The terminology used in this document is defined in [RFC4026].  The 
   L2VPN framework document [L2VPN_FR] further describes these concepts 
   in the context of a reference model that defines layered service 
   relationships between devices and one or more levels of tunnels. 
    
4.2 Taxonomy of L2VPN Types 
   The requirements distinguish two major L2VPN models, a Virtual 
   Private Wire Service (VPWS), and a Virtual Private LAN Service 
   (VPLS). 
    
   The following diagram shows a L2VPN reference model.  
    
    +-----+                                       +-----+  
    + CE1 +--+                                +---| CE2 |  
    +-----+  |    ........................    |   +-----+  
    L2VPN A  |  +----+                +----+  |   L2VPN A  
             +--| PE |--- Service  ---| PE |--+  
                +----+    Provider    +----+ 
               /  .       Backbone       .  \     -   /\-_ 
 
 
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    +-----+   /   .          |           .   \   / \ /   \     +-----+ 
    + CE4 +--+    .          |           .    +--\ Access \----| CE5 | 
    +-----+       .        +----+        .       | Network |   +-----+ 
    L2VPN B       .........| PE |.........        \       /    L2VPN B 
                           +----+     ^            ------- 
                             |        | 
                             |        |  
                          +-----+     |  
                          | CE3 |     +-- Logical switching instance 
                          +-----+  
                          L2VPN A 
    
                     Figure 1 L2VPN Reference Model 
 
4.3 VPWS 
   The PE devices provide a logical interconnect such that a pair of CE 
   devices appear to be connected by a single logical Layer 2 circuit.  
   PE devices act as Layer 2 circuit switches.  Layer 2 circuits are 
   then mapped onto tunnels in the SP network.  These tunnels can either 
   be specific to a particular VPWS, or shared among several services.  
   VPWS applies for all services including Ethernet, ATM, Frame Relay 
   etc.  In Figure 1, L2VPN B represents a VPWS case. 
    
   Each PE device is responsible for allocating customer Layer 2 frames 
   to the appropriate VPWS and for proper forwarding to the intended 
   destinations. 
    
4.4 VPLS 
   In case of VPLS, the PE devices provide a logical interconnect such 
   that CE devices belonging to a specific VPLS appear to be connected 
   by a single LAN.  End-to-end VPLS consists of a bridge module and a 
   LAN emulation module ([L2VPN_FR]).  A VPLS can contain a single VLAN 
   or multiple VLANs ([IEEE_802.1Q]).  A variation of this service is 
   IPLS ([L2VPN_FR]), which is limited to supporting only customer IP 
   traffic.  
    
   In a VPLS, a customer site receives Layer 2 service from the SP.  The 
   PE is attached via an access connection to one or more CEs.  The PE 
   performs forwarding of user data packets based on information in the 
   Layer 2 header, such as a MAC destination address.  In Figure 1, 
   L2VPN A represents a VPLS case. 
    
   The details of VPLS reference model, which we summarize here, can be 
   found in [L2VPN_FR].  In VPLS, the PE can be viewed as containing a 
   Virtual Switching Instance (VSI) for each L2VPN that it serves.  A CE 
   device attaches, possibly through an access network, to a bridge 
   module of a PE.  Within the PE, the bridge module attaches, through 
   an Emulated LAN Interface to an Emulated LAN.  For each VPLS, there 
   is an Emulated LAN instance.  The Emulated LAN consists of VPLS 
   Forwarder module (one per PE per VPLS service instance) connected by 
   pseudo wires (PW), where the PWs may be traveling through Packet 
   Switched Network (PSN) tunnels over a routed backbone.  VSI is a 
 
 
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   logical entity that contains a VPLS forwarder module and part of the 
   bridge module relevant to the VPLS service instance [L2VPN_FR].  
   Hence, the VSI terminates PWs for interconnection with other VSIs and 
   also terminates Attachment Circuits (ACs) (see [RFC3985] for 
   definition) for accommodating CEs.  A VSI includes the forwarding 
   information base for a L2VPN [L2VPN_FR] which is the set of 
   information regarding how to forward Layer 2 frames received over the 
   AC from the CE to VSIs in other PEs supporting the same L2VPN service 
   (and/or to other ACs), and contains information regarding how to 
   forward Layer 2 frames received from PWs to ACs.  Forwarding 
   information bases can be populated dynamically (such as by source MAC 
   address learning) or statically (e.g., by configuration).  Each PE 
   device is responsible for proper forwarding of the customer traffic 
   to the appropriate destination(s) based on the forwarding information 
   base of the corresponding VSI. 
 
5 Service Requirements Common to Customers and Service Providers 
   This section contains requirements that apply to both the customer 
   and the provider, or are of an otherwise general nature. 
    
5.1 Scope of emulation 
   L2VPN protocols SHOULD NOT interfere with existing Layer 2 protocols 
   and standards of the Layer 2 network the customer is managing.  If 
   they impact customer Layer 2 protocols that are sent over the VPLS, 
   then these impacts MUST be documented. 
    
   Some possibly salient differences between VPLS and a real LAN are: 
     - The reliability may likely be less, i.e., the probability that a 
     message broadcast over the VPLS is not seen by one of the bridge 
     modules in PEs is higher than in a true Ethernet. 
     - VPLS frames can get duplicated if the PW sequencing option isn't 
     turned on.  The data frames on the PWs are sent in IP datagrams, 
     and under certain failure scenarios, IP networks can duplicate 
     packets.  If the PW data transmission protocol does not ensure 
     sequence of data packets, frames can be duplicated or received out 
     of sequence.  If the customer's Bridge Protocol Data Unit (BPDU) 
     frames are sent as data packets, then BPDU frames can be duplicated 
     or mis-sequenced, although this may not create any problems for 
     RSTP. 
     - Delayed delivery of packets (e.g., more than half a second) 
     rather than dropping them could have adverse effect on the 
     performance of the service. 
     - 802.3x Pause frames will not be transported over a VPLS, as the 
     bridge module ([L2VPN_FR]) in the PE terminates them. 
     - Since the IPLS solution aims at transporting encapsulated traffic 
     (rather than Layer 2 frames themselves), the IPLS solution is NOT 
     REQUIRED to preserve the Layer 2 Header transparently from CE to 
     CE.  For example, Source MAC address will probably not be preserved 
     by the IPLS solution. 
    

