Internet Area WG                                       V. Kuarsingh, Ed.
Internet-Draft                                     Rogers Communications
Intended status: Informational                             J. Cianfarani
Expires: January 27, 2012                                        Comcast
                                                           July 26, 2011


              NAT44/LSN Deployment Options and Experiences
                   draft-kuarsingh-lsn-deployment-03

Abstract

   This document specifies NAT44 [RFC3022] with Large Scale NAT
   [draft-ietf-behave-lsn-requirements-02] integration options along
   with production model experience.  The NAT44/LSN implementation is
   associated with the NAT444 [draft-shirasaki-nat444-04] model.
   Service Providers are preparing for IPv4 address depletion by
   enabling IPv6 and/or extending connectivity for IPv4 to support
   legacy Internet end points.  This document provides practical
   integration options for Large Scale NAT systems which enable provider
   NAT44 and is applicable primarily to service providers.  The document
   does not intend to argue the merits of NAT444 versus other IPv4 run
   out technology options.

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 http://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 January 27, 2012.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2011 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



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 1]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   (http://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
   2.  Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  NAT44/LSN Deployment Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     3.1.  Centralized vs Distributed Modes . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.2.  NAT44/LSN and Traditional IPv4 Service Co-existence  . . .  5
     3.3.  NAT444 By-Pass . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     3.4.  Routing Plane Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     3.5.  Flexible Deployment Options  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     3.6.  IPv4 Overlap Space . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     3.7.  Transactional Logging for LSN Systems  . . . . . . . . . .  7
   4.  MPLS/VPN based NAT44/LSN Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     4.1.  Service Separation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     4.2.  Internal Service Delivery  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
     4.3.  Dual Stack Operation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
     4.4.  Deployment Flexibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     4.5.  Comparison of MPLS/VPN Option versus other LSN
           Attachment Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.5.1.  IEEE 802.1Q  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.5.2.  Policy Based Routing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       4.5.3.  Traffic Engineering  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       4.5.4.  Multiple Routing Topologies  . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   5.  Experiences  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     5.1.  Basic Integration and Requirements Support . . . . . . . . 13
     5.2.  Performance  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   6.  IANA Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   7.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   8.  Conclusions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
   9.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   10. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
     10.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
     10.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18








Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 2]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


1.  Introduction

   The majority of service providers are planning on or implementing
   technologies to mitigate the impact of IPv4 address depletion.  Many
   service providers are planning on implementing a service provider
   NAT44 infrastructure independently or alongside IPv6.

   NAT444 [draft-shirasaki-nat444-04] is a technology model which deals
   with IPv4 address depletion by providing a framework which implements
   a service provider controlled and administrated NAT44 translation
   infrastructure.

   The NAT444 model can be implemented in an incremental fashion to
   complement the existing IPv4 legacy services.  NAT44/LSN can also be
   implemented as part of an IPv6 (Dual Stack) offering allowing for
   connectivity to the IPv6 Internet.

   This document shows how MPLS/VPNs [RFC4364] can be used to provide
   NAT44/LSN services by solving key problems faced by service
   providers.  Although other integration models may exist, the
   framework described herein has shown to be successful when tested and
   characterized in real production models.


2.  Motivation

   Providers may choose to select NAT44/LSN as an initial stage to deal
   with IPv4 address depletion due to the limited IPv6 technology
   support in existing end user equipment.  Specifically, many devices
   within the customer premise may not initially support IPv6 or may
   never support IPv6.  Cost, business constraints and other technical
   reasons may also motivate providers to initially offer NAT44/LSN
   services.

   The selection of NAT44/LSN to connect IPv4 endpoints to the IPv4
   Internet does not preclude service providers from making IPv6
   available to customers.  Dual Stack implementations are feasible
   utilizing both native IPv4 and NAT44/LSN based IPv4 connectivity.
   IPv6 connectivity can co-exist with NAT44/LSN, including 6RD
   [RFC5969] deployments, which may utilize private space for IPv4.

