Network Working Group P. Francis
Internet-Draft MPI-SWS
Intended status: Informational X. Xu
Expires: April 21, 2010 Huawei
H. Ballani
Cornell U.
D. Jen
UCLA
R. Raszuk
Self
L. Zhang
UCLA
October 18, 2009
Proposal for Auto-Configuration in Virtual Aggregation
draft-ietf-grow-va-auto-00.txt
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Abstract
Virtual Aggregation as specified in [I-D.ietf-grow-va] requires a
certain amount of configuration, namely virtual prefixes (VP), a VP
list, type of tunnel, and popular prefixes. This draft proposes
optional approaches to auto-configuration of popular prefixes and the
VP list, and discusses the pros and cons of each. If these proposals
are accepted, they will be incorporated into [I-D.ietf-grow-va].
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Requirements notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Syntax for the tags . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
3. Config of Popular Prefixes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. Operation of the should-install tag . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1. Sending the should-install tag . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.2. Receiving the should-install tag . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2. Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Config of the VP list . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4.1. VP-route tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2. Can suppress tag . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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1. Introduction
Virtual Aggregation as specified in [I-D.ietf-grow-va] requires a
certain amount of configuration, namely:
1. Each Aggregation Point Router (APR) must be configured with the
VPs for which it is an APR.
2. Every router must be configured with the VP list (a list of all
VPs). This allows the router to know which prefixes can and
cannot be FIB-suppressed.
3. Every router should be configured with a list of prefixes that
should be FIB-installed (for instance because they have large
traffic volumes).
4. Every router should be configured as to the tunnel type.
Of these four items, the first and last cannot be automated. Both,
however, represent a relatively small amount of configuration. The
second and third are more significant, and this draft proposes
mechanisms for partially or fully automating them. If any of these
proposals are accepted, they will be incorporated into the main VA
draft. In any event, they would be considered as optional. The
manually configured VP-list would still be mandatory, though an ISP
could choose not to use it if one of the options described here is
available. ([I-D.ietf-grow-va]).
All of the approaches described in this draft involve tagging routes
with a standard extended communities attribute. There are three such
tags, the "should-install" tag, the "VP-route" tag, and the "can-
suppress" tag. The should-install tag is for the purpose of
automating the configuration of popular prefixes that are popular by
virtue of having high traffic volume. The VP-route and can-suppress
tags represent two alternatives for the VP-list. Note that usage of
the should-install tag (popular prefixes config) is completely
orthogonal with usage of either the VP-route or can-suppress tag
(replacement for VP-list config).
1.1. Requirements notation
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 [RFC2119].
2. Syntax for the tags
All three tags can be conveyed with an Extended Communities Attribute
[RFC4360] to be assigned by IANA. For all three tags, the Transitive
Bit MUST be set to value 1 (the community is non- transitive across
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ASes).
3. Config of Popular Prefixes
Broadly speaking, a Popular Prefix is any prefix that does not have
to be FIB-installed, but should never-the-less be FIB-installed. For
instance:
Prefixes for customer networks should be installed (so that
traffic to customers does not incur the extra delay associated
with the detour through an APR). Since customer routes are in any
event tagged with a community attribute for routing policy
reasons, the decision to FIB-install them is entirely local and
requires no standardization.
If an ASBR chooses its external peer as a next-hop for a given
prefix, then it should FIB-install that prefix.
Prefixes to which there is a large volume of traffic should also be
FIB-installed. This is to reduce the additional load the results
from the extra hop(s) that packets must take on the APR detour.
Installing these prefixes is not trivial. The volume of traffic must
be measured, the high-volume prefixes identified, and routers
configured to FIB-install these prefixes. Furthermore, the router
where the prefix must be FIB-installed is typically different from
where the high-volume is measured. Normally, the highest volume for
any given prefix will be seen at the egress routers for that prefix.
However, the ingress router is where FIB installation should take
place.
The proposal is to identify high-volume prefixes at ASBRs and RRs
(routers that forward iBGP updates), and to tag routes to these
prefixes with a community attribute that effectively means "should
FIB-install". How to identify high-volume prefixes is a local
matter, but one way would be by examining netflow records from the
router. In principle, however, a router could internally detect
high-volume prefixes. Identification of high-volume prefixes need
only be done for either:
1. Outgoing traffic on ASBRs peering with non-customer networks
(peers or transits).
2. Route Reflectors, probably limited to traffic that is routed
towards the edge.
Either way, the set of routers where this identification must take
place is limited.
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3.1. Operation of the should-install tag
3.1.1. Sending the should-install tag
For routers implementing this optional feature, it must be possible
to configure a router to attach the community attribute (the "should-
install tag") to routes for a given prefix. In practice, this may be
automatically done by the system that receives and analyzes netflow
records, or it may be done manually by a network administrator. Once
configured as such, the router must attach the should-install tag to
BGP updates containing the prefix. The update may be generated
immediately after the configuration takes place, or it may be put off
until the next time the update is normally transmitted.
If the configuration is removed, the router must not attach the
should-install tag to subsequent updates containing the prefix. An
update without the should-install tag may be generated immediately
after the configuration is removed, or it may be put off until the
next time the update is normally transmitted.