 
 
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5.2 Traffic Types 
   A VPLS MUST support unicast, multicast, and broadcast traffic.  
   Support for efficient replication of broadcast and multicast traffic 
   is highly desirable. 
    
5.3 Topology 
   A SP network may be realized using one or more network tunnel 
   topologies to interconnect PEs, ranging from simple point-to-point to 
   distributed hierarchical arrangements.  The typical topologies 
   include: 
    
     - Point-to-point 
     - Point-to-multipoint, a.k.a. hub and spoke 
     - Any-to-any, a.k.a. full mesh 
     - Mixed, a.k.a. partial mesh 
     - Hierarchical 
    
   Regardless of the SP topology employed, the service to the customers 
   MUST retain the connectivity type implied by the type of L2VPN.  For 
   example, a VPLS MUST allow multipoint-to-multipoint connectivity even 
   if implemented with point-to-point circuits.  This requirement does 
   not imply that all traffic characteristics (such as bandwidth, QoS, 
   delay, etc.) be necessarily the same between any two end points of a 
   L2VPN.  It is important to note that SLS requirements of a service 
   have a bearing on the type of topology that can be used. 
    
   To the extent possible, a L2VPN service SHOULD be capable of crossing 
   multiple administrative boundaries. 
    
   To the extent possible, the L2VPN services SHOULD be independent of 
   access network technology. 
    
5.4 Isolated Exchange of Data and Forwarding Information 
   L2VPN solutions SHALL define means that prevent CEs in a L2VPN from 
   interaction with unauthorized entities. 
    
   L2VPN solutions SHALL avoid introducing undesired forwarding 
   information that could corrupt the L2VPN forwarding information base. 
    
   A means to constrain, or isolate, the distribution of addressed data 
   to only those VPLS sites determined either by MAC learning and/or 
   configuration MUST be provided.  
    
   The internal structure of a L2VPN SHOULD not be advertised nor 
   discoverable from outside that L2VPN. 
    
5.5 Security 
   A range of security features MUST be supported by the suite of L2VPN 
   solutions.  Each L2VPN solution MUST state which security features it 
   supports and how such features can be configured on a per customer 
   basis. 
 
 
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   A number of security concerns arise in the setup and operation of a 
   L2VPN, ranging from mis-configurations to attacks that can be 
   launched on a L2VPN and can strain network resources such as memory 
   space, forwarding information base table, bandwidth and CPU 
   processing. 
    
   This section lists some potential security hazards that can result 
   due to mis-configurations and/or malicious attacks.  There MUST be 
   methods available to protect against the following situations. 
 
     - Protocol attacks 
       o Excessive protocol adjacency setup/teardown 
       o Excessive protocol signaling/withdrawal 
     - Resource Utilization 
       o Forwarding plane replication (VPLS) 
       o Looping (VPLS primarily) 
       o MAC learning table size limit (VPLS) 
     - Unauthorized access 
       o Unauthorized member of VPN 
       o Incorrect customer interface 
       o Incorrect service delimiting VLAN tag 
       o Unauthorized access to PE 
     - Tampering with signaling 
       o Incorrect FEC signaling 
       o Incorrect PW label assignment 
       o Incorrect signaled VPN parameters (e.g., QoS, MTU, etc.) 
     - Tampering with data forwarding 
       o Incorrect MAC learning entry 
       o Incorrect PW label 
       o Incorrect AC identifier 
       o Incorrect customer facing encapsulation 
       o Incorrect PW encapsulation 
       o Hijacking PWs using the wrong tunnel 
       o Incorrect tunnel encapsulation 
    
5.5.1  User data security   
   An L2VPN solution MUST provide traffic separation between different 
   L2VPNs.  
    
   In case of VPLS, VLAN Ids MAY be used as service delimiters.  When 
   used in this manner, they MUST be honored and traffic separation MUST 
   be provided. 
    
5.5.2  Access control 
   A L2VPN solution MAY also have the ability to activate the 
   appropriate filtering capabilities upon request of a customer.  
 

 
 
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5.6 Addressing 
   A L2VPN solution MUST support overlapping addresses of different 
   L2VPNs.  For instance, customers MUST NOT be prevented from using the 
   same MAC addresses with different L2VPNs. If a service provider uses 
   VLANs as service delimiters, the L2VPN solution MUST ensure that VLAN 
   Ids cannot overlap. If VLANs are not used as service delimiters, 
   L2VPN solutions MAY allow VLAN Ids to overlap. 
    
5.7 Quality of Service 
   To the extent possible, L2VPN QoS SHOULD be independent of the access 
   network technology.  
    
5.7.1  QoS Standards 
   As provided in [RFC3809] a L2VPN SHALL be able to support QoS in one 
   or more of the following already standardized modes: 
     - Best Effort  (support mandatory for all provider-provisioned 
        VPN types) 
     - Aggregate CE Interface Level QoS (i.e., 'hose' level) 
     - Site-to-site, or 'pipe' level QoS 
      
   Note that all cases involving QoS MAY require that the CE and/or PE 
   perform shaping and/or policing.  
    
   Mappings or translations of Layer 2 QoS parameters into PSN QoS 
   (e.g., DSCPs or MPLS EXP field) as well as QoS mapping based on VC 
   (e.g., FR/ATM or VLAN) MAY be performed in order to provide QoS 
   transparency.  The actual mechanisms for these mappings or 
   translations are outside the scope of this document.  In addition, 
   the Diffserv support of underlying tunneling technologies (e.g., 
   [RFC3270] or [RFC3308]) and the Intserv model ([RFC2205]) MAY be 
   used.  As such, the L2VPN SLS requirements SHOULD be supported by 
   appropriate core mechanisms. 
    
5.7.2  Service Models 
   A service provider may desire to offer QoS service to a customer for 
   at least the following generic service types: managed access VPN 
   service or an edge-to-edge QoS service.  The details of the service 
   models can be found in [RFC3809] and in [RFC4031]. 
    