   Initially providing a NAT44/LSN deployment in a dual stack connection
   model versus other options such as DS-Lite allows providers to ease
   the burden on networks as services, back office, billing, policy and
   security systems are migrated to support IPv6 or IPv4/IPv6 tunnelling
   options.  NAT444 based connectivity utilizing Large Scale NAT systems
   can be evolved in the future once IPv6 has matured within the service
   provider network and customer environments.



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 3]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


3.  NAT44/LSN Deployment Requirements

   If a service provider is considering a NAT44 deployment with Large
   Scale NAT (NAT44/LSN), there are a number of basic requirements which
   are of importance.  Preliminary requirements may include the NAT44/
   LSN system capability to:

   - Support distributed (sparse) and centralized (dense) Deployment
   Modes;

   - Allow co-existence with traditional IPv4 based deployments, which
   provide global scoped IPs to CPEs;

   - Provide a framework for NAT by-pass supporting non-translated flows
   between endpoints within a provider's network;

   - Provide routing framework which allows the segmentation of routing
   control and forwarding paths between NAT44/LSN and non-NAT44/LSN
   mediated flows;

   - Provide flexibility for providers to modify their deployments over
   time as translation demands change (connections, bandwidth,
   translation realms/zones and other vectors);

   - Flexibility should include integration options for common access
   technologies such as DSL [BRAS], DOCSIS [CMTS], Mobile [GGSN/PGW/
   ASN-GW], and Ethernet access.

   - Support deployment modes that allow for IPv4 address overlap within
   the NAT44/LSN provider network (between various translation realms);

   - Allow for evolution to future dual-stack and IPv4/IPv6 transition
   deployment modes;

   - Transactional logging and export capabilities to support auxiliary
   functions including abuse mitigation;

   - Support for stateful connection synchronization between translation
   instances/elements (redundancy)

   - Support for ISP Shared Space
   [draft-weil-shared-transition-space-request-02] deployment modes if
   applicable;

   - Allows for the enablement of NAT44/LSN functionality (if required)
   while still minimizing costs and customer impact to the best extend
   possible;




Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 4]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   Other requirements may be assessed on a provider-by-provider basis,
   but those listed above should be considered for any given deployment.

3.1.  Centralized vs Distributed Modes

   Centralized deployments of LSN (longer proximity to end user and/or
   higher densities of subscribers/connections to LSN instances) differ
   from distributed deployments of LSN (closer proximity to end user
   and/or lower densities of subscribers/connections to LSN instances).
   Service providers will likely deploy LSN translation points more
   centrally during initial phases.  Early deployments will likely see
   light loading on these new systems since legacy IPv4 services will
   continue to operate with most endpoints using globally unique IPv4
   addresses.  Exceptional cases which may drive heavy usage in initial
   stages may include providers who already translate most IPv4 traffic
   and will migrate to a NAT44/LSN implementation from legacy firewalls;
   or a green field deployment which may see quick growth in the number
   of new IPv4 endpoints which require Internet connectivity.

   Over time, most providers will likely need to expand and possibly
   distribute the translation points as demand for the NAT44/LSN system
   increases.  The extent of the expansion of the NAT44/LSN
   infrastructure will depend on factors such as growth in the number of
   IPv4 endpoints, status of IPv6 content on the Internet and the
   overall progress globally to an IPv6 world.

3.2.  NAT44/LSN and Traditional IPv4 Service Co-existence

   Newer NAT44/LSN serviced endpoints will exist alongside endpoints
   served by traditional IPv4 global IPs.  Providers will need to
   rationalize these environments since both have distinct forwarding
   needs.  Traditional IPv4 services will likely require (or be best
   served) with direct forwarding towards Internet peering points while
   NAT444 mediated flows require access to a translator.

   The new NAT44/LSN environments should not negatively impact the
   existing IPv4 service base by forcing all traffic to translation
   enabled network points since many flows do not require translation.

   Traffic flow and forwarding efficiency is considered important since
   networks are under considerable demand to delivery more and more
   bandwidth without the luxury of needless inefficiencies which can be
   introduced with NAT44/LSN.

