Internet Engineering Task Force                                S. Aldrin
Internet-Draft                                                    Google
Intended status: Informational                         C. Pignataro, Ed.
Expires: March 11, 2018                                    N. Kumar, Ed.
                                                                   Cisco
                                                                N. Akiya
                                                     Big Switch Networks
                                                             R. Krishnan
                                                             A. Ghanwani
                                                                    Dell
                                                       September 7, 2017


                    Service Function Chaining (SFC)
       Operation, Administration and Maintenance  (OAM) Framework
                    draft-ietf-sfc-oam-framework-03

Abstract

   This document provides a reference framework for Operations,
   Administration and Maintenance (OAM) for Service Function Chaining
   (SFC).

Requirements Language

   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].

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/.

   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 March 11, 2018.






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Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2017 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 Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
   described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Document Scope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   2.  SFC Layering Model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  SFC OAM Components  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     3.1.  Service Function Component  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       3.1.1.  Service Function Availability . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
       3.1.2.  Service Function Performance Measurement  . . . . . .   7
     3.2.  Service Function Chain Component  . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.2.1.  Service Function Chain Availability . . . . . . . . .   7
       3.2.2.  Service Function Chain Performance Measurement  . . .   8
     3.3.  Classifier Component  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   4.  SFC OAM Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.1.  Connectivity Functions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.2.  Continuity Functions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.3.  Trace Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.4.  Performance Measurement Function  . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
   5.  Gap Analysis  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     5.1.  Existing OAM Functions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     5.2.  Missing OAM Functions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
     5.3.  Required OAM Functions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   6.  SFC OAM Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     6.1.  SFC OAM Packet Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     6.2.  OAM Packet Processing and Forwarding Semantic . . . . . .  12
     6.3.  OAM Function Types  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     6.4.  OAM Toolset applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.4.1.  ICMP Applicability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.4.2.  Seamless BFD Applicability  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.4.3.  In-Situ OAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
       6.4.4.  SFC Traceroute  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     6.5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14
     6.6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15



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     6.7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17

1.  Introduction

   Service Function Chaining (SFC) enables the creation of composite
   services that consist of an ordered set of Service Functions (SF)
   that are to be applied to packets and/or frames selected as a result
   of classification [RFC7665].  Service Function Chaining is a concept
   that provides for more than just the application of an ordered set of
   SFs to selected traffic; rather, it describes a method for deploying
   SFs in a way that enables dynamic ordering and topological
   independence of those SFs as well as the exchange of metadata between
   participating entities.  The foundations of SFC are described in the
   following documents:

   o  SFC Problem Statement [RFC7498]

   o  SFC Architecture [RFC7665]

   The reader is assumed to be familiar with the material in these
   documents.

   This document provides a reference framework for Operations,
   Administration and Maintenance (OAM, [RFC6291]) of SFC.
   Specifically, this document provides:

   o  In Section 2, an SFC layering model;

   o  In Section 3, aspects monitored by SFC OAM;

   o  In Section 4, functional requirements for SFC OAM;

   o  In Section 5, a gap analysis for SFC OAM.

1.1.  Document Scope

   The focus of this document is to provide an architectural framework
   for SFC OAM, particularly focused on the aspect of the Operations
   component within OAM.  Actual solutions and mechanisms are outside
   the scope of this document.







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2.  SFC Layering Model

   Multiple layers come into play for implementing the SFC.  These
   include the service layer and the underlying layers (Network, Link
   etc)

   o  The service layer in Figure 1, consists of SFC data plane elements
      that includes classifiers, Service Functions (SF), Service
      Function Forwarders (SFF), SFC Proxy.  This layer uses the overlay
      network for ensuring connectivity between SFC data plane elements.

   o  The overlay network layer in Figure 1, leverages various overlay
      network technologies interconnecting SFC data plane elements and
      allows establishing service function paths (SFPs).  This layer is
      mostly transparent to the SFC data plane elements.