    
   In L2VPN service, both DSCP ([RFC2474]) and 802.1p ([IEEE_802.1D]) 
   fields may be used for this purpose. 
    
5.8 Service Level Specifications 
   For a L2VPN service, the capabilities for Service Level Specification 
   (SLS) monitoring and reporting stated in [RFC3809] SHOULD be 
   provided. 
    

 
 
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5.9 Protection and Restoration 
   The L2VPN service infrastructure SHOULD provide redundant paths to 
   assure high availability.  The reaction to failures SHOULD result in 
   an attempt to restore the service using alternative paths.   
    
   The intention is to keep the restoration time small.  The restoration 
   time MUST be less than the time it takes the CE devices, or customer 
   Layer 2 control protocols as well as Layer 3 routing protocols, to 
   detect a failure in the L2VPN. 
    
5.10 CE-to-PE and PE-to-PE link requirements 
   The CE-to-PE links MAY be  
     - direct physical links (e.g., 100BaseTX, and T1/E1 TDM), 
     - logical links (e.g., ATM PVC, and RFC2427-encapsulated link), 
     - transport networks carrying Ethernet, 
     - a Layer 2 tunnel that go through a Layer 3 network (e.g., L2TP 
        sessions).  
    
   Layer 2 frames MAY be tunneled through a Layer 3 backbone from PE to 
   PE, using one of a variety of tunneling technologies (e.g., IP-in-IP, 
   GRE, MPLS, L2TP, etc.). 
    
5.11 Management 
   Standard interfaces to manage L2VPN services MUST be provided 
   (e.g., standard SNMP MIB Modules).  These interfaces SHOULD provide 
   access to configuration, verification and runtime monitoring 
   protocols. 
    
   Service management MAY include the TMN 'FCAPS' functionalities, as 
   follows: Fault, Configuration, Accounting, Performance, and Security, 
   as detailed in [ITU_Y.1311.1].  
    
5.12 Interoperability 
   Multi-vendor interoperability, which corresponds to similar network 
   and service levels among different implementations, at the network 
   element SHOULD be guaranteed. This will likely rely on the 
   completeness of the corresponding standard. 
    
   The technical solution MUST be multi-vendor interoperable not only 
   within the SP network infrastructure, but also with the customer's 
   network equipment and services making usage of the L2VPN service. 
    
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD NOT preclude different access technologies.  
   For instance, customer access connections to a L2VPN service MAY be 
   different at different CE devices (e.g., Frame Relay, ATM, 802.1D, 
   MPLS). 
    
5.13 Inter-working 
   Inter-working scenarios among different solutions, providing L2VPN 
   services, are highly desirable.  It is possible to have cases that 
   require inter-working or interconnection between customer sites, 
 
 
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   which span network domains with different L2VPN solutions or 
   different implementations of the same approach.  Inter-working SHOULD 
   be supported in a scalable manner.  
    
   Inter-working scenarios MUST consider at least traffic isolation, 
   security, QoS, access, and management aspects.  This requirement is 
   essential in the case of network migration, to ensure service 
   continuity among sites belonging to different portions of the 
   network.  
    
6 Customer Requirements 
   This section captures requirements from a customer perspective. 
    
6.1 Service Provider Independence 
   Customers MAY require L2VPN service that spans multiple 
   administrative domains or SP networks.  Therefore, a L2VPN service 
   MUST be able to span multiple AS and SP networks, but still to act 
   and to appear as a single, homogenous L2VPN from a customer point of 
   view.  
    
   A customer might also start with a L2VPN provided in a single AS with 
   a certain SLS but then ask for an expansion of the service spanning 
   multiple ASs and/or multiple-SPs.  In this case, as well as for all 
   kinds of multi-AS and multiple-SP L2VPNs, L2VPN service SHOULD be 
   able to deliver the same SLS to all sites in a VPN regardless of the 
   AS/SP to which it homes.  
    
6.2 Layer 3 Support 
   With the exception of IPLS, a L2VPN service SHOULD be agnostic to 
   customer's Layer 3 traffic (e.g., IP, IPX, Appletalk) encapsulated 
   within Layer 2 frames. 
    
   IPLS MUST allow transport of customer's IPv4 and IPv6 traffic 
   encapsulated within Layer 2 frames.  IPLS SHOULD also allow CEs to 
   run ISIS and MPLS protocols transparently among them when those are 
   used in conjunction with IP. 
    
6.3 Quality of Service and Traffic Parameters 
   QoS is expected to be an important aspect of a L2VPN service for some 
   customers.  
    
   A customer requires that the L2VPN service provide the QoS applicable 
   to his or her application, which can range from PWs (e.g., SONET 
   emulation) to voice and interactive video, and multimedia 
   applications.  Hence, best-effort as well as delay and loss sensitive 
   traffic MUST be supported over a L2VPN service. 
   A customer application SHOULD experience consistent QoS independent 
   of the access network technology used at different sites connected to 
   the same L2VPN. 
    

 
 
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6.4 Service Level Specification 
   Most customers simply want their applications to perform well.  A SLS 
   is a vehicle for a customer to measure the quality of the service 
   that SP(s) provide.  Therefore, when purchasing a service, a customer 
   requires access to the measures from the SP(s) that support the SLS.    
    
   Standard interfaces to monitor usage of L2VPN services SHOULD be 
   provided (e.g., standard SNMP MIB Modules). 
    
6.5 Security 
6.5.1  Isolation 
   A L2VPN solution MUST provide traffic as well as forwarding 
   information base isolation for customers similar to that obtained in 
   private lines, FR, or ATM services. 
    
   A L2VPN service MAY use customer VLAN Ids as service delimiters.  In 
   that case, they MUST be honored and traffic separation MUST be 
   provided. 
    
6.5.2  Access control 
   A L2VPN solution MAY have the mechanisms to activate the appropriate 
   filtering capabilities upon request of a customer.  For instance, MAC 
   and/or VLAN filtering MAY be considered between CE and PE for a VPLS. 
    
