IETF                                                    B. Haberman, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                                   JHU APL
Intended status: Standards Track                        November 9, 2009
Expires: May 13, 2010


     A Dedicated RPSL Interface Identifier for Operational Testing
                 draft-haberman-rpsl-reachable-test-02

Abstract

   The deployment of new IP connectivity typically results in
   intermittent reachability for numerous reasons which are outside the
   scope of this document.  In order to aid in the debugging of these
   persistent problems, this document proposes the creation of a new
   Routing Policy Specification Language attribute that allows a network
   to advertise an IP address which is reachable and can be used as a
   target for diagnostic tests (e.g., pings).

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   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal



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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2.  RPSL Extension for Diagnostic Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   3.  Using the RPSL Pingable Attribute . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   4.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   5.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   6.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     6.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
     6.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
   Author's Address  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5






























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.  Introduction

   The deployment of new IP connectivity typically results in
   intermittent reachability for numerous reasons which are outside the
   scope of this document.  In order to aid in the debugging of these
   persistent problems, this document proposes the creation of a new
   Routing Policy Specification Language attribute [RFC4012] that allows
   a network to advertise an IP address which is reachable and can be
   used as a target for diagnostic tests (e.g., pings).

   The goal of this diagnostic address is to provide operators a means
   to advertise selected hosts that can be targets of tests for such
   common issues as reachability and Path MTU discovery.

   The capitalized 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
   [RFC2119].


.  RPSL Extension for Diagnostic Address

   Network operators wishing to provide a diagnostic address for its
   peers, customers, etc. can advertise its existence via the Routing
   Policy Specification Language [RFC4012] [RFC2622].  The pingable
   attribute is a member of the route and route6 objects in the RPSL.
   The pingable attribute has the following characteristics:

   +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+
   | Attribute |             Value             |          Type         |
   +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+
   |  pingable |       <ipv6-address> or       |       mandatory,      |
   |           |         <ipv4-address>        |      multi-valued     |
   |  ping-hdl |          <nic-handle>         |       mandatory,      |
   |           |                               |      multi-valued     |
   +-----------+-------------------------------+-----------------------+

   The pingable attribute allows a network operator to advertise an IP
   address of a node which should be reachable from outside networks.
   This node can be used as a destination address for diagnostic tests.
   The ping-hdl provides a link to contact information for an entity
   capable of responding to queries concerning the specified IP address.
   An example of using the pingable attribute is shown in Figure 1.








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   route6: 2001:DB8::/32
   origin: AS64500
   pingable: 2001:DB8::DEAD:BEEF
   ping-hdl: OPS4-RIPE

                     Figure 1: DEBUG Attribute Example


.  Using the RPSL Pingable Attribute

   The presence of one or more pingable attributes signals to network
   operators that the maintainer of the referenced network is providing
   the address(es) for external diagnostic testing.  Tests involving the
   advertised address(es) SHOULD be rate limited to no more than ten
   probes in a five minute window unless prior arrangements are made
   with the maintainer of the attribute.


.  IANA Considerations

   None.


.  Acknowledgements

   Randy Bush and David Farmer provided the original concept for the
   pingable attribute and useful comments on preliminary versions of
   this draft.  Joe Abley provided comments that justified moving the
   attribute to the route/route6 object and the inclusion of a point of
   contact.  Larry Blunk provided useful comments to improve the
   document.


.  References

6.1.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC2622]  Alaettinoglu, C., Villamizar, C., Gerich, E., Kessens, D.,
              Meyer, D., Bates, T., Karrenberg, D., and M. Terpstra,
              "Routing Policy Specification Language (RPSL)", RFC 2622,
              June 1999.

   [RFC4012]  Blunk, L., Damas, J., Parent, F., and A. Robachevsky,
              "Routing Policy Specification Language next generation
              (RPSLng)", RFC 4012, March 2005.



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6.2.  Informative References


Author's Address

   Brian Haberman (editor)
   Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab
   11100 Johns Hopkins Road
   Laurel, MD  20723-6099
   US

   Phone: +1 443 778 1319
   Email: brian@innovationslab.net






































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