   o  The underlay network layer in Figure 1, is dictated by the
      networking technology deployed within a network (e.g., IP, MPLS)

   o  The link layer in Figure 1, is dependent upon the physical
      technology used.  Ethernet is a popular choice for this layer, but
      other alternatives are deployed (e.g.  POS, DWDM etc...).  The
      same or distinct link layer technologies may be used in each leg
      shown in figure 1.

   o----------------------Service Layer----------------------o

+------+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+
|Classi|---|SF1|---|SF2|---|SF3|---|SF4|---|SF5|---|SF6|---|SF7|
|fier  |   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+   +---+
+------+
             o------VM1------o       o--VM2--o       o--VM3--o

   o-----------------o-------------------o---------------o  Overlay network

   o-----------------o-----------------------------------o  Underlay network

   o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o--------o  Link

             Figure 1: SFC Layering Example

   While Figure 1 depicts a sample example where SFs are enabled as
   virtual entities, the SFC architecture does not make any assumptions
   on how SFC data plane elements are deployed.  The SFC architecture is
   flexible to accomodate physical or virtual entity deployment.  SFC
   OAM adheres to this flexibility and accordingly it is applicable
   whether SFC data plane elements are deployed directly on physical




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   hardware, as one or more Virtual Machines, or any combination
   thereof.

3.  SFC OAM Components

   The SFC operates at the service layer.  For the purpose of defining
   the OAM framework, the service layer is broken up into three distinct
   components.

   1.  SF component: OAM solutions for this component include testing
       the service functions from any SFC-aware network devices (i.e.
       classifiers, controllers, other service nodes).

   2.  SFC component: OAM solutions for this component include testing
       the service function chains and the SFPs, validate the
       correlation between a Service Function Chain and the actual
       forwarding path followed by a packet matching that SFC, etc.

   3.  Classifier component: OAM solutions for this component include
       testing the validity of the classification rules and detecting
       any incoherence among the rules installed in different
       classifiers.

   Below figure illustrates an example where OAM for the three defined
   components are used within the SFC environment.


























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+-Classifier  +-Service Function Chain OAM
| OAM         |
|             |       ______________________________________________
|              \     /\             Service Function Chain          \
|               \   /  \         +---+      +---+     +-----+  +---+ \
|                \ /    \        |SF1|      |SF2|     |Proxy|--|SF3|  \
|      +------+  \/      \       +---+      +---+     +-----+  +---+   \
+----> |      |...(+->    )        |          |         |               )
       |Classi|   \      /      +-----+    +-----+    +-----+          /
       |fier  |    \    /       | SFF1|----| SFF2|----| SFF3|         /
       |      |     \  /        +--^--+    +--^--+    +-----+        /
       +----|-+      \/____________|________________________________/
            |                      |
            +----------SF_OAM------+
                                     +---+   +---+
                             +SF_OAM>|SF3|   |SF5|
                             |       +-^-+   +-^-+
                      +------|---+     |       |
                      |Controller|     +-SF_OAM+
                      +----------+
                           Service Function OAM (SF_OAM)

             Figure 2: SFC OAM for Three Components

   It is expected that multiple SFC OAM solutions will be defined, many
   targeting one specific component of the service layer.  However, it
   is critical that SFC OAM solutions together provide the coverage of
   all three SFC OAM components: the service function component, the
   service function chain component and the classifier component.

3.1.  Service Function Component

3.1.1.  Service Function Availability

   One SFC OAM requirement for the service function component is to
   allow an SFC-aware network device to check the availability to a
   specific service function, located on the same or different network
   devices.  Service function availability is an aspect which raises an
   interesting question.  How to determine that a service function is
   available?.  On one end of the spectrum, one might argue that a
   service function is sufficiently available if the service node
   (physical or virtual) hosting the service function is available and
   is functional.  On the other end of the spectrum, one might argue
   that the service function availability can only be concluded if the
   packet, after passing through the service function, was examined and
   verified that the packet got expected service applied.