6.5.3  Value added security services 
   A L2VPN solution MAY provide value added security services such as 
   encryption and/or authentication of customer packets, certificate 
   management, and similar. 
    
   L2VPN services MUST NOT interfere with the security mechanisms 
   employed at Layer 3 and higher layers by customers.  Layer 2 security 
   mechanisms, such as 802.10b ([IEEE_802.10]) and 802.1AE 
   ([IEEE_802.1AE]), MAY inhibit L2VPN services, when the service 
   delimiting VLAN Ids are encrypted. 
    
6.6 Network Access 
   Every packet exchanged between the customer and the SP over the 
   access connection MUST appear as it would on a private network 
   providing an equivalent service to that offered by the L2VPN. 
    
6.6.1  Physical/Link Layer Technology  
   L2VPN solutions SHOULD support a broad range of physical and link 
   layer access technologies, such as PSTN, ISDN, xDSL, cable modem, 
   leased line, Ethernet, Ethernet VLAN, ATM, Frame Relay, Wireless 
   local loop, mobile radio access, etc.  The capacity and QoS 
   achievable MAY be dependent on the specific access technology in use. 
    
6.6.2  Access Connectivity 
   Various types of physical connectivity scenarios MUST be supported, 
   such as multi-homed sites, backdoor links between customer sites, 
   devices homed to two or more SP networks.  In case of VPLS, IEEE 
   802.3ad-2000 link aggregation SHOULD be supported.  L2VPN solutions 
 
 
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   SHOULD support at least the types of physical or link-layer 
   connectivity arrangements shown in Figure 2-Figure 4 (in addition to 
   the case shown in Figure 1).  As in Figure 2, a CE can be dual-homed 
   to a SP or to two different SPs via diverse access networks.  
    
                  +----------------                    +--------------- 
                  |                                    | 
               +------+                            +------+ 
     +---------|  PE  |                  +---------|  PE  | 
     |         |device|                  |         |device| SP network 
     |         +------+                  |         +------+ 
  +------+         |                  +------+         | 
  |  CE  |         |                  |  CE  |         +--------------- 
  |device|         |   SP network     |device|         +--------------- 
  +------+         |                  +------+         | 
     |         +------+                  |         +------+ 
     |         |  PE  |                  |         |  PE  | 
     +---------|device|                  +---------|device| SP network 
               +------+                            +------+ 
                   |                                   | 
                   +----------------                   +--------------- 
                  (a)                                 (b) 
    
                Figure 2 Dual-Homed Access of CE Devices 
    
   Resiliency of the L2VPN service can be further enhanced as shown in 
   Figure 3, where CE's, connected via a "back door" connection, connect 
   to the same SP or to different SPs.  
    
                   +----------------                  +--------------- 
                   |                                  | 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
  |  CE  |-----|  PE  |               |  CE  |-----|  PE  | 
  |device|     |device|               |device|     |device| SP network 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
     |             |                     |             | 
     | Backdoor    |                     | Backdoor    +--------------- 
     | link        |   SP network        | link        +--------------- 
     |             |                     |             | 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
  |  CE  |     |  PE  |               |  CE  |     |  PE  | 
  |device|-----|device|               |device|-----|device| SP network 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
                   |                                   | 
                   +----------------                   +--------------- 
                  (a)                                  (b) 
 
               Figure 3 Backdoor Links Between CE Devices 
 
Arbitrary combinations of the above methods, with a few examples shown 
in Figure 4 SHOULD be supported by any L2VPN solution. 
 
 
 
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                   +----------------                   +--------------- 
                   |                                   | 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
  |  CE  |-----|  PE  |               |  CE  |-----|  PE  | 
  |device|     |device|               |device|     |device| SP network 
  +------+\    +------+               +------+\    +------+ 
     |     \       |                     |     \       | 
     |Back  \      |                     |Back  \      +--------------- 
     |door   \     |   SP network        |door   \     +--------------- 
     |link    \    |                     |link    \    | 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
  |  CE  |     |  PE  |               |  CE  |     |  PE  | 
  |device|-----|device|               |device|-----|device| SP network 
  +------+     +------+               +------+     +------+ 
                   |                                   | 
                   +----------------                   +--------------- 
                  (a)                                 (b) 
 
 Figure 4 Combination of Dual-Homing and Backdoor Links for CE Devices 
    
6.7 Customer traffic 
6.7.1  Unicast, Unknown Unicast, Multicast, and Broadcast forwarding 
   A VPLS MUST deliver every packet at least to its intended 
   destination(s) within the scope of the VPLS, subject to the ingress 
   policing and security policies. 
    
6.7.2  Packet Re-ordering 
   During normal operation, the queuing and forwarding policies SHOULD 
   preserve packet order for packets with the same QoS parameters. 
    
6.7.3  Minimum MTU 
   A VPLS MUST support the theoretical MTU of the offered service.  
    
   The committed minimum MTU size MUST be the same for a given VPLS 
   instance.  Different L2VPN services MAY have different committed MTU 
   sizes.  If the customer VLANs are used as service delimiters, all 
   VLANs within a given VPLS MUST inherit the same MTU size. 
    
   A VPLS MAY use IP fragmentation if it presents reassembled packets at 
   VPLS customer edge devices 
    
6.7.4  End-point VLAN tag translation 
   The L2VPN service MAY support translation of customers' AC 
   identifiers (e.g., VLAN tags, if the customer VLANs are used as 
   service delimiters).  Such service simplifies connectivity of sites 
   that want to keep their AC assignments or sites that belong to 
   different administrative domains.  In the latter case, the 
   connectivity is sometimes referred to as Layer 2 extranet.  On the 
   other hand, it should be noted that VLAN tag translation affects the 
   support for multiple spanning trees (i.e., 802.1s [IEEE_802.1s]) and 
   can break the proper operation. 
 
 
 
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6.7.5  Transparency 
   The L2VPN service is intended to be transparent to Layer 2 customer 
   networks.  A L2VPN solution SHOULD NOT require any special packet 
   processing by the end users before sending packets to the provider's 
   network. 
    