3.3.  NAT444 By-Pass

   The NAT44/LSN environment is only needed for flows with translation
   requirements.  Many flows which remain in a service provider



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 5]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   environment, do not require translation.  Such services include
   provider offered DNS Caching, DHCP Services, NTP Services, Web
   Caching and other services local to the provider network.

   The provider may want to leverage opportunities to offer third
   parties a platform to also provide end device services without
   translation.  NAT44/LSN By-pass can be accomplished in many ways, but
   a simplistic, deterministic and scalable model is preferred.

3.4.  Routing Plane Separation

   Many providers will want to engineer traffic separately for NAT44/LSN
   flows versus flows which are part of the more traditional IPv4
   environment.  Many times the routing of these two major flow types
   differ, therefore routing separation may be required.

   Routing plane separation also allows the provider to utilize other
   addressing techniques, which may not be feasible on a single routing
   plane.  Such examples include the use of overlapping private address
   space [RFC1918] or use of other IPv4 space which may overlap globally
   (i.e.  ISP Shared Space, BOGON Space or others).

3.5.  Flexible Deployment Options

   Service providers operate complex routing environments and offer a
   variety of IPv4 based services.  Many provider environments utilize
   distributed peering infrastructures for transit and peering and these
   may span large geographical regions.  A NAT44/LSN solution should
   offer the provider the ability to place LSN translation points at
   various points within their network.

   The NAT44/LSN deployment should also be flexible enough to change
   over time as demand for translation services increase.  In turn the
   deployment will need to then adapt as translation demand decreases
   caused by the migration of flows to IPv6.  Translation points should
   be able to be placed and moved with as little re-engineering effort
   as possible minimizing the risks to the customer base.

   Depending on hardware capabilities, security practices and IPv4
   address availability, the translation environments my need to be
   segmented and/or grown over time to meet organic IPv4 demand growth.
   Providers will want to seek deployment models which are conducive to
   meeting these goals as well.

3.6.  IPv4 Overlap Space

   IP address overlap for NAT44/LSN translation realms may be required
   if insufficient IPv4 addresses are available within the service



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 6]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   provider environment.  The NAT44/LSN deployment should provide
   mechanisms to enable such an option if required.

3.7.  Transactional Logging for LSN Systems

   NAT44/LSN may require transactional logging since the source IP and
   related transport protocol information is not easily visible to
   external hosts and system.

   If needed, the LSN systems should be able to generate logs which
   identify 'internal' host parameters (i.e.  IP/Port) and associated
   them to external translated parameters imposed by the translator.
   The logged information should be stored on the LSN hardware and/or
   exported to an external system for processing.  Providers may need to
   keep track of this information (securely) to meet regulatory and/or
   legal obligations.


4.  MPLS/VPN based NAT44/LSN Framework

   The MPLS/VPN [RFC4364] framework for NAT44/LSN segregates the 'pre-
   translated' realms within the service provider space into Layer-3
   MPLS/VPNs.  The provider can deploy a single realm for all NAT44/LSN
   based flows, or can deploy multiple realms based on translation
   demand and other factors such as geographical proximity.  A realm in
   this model refers to a 'VPN' which shares a unique RD/RT combination
   and routing plane.

   The MPLS/VPN infrastructure provides control plane and forwarding
   separation for the traditional IPv4 service environment and NAT44/LSN
   environment(s).  The separation allows for routing information (such
   as default routes) to be propagated separately for these two major
   service classes.  Traffic can be efficiently routed to the Internet
   for normal flows, and routed directly to translators for NAT44/LSN
   mediated flows.  Although many providers may run a "default-route-
   free" core, IPv4 flows which require translation must obviously be
   routed first to a translator, so a default route is acceptable for
   the pre-translated realm.

   The physical location of the VRF Termination point and LSN can vary
   and be located anywhere within the provider's MPLS enabled network.
   This model fully virtualizes the translation service forwarding from
   the base IPv4 forwarding environment which will likely carry Internet
   bound traffic.  The base IPv4 environment can continue to service
   traditional IPv4 customer flows plus post translated NAT44/LSN flows.