3.1.2. Receiving the should-install tag
If the best-path route to a given prefix (that doesn't otherwise have
to be FIB-installed), has the should-install tag, then the router
locally decides whether or not to FIB-install the prefix. If there
is no room in the FIB for a new prefix, the router may choose to
remove an existing FIB entry (for instance, the oldest entry) to make
room for the new entry.
3.2. Discussion
The time-frame over which should-install tags are attached and
removed should be quite long, at least hours if not days. Evidence
shows that high-volume prefixes tend to stay high-volume on average
over long periods of times (days or even weeks) [nsdi09].
There are a number of limited scenarios whereby a should-install tag
is not successfully conveyed to all routers in an AS. This does not
result in non-delivery of packets, only inefficiencies.
Consider the case where an AS is using Route Reflectors (RRs), and is
using ASBRs to transmit should-install tags. Imagine two ASBRs, BR1
and BR2, that advertise routes to some prefix P. Further, both BR1
and BR2 are clients of the same RR. Assume that there is high-volume
to prefix P at BR1 but not at BR2. As a result, BR1 attaches the
should-install tag and BR2 does not. If the RR for any reason
prefers the route via BR2 over BR1, then it the should-install tag
will not be passed on by the RR. (Although note that a likely
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outcome of this is that BR2 will start to see high volumes of traffic
to P, and eventually will set the should-install tag.)
Next consider the same topology as above (BR1 and BR2 both clients of
the same RR), but now assume that it is the RR that is used to
transmit should-install tags. Assume that the RR detects high-volume
to prefix P and attaches the should-install tag for routes to P.
Assume that both BR1 and BR2 choose their respective external peers
as the next hop to P, and of course advertise this next hop to the
RR. The RR selects and advertises a best path, say via BR1. When
the RR advertises this best path to BR2, BR2 ignores it and so does
not FIB-install the route. The end result here is that packets
detour through an APR and then are tunneled back to the ASBR.
(Though as mentioned earlier in this section, prefixes where the next
hop is an external peer should be FIB-installed as a matter of local
policy.)
4. Config of the VP list
As the current VA specification stands, routers have to know which
prefixes they must FIB-install and and which they need not FIB-
install. The VP-list tells them this: they must FIB-install routes
to VPs, and they need not FIB-install routes to prefixes that fall
within VPs for which they are not an APR. The same VP-list must be
installed in every router (though it is not a problem that they
differ for brief periods during modification of the VP-list).
Configuration of the VP-list is not nearly as hard as configuration
of popular prefixes, but it is nevert-the-less a significant task
that we'd just as soon do without.
There are two basic approaches to automating this configuration. One
is to have APRs tag the routes to VPs that they originate, and let
routers effectively reconstruct the VP-list from these tags. This
approach has the advantage that no configuration what-so-ever is
required to solve the problem.
The other is to have ASBRs tag the routes that need not be installed.
This can be done by configuring a list of one or more "VP-ranges" in
the ASBRs. This is simpler than the current configured VP-list
approach in two regards. First, fewer routers need to be configured
(only ASBRs interfacing with peer and provider (non-customer)
networks. Second, the VP-range is simpler than the VP-list. In most
cases, once an ISP is past its initial VA roll-out phase, it would
consist of a single 0/0 entry.
These two approaches are discussed in the following sections.
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4.1. VP-route tag
Routers that receive a route with the communities attribute
indicating the VP-route tag must FIB-install the associated prefix
(VP). They may FIB-suppress any sub-prefixes that fall within the
VP.
Prefixes that do not fall within any known VP must be FIB-installed.
During BGP initialization (i.e. before the End-of-RIB marker is
received [RFC4724]), however, the full set of VPs is not yet known.
Therefore, what routers do with prefixes that do not fall within any
known VP during initialization is a local matter.
There are two basic strategies, install by default and suppress by
default. Each has pros and cons, though the latter is generally
prefered. With install by default, some prefixes will be installed
only to be removed later (when the parent VP is learned). This can
actually ultimately slow down convergence, since it takes time to
modify the FIB. Also, this could result in the FIB filling up with
entries.
The problem with suppress by default is that entries that ultimately
will be installed are not immediately installed. Instead, they are
installed only after the End-of-RIB marker. This approach, however,
does avoid the pitfalls of install by default, and ultimately could
converge faster because FIB churn is avoided. There are also several
mitigating factors that should make suppress by default work well in
practice. First, if the router uses Graceful Restart [RFC4724], then
in any event forwarding can continue to take place even when the BGP
session is restarted. Second, the router can have a policy whereby
prefixes with a should-install tag are automatically installed. In
this way, high-volume prefixes are installed and so most traffic will
in fact be forwarded by the End-of-RIB. Finally, if the router has a
policy that customer prefixes are always installed, then flows
between customers are also correctly forwarded by the End-of-RIB.