   If VLAN Ids are assigned by the SP, then VLANs are not transparent.  
   Transparency does not apply in this case, as it is the same as FR/ATM 
   service model. 
    
   Since the IPLS solution aims at transporting encapsulated traffic 
   (rather than Layer 2 frames themselves) the IPLS solution MUST not 
   alter the packets encapsulated inside Layer 2 frames which are 
   transported by the IPLS.  However, the IPLS solution is NOT REQUIRED 
   to preserve the Layer 2 header transparently from CE to CE.  For 
   example, Source MAC address might not be preserved by the IPLS 
   solution.  The IPLS solution MAY remove Layer 2 headers for transport 
   over the backbone when those can be reconstructed on egress without 
   compromising transport of encapsulated traffic. 
 
6.8 Support for Layer 2 Control Protocols 
   The L2VPN solution SHOULD allow transparent operation of Layer 2 
   control protocols employed by customers. 
    
   In case of VPLS, the L2VPN service MUST ensure that loops be 
   prevented.  This can be accomplished with a loop-free topology or 
   appropriate forwarding rules.  Control protocols such as Spanning 
   Tree (STP) or similar could be employed.  The L2VPN solution MAY use 
   indications from customer Layer 2 control protocols, e.g., STP BPDU 
   snooping, to improve the operation of a VPLS. 
 
6.9 CE Provisioning 
   The L2VPN solution MUST require only minimal or no configuration on 
   the CE devices, depending on the type of CE device that connects into 
   the infrastructure. 
 
7 Service Provider Network Requirements 
   This section describes requirements from a SP perspective. 
    
7.1 Scalability 
   This section contains projections regarding L2VPN sizing and 
   scalability requirements and metrics specific to particular 
   solutions. 
    
7.1.1  Service Provider Capacity Sizing Projections 
   [RFC3809] lists projections regarding L2VPN sizing and scalability 
   requirements and metrics.  The examples are provided in [RFC3809]. 
    
7.1.2  Solution-Specific Metrics 
   Each L2VPN solution SHALL document its scalability characteristics in 
   quantitative terms. 
    
 
 
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7.2 Identifiers 
   A SP domain MUST be uniquely identified at least within the set of 
   all interconnected SP networks when supporting a L2VPN that spans 
   multiple SPs.  Ideally, this identifier SHOULD be globally unique 
   (e.g., an AS number).   
    
   An identifier for each L2VPN SHOULD be unique, at least within each 
   SP's network, as it MAY be used in auto-discovery, management (e.g., 
   alarm and service correlation, troubleshooting, performance 
   statistics collection), and signaling.  Ideally, the L2VPN identifier 
   SHOULD be globally unique to support the case, where a L2VPN spans 
   multiple SPs (e.g., [RFC2685]).  Globally unique identifiers 
   facilitate the support of inter-AS/SP L2VPNs. 
    
7.3 Discovering L2VPN Related Information 
   Configuration of PE devices (i.e., U-PE and N-PE [L2VPN_FR]) is a 
   significant task for a SP.  Solutions SHOULD provide methods that 
   dynamically allow L2VPN information to be discovered by the PEs to 
   minimize the configuration steps. 
    
   Each device in a L2VPN SHOULD be able to determine which other 
   devices belong to the same L2VPN.  Such a membership discovery scheme 
   MUST prevent unauthorized access and allows authentication of the 
   source.    
    
   Distribution of L2VPN information SHOULD be limited to those devices 
   involved in that L2VPN.  A L2VPN solution SHOULD employ discovery 
   mechanisms to minimize the amount of operational information 
   maintained by the SPs.  For example, if a SP adds or removes a 
   customer port on a given PE, the remaining PEs SHOULD determine the 
   necessary actions to take without the SP having to explicitly 
   reconfigure those PEs. 
    
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD support the means for attached CEs to 
   authenticate each other and verify that the SP L2VPN is correctly 
   connected. 
    
   The mechanism SHOULD respond to L2VPN membership changes in a timely 
   manner.  A "timely manner" is no longer than the provisioning 
   timeframe, typically on the order of minutes, and MAY be as short as 
   the timeframe required for "rerouting," typically on the order of 
   seconds. 
    
   Dynamically creating, changing, and managing multiple L2VPN 
   assignments to sites and/or customers is another aspect of membership 
   that MUST be addressed in a L2VPN solution.   
    
7.4 Quality of Service (QoS) 
   A significant aspect of a provider-provisioned VPN is support for 
   QoS.  A SP has control over the provisioning of resources and 
   configuration of parameters in at least the PE and P devices, and in 
   some cases, the CE devices as well.  Therefore, the SP is to provide 
 
 
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   either managed QoS access service, or edge-to-edge QoS service, as 
   defined in [RFC4031].  
    
7.5 Isolation of Traffic and Forwarding Information 
   From a high level SP perspective, a L2VPN MUST isolate the exchange 
   of traffic and forwarding information to only those sites that are 
   authenticated and authorized members of a L2VPN.  
    
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD provide a means for meeting provider-
   provisioned VPN QoS SLS requirements that isolates L2VPN traffic from 
   the affects of traffic offered by non-VPN customers.  Also, L2VPN 
   solutions SHOULD provide a means so that traffic congestion produced 
   by sites as part of one L2VPN does not affect another L2VPN. 
    
7.6 Security 
   The security requirements are stated in Section 5.5.  The security 
   requirements provided in [RFC3809] SHOULD be met.  The security 
   requirements, except Layer 3 and higher layer dependent ones, 
   specified in [RFC4031] SHOULD be met. 
    
   In addition, a SP network MUST be protected against malformed or 
   maliciously constructed customer traffic.  This includes but is not 
   limited to duplicate or invalid Layer 2 addresses, customer side 
   loops, short/long packets, spoofed management packets, spoofed VLAN 
   tags, high volume traffic. 
    
   The SP network devices MUST NOT be accessible from any L2VPN, unless 
   specifically authorized.  The devices in the SP network SHOULD 
   provide some means of reporting intrusion attempts to the SP, if the 
   intrusion is detected. 
    