   Figure 1 provides a view of the basic model.  The Access node
   provides CPE access to either the NAT44/LSN VRF or the Global Routing



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 7]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   Table, depending on whether the customer receives a private or public
   IP.  Translation mediated traffic follows an MPLS LSP which can be
   setup dynamically and can span one hop, or many hops (with not need
   for complex routing policies).  Traffic is then forwarded to the
   translator (shown below) which can be an external appliance or
   integrated into the VRF Termination (Provider Edge) router.  Once
   traffic is translated, it is forwarded to the global routing table
   for general Internet forwarding.  The Global Routing table can also
   be a separate VRF (Internet Access VPN/VRF) should the provider
   choose to implement their Internet based services in that fashion.
   The translation services are effectively overlaid onto the network,
   but are maintained within a separate forwarding and control plane.

                     Access Node     VRF Termination        LSN
                    +-----------+     +-----------+    +-----------+
                    |           |     |           |    |           |
            CPE     | +-------+ |     | +-------+ |    | +-------+ |
           +----+   | |       | | LSP | |       | | IP | |       | |
           |  --+---+-+->VRF--+-+-----+-+->VRF--+-+----+-+->     | |
           +----+   | |       | |     | |       | |    | |       | |
                    | +-------+ |     | +-------+ |    | |       | |
                    |           |     |           |    | | XLATE | |
                    |           |     |           |    | |       | |
            CPE     | +-------+ |     | +-------+ |    | |       | |
           +----+   | |       | |     | |       | | IP | |       | |
           |  --+---+-+->GRT  | |     | |  GRT<-+-+----+-+--     | |
           +----+   | |   |   | |     | |   |   | |    | |       | |
                    | +---+---+ |     | +---+---+ |    | +-------+ |
                    +-----+-----+     +-----+-----+    +-----------+
                          |                 |
                          |                 |                IPv4
                          |                 |   IP       +---------+
                          |                 +------------+->       |
                          |                     IP       |    GRT  |
                          +------------------------------+->       |
                                                         +---------+

                 Figure 1: Basic MPLS/VPN NAT44/LSN Model

   If more then one VRF (translation realm) is used within the provider
   space, each VPN instance can manage NAT44/LSN flows independently for
   the respective realm.  Various redundancy models can be used within
   this architecture to support failover from one physical LSN hardware
   instance to another.  If state information needs to be passed or
   maintained between hardware instances, the vendor would need to
   enable this feature in a suitable manner.





Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 8]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


4.1.  Service Separation

   The MPLS/VPN NAT44/LSN framework supports route separation.  The
   traditional IPv4 flows can be separated at the access node (Initial
   Layer 3 service point) from those which require translation.  This
   type of service separation is possible on common technologies used
   for Internet access within many provider networks.  Service
   separation can be accomplished on common access technology including
   those used for DOCSIS [CMTS], Ethernet Access, DSL [BRAS], and Mobile
   Access [GGSN/AGNGW] architectures.

4.2.  Internal Service Delivery

   Internal services can be delivered directly to the privately
   addressed endpoint within the NAT44/LSN domain without translation.
   This can be accomplished using direct route exchange (import/export)
   between the NAT44/LSN VRFs and the Services VRFs.  The previous
   statement assumes the provider puts key services into a VRF for easy
   routed exchange.  This model allows the provider to maintain separate
   forwarding rules for translated flows, which require a pass through
   the translator to reach an external network entity, versus those
   flows which need to access internal services.  This operational
   detail can be advantageous for a number of reasons.

   First, the provider can reduce the load on the translator since
   internal services do not need to be factored into the scaling of the
   LSN hardware.  Secondly, more direct forwarding paths can be
   maintained providing better network efficiency.  Thirdly, geographic
   locations of the translators and the services infrastructure can be
   deployed in a location independent manner.  Additionally, the
   provider can allow NAT44/LSN endpoints to be accessible via an
   untranslated path reducing the complexities of provider initiated
   management flows.  This last point is of key interest since NAT44
   removes transparency to the end device in normal cases.