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   The former approach will likely not provide sufficient confidence to
   the actual service function availability, i.e. a service node and a
   service function are two different entities.  The latter approach is
   capable of providing an extensive verification, but comes with a
   cost.  Some service functions make direct modifications to packets,
   while other service functions do not make any modifications to
   packets.  Additionally, purpose of some service functions is to,
   conditionally, drop packets intentionally.  In such case, packets
   will not be coming out from the service function.  The fact is that
   there are many flavors of service functions available, and many more
   flavors of service functions will likely be introduced in future.
   Even a given service function may introduce a new functionality
   within a service function (e.g., a new signature in a firewall).  The
   cost of this approach is that verifier functions will need to be
   continuously modified to "keep up" with new services coming out: lack
   of extendibility.

   This framework document provides a RECOMMENDED architectural model
   where generalized approach is taken to verify that a service function
   is sufficiently available.  More specifics on the mechanism to
   characterize SF-specific OAM to validate the service offering is
   outside the scope of this document.  Those mechanism are
   implementation and deployment specific.

3.1.2.  Service Function Performance Measurement

   Second SFC OAM requirement for the service function component is to
   allow an SFC aware network device to check the loss and delay induced
   by a specific service function.  TBD - details will be provided in a
   later revision.

3.2.  Service Function Chain Component

3.2.1.  Service Function Chain Availability

   Verifying an SFC is a complicated process as the SFC could be
   comprised of varying SF's.  Thus, SFC requires the OAM layer to
   perform validation and verification of SF's within an SFP, as well as
   connectivity and fault isolation.

   In order to perform service connectivity verification of an SFC, the
   OAM could be initiated from any SFC aware network devices for end-to-
   end paths or partial path terminating on a specific SF within the
   SFC.  The goal of this OAM function is to ensure the SF's chained
   together has connectivity as it is intended to when SFC was
   established.  Necessary return code should be defined to be sent back
   in the response to OAM packet, in order to qualify the verification.




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   When ECMP is in use at the service layer for any given SFC, there
   must be the ability to discover and traverse all available paths.

   TBD - further details will be provided in a later revision.

3.2.2.  Service Function Chain Performance Measurement

   Any SFC-aware network device must have the ability to perform loss
   and delay measurements over the service function chain as a unit
   (i.e. end-to-end) or to a specific segment of service function
   through the SFC.

3.3.  Classifier Component

   A classifier maintains the classification rules that maps a flow to a
   specific SFC.  It is vital that the classifier is correctly
   configured with updated classification rules and functioning
   accordingly.  The SFC OAM must be able to validate the classification
   rules by assessing whether a flow is appropriately mapped to the
   relevant SFC.  Sample OAM packets can be presented to the classifiers
   to assess the behavior with regards to a given classification entry.

4.  SFC OAM Functions

   Section 3 describes SFC OAM operations that is required on each SFC
   component.  This section explores the same from the OAM functionality
   point of view, which many will be applicable to multiple SFC
   components.

   Various SFC OAM requirements listed in Section 3, provides the need
   for various OAM functions at different layers.  Many of the OAM
   functions at different layers are already defined and in existence.
   In order to apply such OAM functions at service layer, they have to
   be enhanced to operate a single SF/SFF to multiple SFs/SFFs in an SFC
   and also in multiple SFCs.

4.1.  Connectivity Functions

   Connectivity is mainly an on-demand function to verify that the
   connectivity exists between network elements and the availability
   exists to service functions.  Ping is a common tool used to perform
   this function.  OAM messages SHOULD be encapsulated with necessary
   SFC header and with OAM markings when testing the service function
   chain component.  OAM messages MAY be encapsulated with necessary SFC
   header and with OAM markings when testing the service function
   component.  Some of the OAM functions performed by connectivity
   functions are as follows:




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   o  Verify the Path MTU from a source to the destination SF or through
      the SFC.  This requires the ability for OAM packet to take
      variable length packet size.

   o  Verify the packet re-ordering and corruption.

   o  Verify the policy of an SFC or SF using OAM packet.

   o  Verification and validating forwarding paths.

   o  Proactively test alternate or protected paths to ensure
      reliability of network configurations.