   When a L2VPN solution operates over a part of the Internet, it should 
   support a configurable option to support one or more of the following 
   standard IPsec methods for securing a customer's VPN traffic: 
    
     - Confidentiality, so that only authorized devices can decrypt it 
     - Integrity, to ensure that the data has not been altered 
     - Authentication, to ensure that the sender is indeed who he or 
        she claims to be  
     - Replay attack prevention. 
    
   The above functions SHOULD be applicable to "data traffic" of the 
   customer, which includes the traffic exchanged between sites.  It 
   SHOULD also be possible to apply these functions to "control 
   traffic", such as routing or signaling protocol exchanges, that are 
   not necessarily perceived by the customer but are nevertheless 
   essential to maintain his or her VPN. 
    
   Furthermore, such security methods MUST be configurable between 
   different end-points, such as PE-PE and PE-MTU, only in the case 
   where L2VPN data traffic is carried over IP [RFC4023].  Methods to 
 
 
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   secure data flows at the native service layer (Layer-2), from CE-CE, 
   CE-MTU and CE-PE, are outside the scope of this document.  It is also 
   desirable to configure security on a per-VPN basis [VPNSEC]. 
    
   A VPN solution MAY support one or more encryption schemes, including 
   AES, and 3DES.  Encryption, decryption, and key management SHOULD be 
   included in profiles as part of the security management system. 
    
7.7 Inter-AS/SP L2VPNs  
   All applicable SP requirements, such as traffic and forwarding 
   information isolation, SLS's, management, security, provisioning, 
   etc. MUST be preserved across adjacent AS's.  The solution MUST 
   describe the inter-SP network interface, encapsulation method(s), 
   routing protocol(s), and all applicable parameters. 
    
   A L2VPN solution MUST provide the specifics of offering L2VPN 
   services spanning multiple ASs and/or SPs. 
    
   A L2VPN solution MUST support proper dissemination of operational 
   parameters to all elements of a L2VPN service in the presence of 
   multiple ASs and/or SPs.  A L2VPN solution MUST employ mechanisms for 
   sharing operational parameters between different ASs 
    
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD support policies for proper selection of 
   operational parameters coming from different ASs.  Similarly, a L2VPN 
   solution SHOULD support policies for selecting information to be 
   disseminated to different ASs. 
 
7.7.1  Management 
   The general requirements for managing a single AS apply to a 
   concatenation of AS's.  A minimum subset of such capabilities is the 
   following: 
     - Diagnostic tools 
     - Secured access to one AS management system by another 
     - Configuration request and status query tools 
     - Fault notification and trouble tracking tools 
    
7.7.2  Bandwidth and QoS Brokering 
   When a L2VPN spans multiple AS's, there is a need for a brokering 
   mechanism that requests certain SLS parameters, such as bandwidth and 
   QoS, from the other domains and/or networks involved in transferring 
   traffic to various sites.  The essential requirement is that a 
   solution MUST be able to determine whether a set of AS's can 
   establish and guarantee uniform QoS in support of a provider-
   provisioned VPN. 
    
7.8 L2VPN Wholesale 
   The architecture MUST support the possibility of one SP offering 
   L2VPN service to another SP.  One example is when one SP sells L2VPN 
   service at wholesale to another SP, who then resells that L2VPN 
   service to his or her customers.  
 
 
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7.9 Tunneling Requirements 
   Connectivity between CE sites or PE devices in the backbone SHOULD be 
   able to use a range of tunneling technologies, such as L2TP, GRE, IP-
   in-IP, MPLS, etc. 
    
   Every PE MUST support a tunnel setup protocol, if tunneling is used.  
   A PE MAY support static configuration.  If employed, a tunnel 
   establishment protocol SHOULD be capable of conveying information, 
   such as the following: 
     - Relevant identifiers  
     - QoS/SLS parameters 
     - Restoration parameters 
     - Multiplexing identifiers 
     - Security parameters 
    
   There MUST be a means to monitor the following aspects of tunnels: 
     - Statistics, such as amount of time spent in the up and down 
        state 
     - Count of transitions between the up and down state 
     - Events, such as transitions between the up and down states 
    
   The tunneling technology used by the VPN SP and its associated 
   mechanisms for tunnel establishment, multiplexing, and maintenance 
   MUST meet the requirements on scaling, isolation, security, QoS, 
   manageability, etc. 
    
   Regardless of the tunneling choice, the existence of the tunnels and 
   their operations MUST be transparent to the customers. 
    
7.10 Support for Access Technologies 
   The connectivity between PE and CE devices is referred to as an AC.  
   ACs MAY span networks of other providers or public networks. 
    
   There are several choices for implementing ACs.  Some popular choices 
   include Ethernet, ATM (DSL), Frame Relay, MPLS-based virtual circuits 
   etc.   
    
   In case of VPLS, the AC MUST use Ethernet frames as the Service 
   Protocol Data Unit (SPDU). 
    
   A CE access connection over an AC MUST be bi-directional. 
    
   PE devices MAY support multiple ACs on a single physical interface.  
   In such cases, PE devices MUST NOT rely on customer controlled 
   parameters for distinguishing between different access connections.  
   For example, if VLAN tags were used for that purpose, the provider 
   would be controlling the assignment of the VLAN tag values and would 
   strictly enforce compliance by the CEs. 
    

 
 
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   An AC, whether direct or virtual, MUST maintain all committed 
   characteristics of the customer traffic, such as QoS, priorities etc.  
   The characteristics of an AC are only applicable to that connection.  
    
7.11 Backbone Networks 
   Ideally, the backbone, interconnecting SP's PE and P devices, SHOULD 
   be independent of physical and link layer technology.  Nevertheless, 
   the characteristics of backbone technology MUST be taken into account 
   when specifying the QoS aspects of SLSs for VPN service offerings. 
    
7.12 Network Resource Partitioning and Sharing Between L2VPNs 
   In case network resources such as memory space, forwarding 
   information base table, bandwidth and CPU processing are shared 
   between L2VPNs, the solution SHOULD guarantee availability of 
   resources necessary to prevent any specific L2VPN service instance 
   from taking up available network resources and causing others to 
   fail.  The solution SHOULD be able to limit the resources consumed by 
   a L2VPN service instance.  The solution SHOULD guarantee availability 
   of resources necessary to fulfill the obligation of committed SLSs. 
    