   Figure 2 below shows how internal services are provided untranslated
   since flows are sent directly from the access node to the services
   node/VRF via an MPLS LSP.  This traffic is not forwarded to the LSN/
   translator and therefore is not subject to problematic behaviors
   related to NAT.  The services VRF contains routing information which
   can be "imported" into the access node VRF and the LSN VRF routing
   information can be "imported" into the services VRF.









Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012                [Page 9]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


                       Access Node     VRF Termination     LSN
                     +-------------+    +-----------+  +----------+
                     |             |    |           |  |          |
              CPE    | +---------+ |    | +-------+ |  | +------+ |
            +-----+  | |         | |    | |       | |  | |      | |
            |   --+--+-+-> VRF --+-+--+ | |  VRF  | |  | |      | |
            +-----+  | |         | |  | | |       | |  | |      | |
                     | +---------+ |  | | +-------+ |  | |      | |
                     |             |  | |           |  | |XLATE | |
                     |             |  | |           |  | |      | |
              CPE    | +---------+ |  | | +-------+ |  | |      | |
            +-----+  | |         | |  | | |       | |  | |      | |
            |   --+--+-+-> GRT   | |  | | |  GRT  | |  | |      | |
            +-----+  | |    |    | |  | | |       | |  | |      | |
                     | +----+----+ |  | | +-------+ |  | +------+ |
                     +------+------+  | +-----------+  +----------+
                            |         |
                            |         |                    IPv4
                            |         |               +-----------+
                            |         +---------------+->Services |
                            |                         |    VRF    |
                            .-------------------------+->   |     |
                                                      +-----+-----+
                                                            |
                                                      +-----V-----+
                                                      |           |
                                                      |   Local   |
                                                      |  Content  |
                                                      +-----------+

             Figure 2: Internal Services and NAT44/LSN By-Pass

   This demonstrates the ability to offer NAT By-Pass in a simple and
   deterministic method without the need of policy based routing or
   traffic engineering.

4.3.  Dual Stack Operation

   The MPLS/VPN NAT44/LSN model can also be used in conjunction with
   IPv4/IPv6 dual stack service modes.  Since many providers will use
   LSNs on an interim basis while IPv6 matures within the global
   Internet, a dual stack option is of strategic importance.  Providers
   can offer this dual stack service for both traditional IPv4 (global
   IP) endpoints and NAT44/LSN mediated endpoints.

   Providers can separate the IP flows for IPv4 and IPv6 traffic, or use
   other routing techniques to move IPv6 based flows towards the GRT
   while allowing IPv4 flows to remain within the IPv4 LSN VRF for



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 10]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   translator services.

   The figure below shows how IPv4 translation services can be provided
   alongside IPv6 based services.  The model shown allows the provider
   to enable NAT44/LSN to manage IPv4 flows (translated) and IPv6 flows
   are routed without translation efficiently towards the Internet.
   Once again, forwarding of flows to the translator does not impact
   IPv6 flows which do not require this service.

                      Access Node   VRF Termination        LSN
                     +-----------+   +-----------+    +-----------+
                     |           |   |           |    |           |
             CPE     | +-------+ |   | +-------+ |    | +-------+ |
            +-----+  | |       | |LSP| |       | | IP | |       | |
            |   --+--+-+->VRF--+-+---+-+->VRF--+-+----+-+>      | |
            |IPv4 |  | |       | |   | |       | |    | |       | |
            |     |  | +-------+ |   | +-------+ |    | |       | |
            +-----|  |           |   |           |    | | XLATE | |
            |IPv6 |  |           |   |           |    | |       | |
            |     |  | +-------+ |   | +-------+ |    | |       | |
            |     |  | |  IPv6 | |   | |  IPv4 | | IP | |       | |
            |   --+--+-+->GRT  | |   | |  GRT<-+-+----+-+--     | |
            +-----+  | |   |   | |   | |   |   | |    | |       | |
                     | +---+---+ |   | +---+---+ |    | +-------+ |
                     +-----+-----+   +-----+-----+    +-----------+
                           |               |
                           |               |          +-----------+
                           |               |    IP    |    IPv4   |
                           |               +----------+->  GRT    |
                           |                          +-----------+
                           |
                           |
                           |
                           |               IP         +-----------+
                           +--------------------------+->  IPv6   |
                                                      |    GRT    |
                                                      +-----------+