4.2.  Continuity Functions

   Continuity is a model where OAM messages are sent periodically to
   validate or verify the reachability to a given SF or through a given
   SFC.  This allows monitor network device to quickly detect failures
   like link failures, network failures, service function outages or
   service function chain outages.  BFD is one such function which helps
   in detecting failures quickly.  OAM functions supported by continuity
   check are as follows:

   o  Ability to provision continuity check to a given SF or through a
      given SFC.

   o  Notifying the failure upon failure detection for other OAM
      functions to take appropriate action.

4.3.  Trace Functions

   Tracing is an important OAM function that allows the operation to
   trigger an action (e.g., response generation) from every transit
   device (e.g., SFF, SF, SFC Proxy etc) on the tested layer.  This
   function is typically useful to gather information from every transit
   devices or to isolate the failure point towards an SF or through an
   SFC.  Some of the OAM functions supported by trace functions are:

   o  Ability to trigger action from every transit device on the tested
      layer towards an SF or through an SFC, using TTL or other means.

   o  Ability to trigger every transit device to generate response with
      OAM code(s) on the tested layer towards an SF or through an SFC,
      using TTL or other means.

   o  Ability to discover and traverse ECMP paths within an SFC.

   o  Ability to skip un-supported SFs while tracing SFs in an SFC.



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4.4.  Performance Measurement Function

   Performance management functions involve measuring of packet loss,
   delay, delay variance, etc.  These measurements could be measured
   pro-actively and on-demand.

   SFC OAM framework should provide the ability to perform packet loss
   for an SFC.  Measuring packet loss is very important function.  Using
   on-demand function, the packet loss could be measured using
   statistical means.  Using OAM packets, the approximation of packet
   loss for a given SFC could be measured.

   Delay within an SFC could be measured from the time it takes for a
   packet to traverse the SFC from ingress SFC node to egress SFF.  As
   the SFCs are generally unidirectional in nature, measurement of one-
   way delay [RFC7679] is important.  In order to measure one-way delay,
   time synchronization must be supported by means of NTP, PTP, GPS,
   etc.

   One-way delay variation [RFC3393] could also be measured by sending
   OAM packets and measuring the jitter between the packets passing
   through an SFC.

   Some of the OAM functions supported by the performance measurement
   functions are:

   o  Ability to measure the packet processing delay induced by a
      service function or the one-way delay to traverse a service
      function path along an SFC.

   o  Ability to measure the packet loss [RFC7680] within a service
      function or a service function path bound to a given SFC.

5.  Gap Analysis

   This section identifies various OAM functions available at different
   levels.  It also identifies various gaps, if not all, existing within
   the existing toolset, to perform OAM function required for SFC.

5.1.  Existing OAM Functions

   There are various OAM tool sets available to perform OAM functions
   within various layers.  These OAM functions could validate some of
   the underlay and overlay networks.  Tools like ping and trace are in
   existence to perform connectivity check and tracing intermediate hops
   in a network.  These tools support different network types like IP,
   MPLS, TRILL etc.  There is also an effort to extend the tool set to
   provide connectivity and continuity checks within overlay networks.



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   BFD is another tool which helps in detecting data forwarding
   failures.  The following table is not exhaustive.

   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Layer          | Connectivity |  Continuity |  Trace | Performance|
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Underlay N/w   | Ping         | E-OAM, BFD  |  Trace | IPPM, MPLS |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Overlay N/w    | Ping         | BFD, NVo3   | Trace  | IPPM       |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | SF             | None         + None        + None   + None       |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | SFC            | None         + None        + None   + None       |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
                Table 3: OAM Tool GAP Analysis

   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Layer          |Configuration |Orchestration|Topology|Notification|
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Underlay N/w   |CLI, Netconf  | CLI, Netconf|SNMP    |SNMP, Syslog|
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | Overlay N/w    |CLI, Netconf  | CLI, Netconf|SNMP    |SNMP, Syslog|
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | SF             |CLI, Netconf  + CLI         + None   + None       |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
   | SFC            |CLI, Netconf  + CLI         + None   + None       |
   +----------------+--------------+-------------+--------+------------+
                Table 4: OAM Tool GAP Analysis (contd.)