7.13 Interoperability 
   Service providers are interested in interoperability in at least the 
   following scenarios: 
     - To facilitate use of PE and managed CE devices within a single 
        SP network 
     - To implement L2VPN services across two or more interconnected 
        SP networks 
     - To achieve inter-working or interconnection between customer 
        sites using different L2VPN solutions or different 
        implementations of the same approach  
 
   Each approach MUST describe whether any of the above objectives can 
   be met.  If an objective can be met, the approach MUST describe how 
   such interoperability could be achieved.  
 
7.14 Testing 
   The L2VPN solution SHOULD provide the ability to test and verify 
   operational and maintenance activities on a per L2VPN service basis, 
   and in case of VPLS, on a per VLAN basis if customer VLANs are used 
   as service delimiters. 
    
   The L2VPN solution SHOULD provide mechanisms for connectivity 
   verification, and for detecting and locating faults. 
    
   Examples of testing mechanisms are as follows: 
     - Checking connectivity between "service-aware" network nodes 
     - Verifying data plane and control plane integrity 
     - Verifying service membership 
    
   The provided mechanisms MUST satisfy the following: the  
 
 
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   connectivity checking for a given customer MUST enable the end-to-end 
   testing of the data path used by that of customer's data packets and 
   the test packets MUST not propagate beyond the boundary of the SP 
   network. 
    
7.15 Support on Existing PEs 
   To the extent possible, the IPLS solution SHOULD facilitate support 
   of IPLS on existing PE devices that may be already deployed by the SP 
   and MAY have been designed primarily for Layer 3 services. 
    
8 Service Provider Management Requirements 
   A SP desires to have a means to view the topology, operational state, 
   and other parameters associated with each customer's L2VPN.  
   Furthermore, the SP requires a means to view the underlying logical 
   and physical topology, operational state, provisioning status, and 
   other parameters associated with the equipment providing the L2VPN 
   service(s) to its customers.  Therefore, the devices SHOULD provide 
   standards-based interfaces (e.g., L2VPN MIB Modules) wherever 
   feasible. 
    
   The details of service provider management requirements for a Network 
   Management System (NMS) in the traditional fault, configuration, 
   accounting, performance, and security (FCAPS) management categories 
   can be found in [ITU_Y.1311.1]. 
    
9 Engineering Requirements 
   These requirements are driven by implementation characteristics that 
   make service and SP requirements achievable. 
    
9.1 Control Plane Requirements 
   A L2VPN service SHOULD be provisioned with minimum number of steps.  
   Therefore, the control protocols SHOULD provide methods for signaling 
   between PEs.  The signaling SHOULD inform of membership, tunneling 
   information, and other relevant parameters.  
    
   The infrastructure MAY employ manual configuration methods to provide 
   this type of information. 
    
   The infrastructure SHOULD use policies to scope the membership and 
   reachability advertisements for a particular L2VPN service.  A 
   mechanism for isolating the distribution of reachability information 
   to only those sites associated with a L2VPN MUST be provided.  
    
   The control plane traffic increases with the growth of L2VPN 
   membership.  Similarly, the control plane traffic increases with the 
   number of supported L2VPN services.  The use of control plane 
   resources MAY increase as the number of hosts connected to a L2VPN 
   service grows.  
    
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD minimize control plane traffic and the 
   consumption of control plane resources.  The control plane MAY offer 

 
 
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   means for enforcing a limit on the number of customer hosts attached 
   to a L2VPN service. 
    
9.2 Data Plane Requirements 
9.2.1  Encapsulation 
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD utilize the encapsulation techniques defined 
   by PWE3 ([RFC3985]), and SHOULD not impose any new requirements on 
   these techniques. 
    
9.2.2  Responsiveness to Congestion 
   A L2VPN solution SHOULD utilize the congestion avoidance techniques 
   defined by PWE3 ([RFC3985]). 
    
9.2.3  Broadcast Domain 
   A separate Broadcast Domain MUST be maintained for each VPLS.  
    
   In addition to VPLS Broadcast Domains, a L2VPN service MAY honor 
   customer VLAN Broadcast Domains, if customer VLANs are used as 
   service delimiters.  In that case, the L2VPN solution SHOULD maintain 
   a separate VLAN Broadcast Domain for each customer VLAN. 
    
9.2.4  Virtual Switching Instance 
   L2VPN PE devices MUST maintain a separate VSI per VPLS.  Each VSI 
   MUST have capabilities to forward traffic based on customer's traffic 
   parameters such as MAC addresses, VLAN tags (if supported), etc. as 
   well as local policies. 
    
   L2VPN PE devices MUST have capabilities to classify incoming customer 
   traffic into the appropriate VSI. 
    
   Each VSI MUST have flooding capabilities for its Broadcast Domain to 
   facilitate proper forwarding of Broadcast, Multicast and Unknown 
   Unicast customer traffic. 
 
9.2.5  MAC address learning 
   A VPLS SHOULD derive all topology and forwarding information from 
   packets originating at customer sites.  Typically, MAC address 
   learning mechanisms are used for this purpose.  With IPLS, snooping 
   of particular packets originating at customer sites and signaling 
   might also be used. 
    
   Dynamic population of the forwarding information base (e.g., via MAC 
   address learning) MUST take place on a per VSI basis, i.e., in the 
   context of a VPLS and, if supported, in the context of VLANs therein. 
    
10 Security Considerations 
   Security considerations occur at several levels and dimensions within 
   L2VPNs, as detailed within this document.  
    
   The requirements based on security concerns and potential security 
   hazards are detailed in section 5.5..  Further details on security 
   requirements are given from the customer and service provider 
 
 
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   perspectives in sections 6.5 and 7.6, respectively.  In an analogous 
   manner, further detail on traffic and routing isolation requirements 
   are given from the customer and service provider perspectives in 
   sections 5.4 and 7.5, respectively.  Safeguards to protect network 
   resources such as CPU, memory, and bandwidth are required in section 
   7.12. 
    