            Figure 3: NAT44/LSN with IPv6 Dual Stack Operation

4.4.  Deployment Flexibility

   The LSN translator services can be moved, separated or segmented (new
   translation realms) without the need to change the overall
   translation design.  Since dynamic LSPs are used to forward traffic
   from the access nodes to the translation points, physical locations
   of the VRF termination points can vary and be changed easily.




Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 11]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   This type of flexibility allows the service provider to initially
   deploy more centralized translation services based on relatively low
   loading factors, and distribute the translation points over time to
   improve network traffic efficiencies and support higher translation
   load.

   Although traffic engineered paths are not required within the MPLS/
   VPN deployment model, nothing precludes a service provider from using
   technologies like MPLS with Traffic Engineering [RFC3031].
   Additional routing mechanisms can be used as desired by the provider
   and can be seen as independent.  There is not specific need to
   diversify the existing infrastructure in most cases.

4.5.  Comparison of MPLS/VPN Option versus other LSN Attachment Options

   Other integration architecture options exist which can attach NAT44/
   LSN based service flows to a translator instance.  Alternate options
   which can be used to attach such services include:

   - IEEE 802.1Q for direct attachment to a next hop translator;

   - Policy Based Routing (Static) to direct translation bound traffic
   to a network based translator;

   - Traffic Engineering or;

   - Multiple Routing Topologies

4.5.1.  IEEE 802.1Q

   IEEE 802.1Q can be used to associate separated traffic from the
   access node to the next hop router's LSN instance.  This technology
   option may limit the LSN placement to the next hop router unless a
   second technology option is paired with it to extend connectivity
   further in the network.

   This option is most effective if LSN instances are placed directly
   upstream of the access node.  Distributed LSN instance placement is
   not likely an initial stage of the NAT44/LSN deployment due to cost
   and demand factors.

4.5.2.  Policy Based Routing

   Policy Based Routing (Static Routing) provides another option to
   direct NAT44/LSN mediated flows to a translator.  PBR options,
   although possible, are difficult to maintain (static policy) and must
   be configured throughout the network with considerable maintenance
   overhead.



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 12]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   More centralized deployments may be difficult or too onerous to
   deploy using Policy Based Routing methods.  Policy Based Routing
   would not achieve route separation (unless used with others options),
   and may add complexities to the providers' routing environment.

4.5.3.  Traffic Engineering

   Traffic Engineering can also be used to direct traffic from an access
   node towards a translator.  Traffic Engineering, like PBR, may be
   difficult to setup and maintain.  Traffic Engineering provides
   additional benefits if used with MPLS by adding potentials for faster
   path re-convergence.  Traffic Engineering paths would need to be
   updated and redefined overtime as LSN translation points are
   augmented or moved.

4.5.4.  Multiple Routing Topologies

   Multiple routing topologies can be used to direct NAT44/LSN based
   flows to translators.  This option would achieve the same basic goal
   as the MPLS/VPN option but with additional implementation overhead.
   Since provider based translation is expected to have an unknown
   lifecycle, and may see various degrees of demand (dependant on
   providers IPv4 Global space availability and shift of traffic to
   IPv6), it may be too large of an undertaking for the provider to
   enabled this as their primary option for NAT44/LSN.


5.  Experiences

5.1.  Basic Integration and Requirements Support

   The MPLS/VPN NAT44/LSN environment has been successfully integrated
   into real network environments utilizing existing network service
   delivery mechanisms.  It appears to solve many issues related to
   provider based translation environments, while still subject to
   problematic behaviors inherent within NAT44 (and by extension
   NAT444).