5.2.  Missing OAM Functions

   As shown in Table 3, OAM functions for SFC are not standardized yet.
   Hence, there are no standard based tools available to verify SF and
   SFC.

5.3.  Required OAM Functions

   Primary OAM functions exist for underlying layers.  Tools like ping,
   trace, BFD, etc., exist in order to perform these OAM functions.
   Configuration, orchestration and manageability of SF and SFC could be
   performed using CLI, NETCONF, etc.

   As depicted in Table 3 and 4, for configuration, manageability and
   orchestration, providing data and information models for SFC is very
   much needed.  With virtualized SF and SFC, manageability of these
   functions has to be done programmatically.





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6.  SFC OAM Model

   This section describes the operational aspects of SFC OAM at the
   Service layer to perform the SFC OAM function defined in Section 4
   and analyze the applicability of various existing OAM toolsets in the
   service layer.

6.1.  SFC OAM Packet Marker

   SFC OAM function described in Section 4 performed at the service
   layer or overlay network layer must mark the packet as OAM packet so
   that relevant nodes can differentiate an OAM packet from data
   packets.  The base header defined in Section 3.2 of
   [I-D.ietf-sfc-nsh] assigns a bit to indicate OAM packets.  When NSH
   encapsulation is used at the service layer, the O bit must be set to
   differentiate the OAM packet.  Any other overlay encapsulations used
   in future must have a way to mark the packet as OAM packet.

6.2.  OAM Packet Processing and Forwarding Semantic

   Upon receiving OAM packet, an SFC-aware SFs may choose to discard the
   packet if it does not support OAM functionality or if the local
   policy prevent it from processing OAM packet.  When SF supports OAM
   functionality, it is desired to process the packet and respond back
   accordingly that helps with end-to-end verification.  To avoid
   hitting any performance impact, SFC-aware SFs can rate limit the
   number of OAM packets processed.

   Service Function Forwarder (SFF) may choose not to forward the OAM
   packet to an SF if the SF does not support OAM function or if the
   policy does not allow to forward OAM packet to an SF.  SFF may choose
   to skip the SF, modify the header and forward to next SFC node in the
   chain.  Although, skipping an SF might have implication on some OAM
   function (e.g., delay measurement may not be accurate).  How SFF
   detects if the connected SF supports or allowed to process OAM packet
   is outside the scope of this document.  It could be a configuration
   parameter instructed by the controller or can be a dynamic
   negotiation between SF and SFF.

   If the SFF receiving the OAM packet bound to a given SFC is the last
   SFF in the chain, it must send a relevant response to the initiator
   of the OAM packet.  Depending on the type of OAM solution and tool
   set used, the response could be a simple response (ICMP reply or BFD
   reply packet) or could include additional data from the received OAM
   packet (like stats data consolidated along the path).  The proposed
   solution should detail it further.





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   Any SFC-aware node that initiates OAM packet must set the OAM marker
   in the overlay encapsulation.

6.3.  OAM Function Types

   As described in Section 4, there are different OAM functions that may
   require different OAM solutions.  While the presence of OAM marker in
   the overlay header (e.g., O bit in the NSH header) indicates it as
   OAM packet, it is not sufficient to indicate what OAM function the
   packet is intended for.  The Next Protocol field in NSH header may be
   used to indicate what OAM function is it intended to or what toolset
   is used.

6.4.  OAM Toolset applicability

   As described in Section 5.1, there are different tool sets available
   to perform OAM functions at different layers.  This section describes
   the applicability of some of the available toolsets in the service
   layer.

