Rich Template Set Extension to the IPFIX Protocol
<draft-sommer-ipfix-richtemplate-00.txt>

Status of this Memo

By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.

Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.

Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as “work in progress.”

The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt.

The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html.

This Internet-Draft will expire on January 8, 2009.

Abstract

This draft describes the Rich Template Set, a Template Set for the IPFIX Protocol, as well as its respective Template Records. One possible application domain for this new Set is the transport of IPFIX Flow Mediation selection criteria. In comparison to the use of Common Properties, the use of Rich Template Sets reduces the overhead of repeated transmissions and makes data transmissions more robust against failures.

Table of Contents

1.  Introduction
2.  Rich Template
3.  Use of the Rich Template in Flow Aggregation
4.  Security considerations
5.  IANA Considerations
6.  Normative References
§  Authors' Addresses
§  Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements

1.  Introduction

IPFIX supports the concept of a Mediator, a device that receives, transforms, and exports data streams using IPFIX. A major requirement of flow mediation is the reduction of the volume of IPFIX traffic by discarding and aggregating received information. [I‑D.dressler‑ipfix‑aggregation] (Dressler, F., Sommer, C., Muenz, G., and A. Kobayashi, “IPFIX Flow Aggregation,” July 2008.) describes how pattern matching is used for flow aggregation. The draft also outlines how to select flows and subsequently communicate the selection criteria to an IPFIX Collector, using Common Properties of the resulting Compound Flows to describe these attributes. In order to avoid the overhead of the repeated transmissions of all Common Properties (or their identifiers) in all Flow Records, a new Template Set, the Rich Template Set, is introduced. This Template Set allows an Exporting Process to simultaneously declare and transmit Common Properties to a receiver.

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] (Bradner, S., “Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels,” March 1997.).

2.  Rich Template

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|          Set ID = 4           |          Length               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                     Rich Template Record 1                    |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                     Rich Template Record N                    |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                          Padding (opt)                        |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

The format of individual Rich Template Records, however, differs from that of Template Records and is shown in Figure 2 (Rich Template Record Format).

0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|  Template ID (> 255)          |  Field Count                  |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|  Data Count                   |  Common Properties ID         |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                       Field 1 Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                       Field N Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                        Data 1 Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                        Data M Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                          Data 1 Value                         |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                          Data M Value                         |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

Set ID

Type of this Template Set. A Set ID value of 4 is proposed for the Rich Template Set.

Length

Total length of this set in bytes, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).

Padding

OPTIONAL padding, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).

The Rich Template Record field definitions are as follows:

Template ID

Template ID of this Rich Template Record. As defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.), this value MUST be greater than 255.

Field Count

Number of regular fields that will be sent in subsequent Data Records using this Template, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).

Data Count

Number of fixed-value fields that will be sent in this Template.

Common Properties ID

Contains an identifier that can be referred to by commonPropertiesId Information Elements, as introduced in [I‑D.ietf‑ipfix‑reducing‑redundancy] (Boschi, E., “Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports,” May 2007.).

Field N Specifier

Information Element identifier, Field length and an Enterprise Number (if applicable) of field N. Refer to [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.) for more information on Field Specifiers.

Data M Specifier

Same as "Field N Specifier", but used for Common Properties of all Data Records of this Template. Together with Data M Value, a similar encoding like TLV (type-length-value) is achieved.

Data M Value

Bit representation of a Common Property as would be transmitted in a Data Record.

3.  Use of the Rich Template in Flow Aggregation

The Rich Template is well-suited for use in flow aggregation, as introduced in [I‑D.dressler‑ipfix‑aggregation] (Dressler, F., Sommer, C., Muenz, G., and A. Kobayashi, “IPFIX Flow Aggregation,” July 2008.). Table 1 (Relation between field modifiers, Flow Records, and Rich Templates) illustrates the relationship between a flow aggregator's field modifiers and patterns on the one hand, and the resulting regular and fixed-value fields in the Rich Template on the other hand. It can be seen that the analyzer is able to deduce all instructions of the Aggregation Rule considering the structure of the Rich Template, except the combination "discard without pattern" that does not result in any field.

Assume, for example, the concentrator was given the Aggregation Rule shown in Table 2 (Example Rule).

Based on the Aggregation Rule, the concentrator would now first send a corresponding Rich Template Record as shown in Table 3 (Rich Template used).

Assume further that the concentrator receives the Flow Records shown in Table 4 (Incoming Flows).

The concentrator would then export Data Records of this type, which contain the Compound Flows resulting from aggregation. Note that the Flows' Common Property, having a source IP address in 192.0.2.0/28, was already transmitted in the Rich Template Record and is thus not included in Data Records. The exported Data Records, shown in Table 5 (Aggregated Flows), only contain the aggregated packet counts and the destination port, the latter being the only discriminating Flow Key property.

4.  Security considerations

This document introduces a new IPFIX Template Set, a variation on the Template Set and data types introduced in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.) and [I‑D.ietf‑ipfix‑reducing‑redundancy] (Boschi, E., “Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports,” May 2007.). No additional security considerations apply.

5.  IANA Considerations

Use of the Rich Template Set requires one new IPFIX Set ID to be assigned.

6. Normative References

Authors' Addresses

Full Copyright Statement

Copyright © The IETF Trust (2008).

This document is subject to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights.

This document and the information contained herein are provided on an “AS IS” basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY, THE IETF TRUST AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Intellectual Property

The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described in this document or the extent to which any license under such rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights. Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79.

Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository at http://www.ietf.org/ipr.

The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement this standard. Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-ipr@ietf.org.