   Key issues which are solved or managed with the MPLS/VPN option
   include:

   - Centralized and Distributed Deployment model support

   - Routing Plane Separation for NAT44/LSN flows versus traditional
   IPv4 flows

   - Flexible Translation Point Design (can relocate translators and
   split translation zones easily)



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 13]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   - Low maintenance overhead (dynamic routing environment with little
   maintenance of separate routing infrastructure other then management
   of MPLS/VPNs)

   - NAT44 By-pass options (for internal and third party services which
   exist within the provider domain)

   - IPv4 Translation Realm overlap support (can reuse IP addresses
   between zones with some impact to extranet service model)

   - Simple failover techniques can be implemented with redundant
   translators, such as using a second default route

5.2.  Performance

   The MPLS/VPN NAT44/LSN model was observed to support basic functions
   which are typically used by customers within a service provider
   environment.  Examples of successful operation include:

   - Traditional Web [HTTP] Surfing (client initiated)

   - Internet Video Streaming

   - HTTP Based Client Connections

   - High Connection Count sites (i.e.  Google Maps)

   - Email Transaction Support (POP, IMAP, SMTP)

   - Instant Messaging Support (Online Status, File transfers, text
   chat)

   - ICMP Operation (client initiated Echo, Traceroute)

   - Peer to Peer application support (mention Bit Torrent?)

   - DNS (based on services extranet option, but was problematic when
   passed through a translator)

   NAT44/LSNs are still subject to problematic connectivity even within
   the MPLS/VPN technology approach.  Problems which arise, or are not
   inherently addressed in this model include:

   - Inward services from the Internet to the CPE

   - Web session tracking

   - Restricting usage and/or access based on source IP



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 14]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   - Abuse mitigation (masquerade of potential offenders)

   - Increased network or server IDS false positives

   - Increased customer risk for session hijacking

   - Exceeding firewall TCP/UDP limits

   - Customer identification (external site)

   - Poor source based load balancing

   - Customer usage tracking / Ad insertion

   - Other applications or operations may be negatively impacted


6.  IANA Considerations

   There are not specific IANA considerations known at this time with
   the architecture described herein.  Should a provide choose to use
   non-assigned IP address space within their translation realms, then
   considerations may apply.


7.  Security Considerations

   The same security considerations would typically exist for NAT44/LSN
   deployments when compared with traditional IPv4 based services.

   If a provider plans to operation the pre-translation realm (CPE
   towards translator IPv4 zone) as a non-public like network, then
   additional security measures may be needed to secure this
   environment.


8.  Conclusions

   The MPLS/VPN delivery method for NAT44/LSN is an effective and
   scalable way to delivery mass translation services.  The architecture
   avoids the complex requirements of traffic engineering and policy
   based routing.  This is advantageous since the NAT44/LSN environment
   is expected to change over time and will potentially migrate to more
   progressive dual stack environments like DS-Lite over time.

   The architecture solves many of this issues related to NAT444 as an
   overall translation model which are of concern to large Service
   Providers.



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 15]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


9.  Acknowledgements

   Thanks to the following people for their participating in integrating
   and testing the NAT44/LSN environment: Chris Metz, Syd Alam, Richard
   Lawson, John E Spence.

   Additional thanks for the following people for the guidance on IPv6
   transition considerations: John Jason Brzozowski, Chris Donley, Jason
   Weil, Lee Howard, Jean-Francois Tremblay


10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.ietf-behave-lsn-requirements]
              Perreault, S., Yamagata, I., Miyakawa, S., Nakagawa, A.,
              and H. Ashida, "Common requirements for Carrier Grade NAT
              (CGN)", draft-ietf-behave-lsn-requirements-02 (work in
              progress), July 2011.

   [I-D.shirasaki-nat444]
              Yamagata, I., Shirasaki, Y., Nakagawa, A., Yamaguchi, J.,
              and H. Ashida, "NAT444", draft-shirasaki-nat444-04 (work
              in progress), July 2011.

   [RFC3031]  Rosen, E., Viswanathan, A., and R. Callon, "Multiprotocol
              Label Switching Architecture", RFC 3031, January 2001.