6.4.1.  ICMP Applicability

   [RFC0792] and [RFC4443] describes the use of ICMP in IPv4 and IPv6
   network respectively.  It explains how ICMP messages can be used to
   test the network reachability between different end points and
   perform basic network diagnostics.

   ICMP could be leveraged for basic OAM functions like SF availability
   or SFC availability.  The Initiator can generate ICMP echo request
   message and control the service layer encapsulation header to get the
   response from relevant node.  For example, a classifier initiating
   OAM can generate ICMP echo request message, can set the TTL field in
   NSH header to 255 to get the response from last SFF and thereby test
   the SFC availability.  Alternately, the initiator can set the TTL to
   other value to get the response from specific SFs and there by test
   partial SFC availability.  Alternately, the initiator could send OAM
   packets with sequentially incrementing the TTL in NSH header to trace
   the SFP.

   It could be observed that ICMP at its current stage may not be able
   to perform all required SFC OAM functions, but as explained above, it
   can be used for basic OAM functions.

6.4.2.  Seamless BFD Applicability

   [RFC5880] defines Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) mechanism
   for fast failure detection.  [RFC5881] and [RFC5884] defines the
   applicability of BFD in IPv4, IPv6 and MPLS networks.  [RFC7880]



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   defines Seamless BFD (S-BFD), a simplified mechanism of using BFD.
   [RFC7881] explains its applicability in IPv4, IPv6 and MPLS network.

   S-BFD could be leveraged to perform SF or SFC availability.  An
   initiator could generate BFD control packet and set the "Your
   Discriminator" value as last SFF in the control packet.  Upon
   receiving the control packet, last SFF will reply back with relevant
   DIAG code.  We could also use the TTL field in the NSH header to
   perform partial SFC availability.  For example, the initiator can set
   the "Your Discriminator" value to the SF that is intended to be
   tested and set the TTL field in NSH header in a way that it will be
   expired on the relevant SF.  How the initiator gets the Discriminator
   value of the SF is outside the scope of this document.

6.4.3.  In-Situ OAM

   [I-D.brockners-proof-of-transit] defines a mechanism to perform proof
   of transit to securely verify if a packet traversed the relevant path
   or chain.  While the mechanism is defined inband (i.e, it will be
   included in data packets), it can be used to perform various SFC OAM
   functions as well.

   In-Situ OAM could be used with O bit set and perform SF availability,
   SFC availability of performance measurement.

6.4.4.  SFC Traceroute

   [I-D.penno-sfc-trace] defines a protocol that checks for path
   liveliness and trace the service hops in any SFP.  Section 3 of
   [I-D.penno-sfc-trace]  defines the SFC trace packet format while
   section 4 and 5 of [I-D.penno-sfc-trace]  defines the behavior of SF
   and SFF respectively.

   An initiator can control the SIL in SFC trace packet to perform SF
   and SFC availability test.

6.5.  Security Considerations

   SFC and SF OAM must provide mechanisms for:

   o  Preventing usage of OAM channel for DDOS attacks.

   o  OAM packets meant for a given SFC should not get leaked beyond
      that SFC.

   o  Prevent OAM packets to leak the information of an SFC beyond its
      administrative domain.




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6.6.  IANA Considerations

   No action is required by IANA for this document.

6.7.  Acknowledgements

   We would like to thank Mohamed Boucadair for his review and comments.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-sfc-nsh]
              Quinn, P., Elzur, U., and C. Pignataro, "Network Service
              Header (NSH)", draft-ietf-sfc-nsh-20 (work in progress),
              September 2017.

   [RFC0792]  Postel, J., "Internet Control Message Protocol", STD 5,
              RFC 792, DOI 10.17487/RFC0792, September 1981,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc792>.

   [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>.

   [RFC4443]  Conta, A., Deering, S., and M. Gupta, Ed., "Internet
              Control Message Protocol (ICMPv6) for the Internet
              Protocol Version 6 (IPv6) Specification", STD 89,
              RFC 4443, DOI 10.17487/RFC4443, March 2006,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4443>.