Another issue with the VP-route tag is what to do if all APRs for a
given VP stop operating (i.e. crash) and so all VP routes are
withdrawn. Strictly speaking, the router would immediately start
installing the sub-prefixes within that VP. This could lead to the
FIB filling up. Also, if the APR is thrashing (going up and down),
then all routers in the AS could end up repeatedly adding and
removing the same set of prefixes.
How to deal with this is a local matter. There are two questions the
router must answer:
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1. How should hysteresis be applied to the (implicit) VP list to
avoid FIB churn?
2. How are FIB entries prioritized in the case where the FIB is
full?
Regarding VP list hysteresis, perhaps the simplest thing to do is to
use standard route flap damping on the VP routes [RFC2439].
Alternatively, the router could simply not install sub-prefixes for a
recently known VP for some period of time (minutes) after which the
VP route was withdrawn, or only install sub-prefixes slowly (to
minimize the impact of churn).
Regarding FIB entry prioritization, routers must in any event install
VP routes and sub-prefixes within the VPs for which the router is an
APR. If the FIB does not have room for at least these entries, then
VA has simply been configured incorrectly in the AS, and the
administrator must fix this. Beyond these necessary FIB entries,
prioritization is a local matter. A reasonable prioritization,
however, is the following: 1) customer routes, 2) routes with should-
install tag, 3) routes for sub-prefixes of recently withdrawn VPs, 4)
other.
4.2. Can suppress tag
With this approach, some set of ASBRs are configured with a "VP
range". This is the ranges of IP address that are covered by all
VPs. In a mature deployment of VA, the range would amount to all IP
addresses, in which case the VP range is simply 0/0. Early in VA
deployment, when an ISP is still in the testing or roll-out phase,
the VP range would consist of multiple entries. At a minimum, the
set of ASBRs so configured are those with peers in peer or transit
ASes. If the AS has a policy that customer routes are always FIB-
installed, then it is not necessary to configure routers that connect
to customer ASes.
VP-range configured ASBRs must tag any route whose prefix falls
within the VP range with a "can-suppress" tag, with the following
exceptions:
1. Routers must never tag a VP route with can-suppress.
2. If the ISP has a policy of FIB-installing customer routes, then
routes received from customers should not be tagged with can-
suppress.
A router receiving a route with a can-suppress tag first determines
if it must FIB-install the prefix. It would have to do this for
instance if the prefix falls within a VP for which it is an APR. If
the router does not have to install the prefix, then it may suppress
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the prefix at its own discretion.
When the can-suppress approach is used, then routers must FIB-install
any prefixes not tagged as can-suppress. The primary reason for this
is so that VP routes are always installed.
Note that in the case where all VP routes for a given VP are
withdrawn, routers would not be able to FIB-install the (now
unreachable) sub-prefixes. This is because, with the can-suppress
approach, routers do not actually know which routes are VPs.
5. IANA Considerations
IANA must assign type values for the Extended Communities Attributes
that convey the tags.
6. Security Considerations
As of this writing, there are no known new security threats
introduced by this draft.
7. References
7.1. Normative References
[I-D.ietf-grow-va]
Francis, P., Xu, X., Ballani, H., Jen, D., Raszuk, R., and
L. Zhang, "FIB Suppression with Virtual Aggregation",
draft-ietf-grow-va-00 (work in progress), May 2009.
[RFC1997] Chandrasekeran, R., Traina, P., and T. Li, "BGP
Communities Attribute", RFC 1997, August 1996.
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC4360] Sangli, S., Tappan, D., and Y. Rekhter, "BGP Extended
Communities Attribute", RFC 4360, February 2006.
[RFC4724] Sangli, S., Chen, E., Fernando, R., Scudder, J., and Y.
Rekhter, "Graceful Restart Mechanism for BGP", RFC 4724,
January 2007.
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7.2. Informative References
[RFC2439] Villamizar, C., Chandra, R., and R. Govindan, "BGP Route
Flap Damping", RFC 2439, November 1998.
[nsdi09] Ballani, H., Francis, P., Cao, T., and J. Wang, "Making
Routers Last Longer with ViAggre", ACM Usenix NSDI 2009 ht
tp://www.usenix.org/events/nsdi09/tech/full_papers/
ballani/ballani.pdf, April 2009.
Authors' Addresses
Paul Francis
Max Planck Institute for Software Systems
Gottlieb-Daimler-Strasse
Kaiserslautern 67633
Germany
Phone: +49 631 930 39600
Email: francis@mpi-sws.org
Xiaohu Xu
Huawei Technologies
No.3 Xinxi Rd., Shang-Di Information Industry Base, Hai-Dian District
Beijing, Beijing 100085
P.R.China
Phone: +86 10 82836073
Email: xuxh@huawei.com
Hitesh Ballani
Cornell University
4130 Upson Hall
Ithaca, NY 14853
US
Phone: +1 607 279 6780
Email: hitesh@cs.cornell.edu
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Dan Jen
UCLA
4805 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095
US
Phone:
Email: jenster@cs.ucla.edu
Robert Raszuk
Self
Phone:
Email: robert@raszuk.net
Lixia Zhang
UCLA
3713 Boelter Hall
Los Angeles, CA 90095
US
Phone:
Email: lixia@cs.ucla.edu
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