   [RFC4364]  Rosen, E. and Y. Rekhter, "BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private
              Networks (VPNs)", RFC 4364, February 2006.

10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.weil-shared-transition-space-request]
              Weil, J., Kuarsingh, V., Donley, C., Liljenstolpe, C., and
              M. Azinger, "IANA Reserved IPv4 Prefix for Shared
              Transition Space",
              draft-weil-shared-transition-space-request-02 (work in
              progress), July 2011.

   [RFC1918]  Rekhter, Y., Moskowitz, R., Karrenberg, D., Groot, G., and
              E. Lear, "Address Allocation for Private Internets",
              BCP 5, RFC 1918, February 1996.

   [RFC2702]  Awduche, D., Malcolm, J., Agogbua, J., O'Dell, M., and J.
              McManus, "Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over MPLS",
              RFC 2702, September 1999.



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 16]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


   [RFC2881]  Mitton, D. and M. Beadles, "Network Access Server
              Requirements Next Generation (NASREQNG) NAS Model",
              RFC 2881, July 2000.

   [RFC3022]  Srisuresh, P. and K. Egevang, "Traditional IP Network
              Address Translator (Traditional NAT)", RFC 3022,
              January 2001.

   [RFC3209]  Awduche, D., Berger, L., Gan, D., Li, T., Srinivasan, V.,
              and G. Swallow, "RSVP-TE: Extensions to RSVP for LSP
              Tunnels", RFC 3209, December 2001.

   [RFC3272]  Awduche, D., Chiu, A., Elwalid, A., Widjaja, I., and X.
              Xiao, "Overview and Principles of Internet Traffic
              Engineering", RFC 3272, May 2002.

   [RFC3477]  Kompella, K. and Y. Rekhter, "Signalling Unnumbered Links
              in Resource ReSerVation Protocol - Traffic Engineering
              (RSVP-TE)", RFC 3477, January 2003.

   [RFC3630]  Katz, D., Kompella, K., and D. Yeung, "Traffic Engineering
              (TE) Extensions to OSPF Version 2", RFC 3630,
              September 2003.

   [RFC4787]  Audet, F. and C. Jennings, "Network Address Translation
              (NAT) Behavioral Requirements for Unicast UDP", BCP 127,
              RFC 4787, January 2007.

   [RFC5305]  Li, T. and H. Smit, "IS-IS Extensions for Traffic
              Engineering", RFC 5305, October 2008.

   [RFC5382]  Guha, S., Biswas, K., Ford, B., Sivakumar, S., and P.
              Srisuresh, "NAT Behavioral Requirements for TCP", BCP 142,
              RFC 5382, October 2008.

   [RFC5508]  Srisuresh, P., Ford, B., Sivakumar, S., and S. Guha, "NAT
              Behavioral Requirements for ICMP", BCP 148, RFC 5508,
              April 2009.

   [RFC5969]  Townsley, W. and O. Troan, "IPv6 Rapid Deployment on IPv4
              Infrastructures (6rd) -- Protocol Specification",
              RFC 5969, August 2010.

   [RFC6269]  Ford, M., Boucadair, M., Durand, A., Levis, P., and P.
              Roberts, "Issues with IP Address Sharing", RFC 6269,
              June 2011.

   [RFC6319]  Azinger, M. and L. Vegoda, "Issues Associated with



Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 17]


Internet-Draft        NAT44/LSN Deployment Options             July 2011


              Designating Additional Private IPv4 Address Space",
              RFC 6319, July 2011.


Authors' Addresses

   Victor Kuarsingh (editor)
   Rogers Communications
   8200 Dixie Road
   Brampton, Ontario  L6T 0C1
   Canada

   Email: victor.kuarsingh@rci.rogers.com
   URI:   http://www.rogers.com


   John Cianfarani
   Comcast
   8200 Dixie Road
   Brampton, Ontario  L6T 0C1
   Canada

   Email: john.cianfarani@rci.rogers.com
   URI:   http://www.rogers.com



























Kuarsingh & Cianfarani  Expires January 27, 2012               [Page 18]