   [RFC7498]  Quinn, P., Ed. and T. Nadeau, Ed., "Problem Statement for
              Service Function Chaining", RFC 7498,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7498, April 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7498>.

   [RFC7665]  Halpern, J., Ed. and C. Pignataro, Ed., "Service Function
              Chaining (SFC) Architecture", RFC 7665,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC7665, October 2015,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7665>.

7.2.  Informative References








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   [I-D.brockners-proof-of-transit]
              Brockners, F., Bhandari, S., Dara, S., Pignataro, C.,
              Leddy, J., Youell, S., Mozes, D., and T. Mizrahi, "Proof
              of Transit", draft-brockners-proof-of-transit-03 (work in
              progress), March 2017.

   [I-D.penno-sfc-trace]
              Penno, R., Quinn, P., Pignataro, C., and D. Zhou,
              "Services Function Chaining Traceroute", draft-penno-sfc-
              trace-03 (work in progress), September 2015.

   [RFC3393]  Demichelis, C. and P. Chimento, "IP Packet Delay Variation
              Metric for IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)", RFC 3393,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC3393, November 2002,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3393>.

   [RFC5880]  Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (BFD)", RFC 5880, DOI 10.17487/RFC5880, June 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5880>.

   [RFC5881]  Katz, D. and D. Ward, "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (BFD) for IPv4 and IPv6 (Single Hop)", RFC 5881,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC5881, June 2010,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5881>.

   [RFC5884]  Aggarwal, R., Kompella, K., Nadeau, T., and G. Swallow,
              "Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD) for MPLS Label
              Switched Paths (LSPs)", RFC 5884, DOI 10.17487/RFC5884,
              June 2010, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5884>.

   [RFC6291]  Andersson, L., van Helvoort, H., Bonica, R., Romascanu,
              D., and S. Mansfield, "Guidelines for the Use of the "OAM"
              Acronym in the IETF", BCP 161, RFC 6291,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC6291, June 2011,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6291>.

   [RFC7679]  Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., Zekauskas, M., and A. Morton,
              Ed., "A One-Way Delay Metric for IP Performance Metrics
              (IPPM)", STD 81, RFC 7679, DOI 10.17487/RFC7679, January
              2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7679>.

   [RFC7680]  Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., Zekauskas, M., and A. Morton,
              Ed., "A One-Way Loss Metric for IP Performance Metrics
              (IPPM)", STD 82, RFC 7680, DOI 10.17487/RFC7680, January
              2016, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7680>.






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   [RFC7880]  Pignataro, C., Ward, D., Akiya, N., Bhatia, M., and S.
              Pallagatti, "Seamless Bidirectional Forwarding Detection
              (S-BFD)", RFC 7880, DOI 10.17487/RFC7880, July 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7880>.

   [RFC7881]  Pignataro, C., Ward, D., and N. Akiya, "Seamless
              Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (S-BFD) for IPv4, IPv6,
              and MPLS", RFC 7881, DOI 10.17487/RFC7881, July 2016,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7881>.

   [RFC8029]  Kompella, K., Swallow, G., Pignataro, C., Ed., Kumar, N.,
              Aldrin, S., and M. Chen, "Detecting Multiprotocol Label
              Switched (MPLS) Data-Plane Failures", RFC 8029,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8029, March 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8029>.

Authors' Addresses

   Sam K. Aldrin
   Google

   Email: aldrin.ietf@gmail.com


   Carlos Pignataro (editor)
   Cisco Systems, Inc.

   Email: cpignata@cisco.com


   Nagendra Kumar (editor)
   Cisco Systems, Inc.

   Email: naikumar@cisco.com


   Nobo Akiya
   Big Switch Networks

   Email: nobo.akiya.dev@gmail.com


   Ram Krishnan
   Dell

   Email: ramkri123@gmail.com





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   Anoop Ghanwani
   Dell

   Email: anoop@alumni.duke.edu















































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