   IPsec can also be applied after tunneling Layer 2 traffic to provide 
   additional security. 
    
   In the case where a L2VPN service is carried over IP [RFC4023], 
   traverses multiple SP networks and passes through an unsecured SP, 
   POP, NAP, or IX, then security mechanisms MUST be employed.  These 
   security mechanisms include encryption, authentication, and resource 
   protection, as described in section 5.5.  For example, a provider 
   should consider using both authentication and encryption for a tunnel 
   used as part of an L2VPN that traverses another service provider's 
   network. 
    
11 IANA Considerations 
   This document creates no new requirements on IANA namespaces. 
    
12 Acknowledgments 
   The authors would like to acknowledge extensive comments and 
   contributions provided by Loa Andersson, Joel Halpern, Eric Rosen, 
   Ali Sajassi, Muneyoshi Suzuki, Ananth Nagarajan, Dinesh Mohan, Yakov 
   Rekhter, Matt Squire, Norm Finn, Scott Bradner, and Francois Le 
   Faucheur.  The authors, also, wish to extend their appreciations to 
   their respective employers and various other people who volunteered 
   to review this work and provided feedback.  This work was done in 
   consultation with the entire Layer 2 PPVPN design team.  A lot of the 
   text was adapted from the Layer 3 VPN requirements document produced 
   by Layer 3 VPN requirements design team. 
           
13 References 
13.1 Normative References 
   [RFC2119]        Bradner, S. "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 
                    Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, March 1997. 
   [RFC4026]        Andersson, L., Madsen, T. "Provider Provisioned 
                    Virtual Private Network (VPN) Terminology", RFC 
                    4026, March 2005. 
    
13.2 Informative References 
   [L2VPN_FR]       Andersson, L., Rose, E. "Framework for Layer 2 
                    Virtual Private Networks (L2VPNs)", work in progress 
   [VPLS_LDP]       Lasserre, M., Kompella, V. "Virtual Private LAN 
                    Services over MPLS", work in progress 
   [VPLS_BGP]       Kompella, K., Rekhter, Y. "Virtual Private LAN 
                    Service", work in progress 
   [IPLS]           Shah, H., et al. "IP-Only LAN Service (IPLS)", work 
                    in progress 

 
 
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Internet Draft draft-ietf-l2vpn-requirements-07.txt         June, 2006 
 
 
   [IEEE_802.1Q]    IEEE Std 802.1Q-1998, "Virtual Bridged Local Area 
                    Networks", 1998 
   [RFC3809]        Nagarajan, A., et al. "Generic Requirements for 
                    Provider-provisioned Virtual Private Networks 
                    (PPVPN)", RFC3809, June 2004. 
   [RFC3270]        Le Faucheur, F., et al. "Multi-Protocol Label 
                    Switching (MPLS) Support of Differentiated 
                    Services", RFC 3270, May 2002. 
   [RFC3308]        Calhoun, P., et al, "Layer 2 Tunneling Protocol 
                    (L2TP) Differentiated Services Extension", RFC 3308, 
                    November 2002. 
   [RFC2205]        Braden, R., et al, "Resource ReSerVation Protocol 
                    (RSVP)", RFC 2205, September 1997. 
   [RFC4031]        Carugi, M., McDysan, D. et. al., "Service 
                    Requirements for Layer 3 Provider Provisioned 
                    Virtual Private Networks (PPVPNs)", RFC 4031, April 
                    2005.  
   [RFC2474]        Nichols, K., Blake, S., Baker, F. and D. Black, 
                    "Definition of the Differentiated Services Field (DS 
                    Field) in the IPv4 and IPv6 Headers", RFC 2474, 
                    December 1998. 
   [IEEE_802.1D]    ISO/IEC 15802-3: 1998 ANSI/IEEE Std 802.1D, 1998 
                    Edition (Revision and redesignation of ISO/IEC 
                    10038:98), "Part 3: Media Access Control (MAC) 
                    Bridges", 1998. 
   [ITU_Y.1311.1]   Carugi, M. (editor), "Network Based IP VPN over MPLS 
                    architecture",Y.1311.1 ITU-T Recommendation, May 
                    2001. 
   [IEEE_802.10]    IEEE Std 802.10-1998 Edition (Revision IEEE Std 
                    802.10-1992, incorporating IEEE Std 802.10b-1992, 
                    802.10e-1993, 802.10f-1993, 802.10g-1995, and 
                    802.10h-1997), "Standard for Interoperable LAN/MAN 
                    Security (SILS)", 1998. 
   [IEEE_802.1AE]   IEEE 802.1AE/D5.1, "Draft Standard for Local and 
                    Metropolitan Area Networks - Media Access Control 
                    (MAC) Security", P802.1AE/D5.1, January 19, 2006. 
   [IEEE_802.1s]    IEEE Std 802.1s-2002, "Virtual Bridged Local Area 
                    Networks- Amendment 3: Multiple Spanning Trees", 
                    2002. 
   [RFC2685]        Fox B., et al, "Virtual Private Networks 
                    Identifier", RFC 2685, September 1999. 
   [RFC4023]        Worster, T., and et. al., "Encapsulating MPLS in IP 
                    or Generic Routing Encapsulation", RFC 4023, March 
                    2005. 
   [VPNSEC]         De Clercq, J., et al., "Considerations about 
                    possiblesecurity extensions to BGP/MPLS VPN", Work 
                    in Progress. 
   [RFC3985]        Bryant, S. "Pseudo Wire Emulation Edge-to-Edge 
                    (PWE3) Architecture", RFC3985, March 2005. 
           
14 Editors' Addresses 
    
 
 
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Internet Draft draft-ietf-l2vpn-requirements-07.txt         June, 2006 
 
 
   Waldemar Augustyn 
   Email: waldemar@nxp.com 
    
   Yetik Serbest 
   AT&T Labs 
   9505 Arboretum Blvd. 
   Austin, TX 78759 
   Email: yetik_serbest@labs.sbc.com 
    
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