bier                                                            Z. Zhang
Internet-Draft                                             A. Przygienda
Intended status: Standards Track                        Juniper Networks
Expires: April 2, 2022                                September 29, 2021


           BIER with Network Slicing and Flow Differentiation
            draft-zzhang-bier-slicing-and-differentiation-00

Abstract

   This document specifies how BIER works in the context of IETF Network
   slicing, with or without fined-grained traffic differentiation.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  BIER with IETF Network Slicing  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  BIER with Slice Aggregates  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   4.  Specifications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  ISIS Signaling  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       4.1.1.  OSPF Signaling  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
       4.1.2.  BGP Signaling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.2.  BIER Extension Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7

1.  Introduction

   Network slicing has been a topic widely discussed in and beyond IETF.
   According to [I-D.ietf-teas-ietf-network-slices]:

   "An IETF Network Slice is a logical network topology connecting a
   number of endpoints using a set of shared or dedicated network
   resources that are used to satisfy specific Service Level Objectives
   (SLOs).

   An IETF Network Slice combines the connectivity resource requirements
   and associated network behaviors such as bandwidth, latency, jitter,
   and network functions with other resource behaviors such as compute
   and storage availability."

   It is expected that traffic associated with an IETF network slice is
   identified with a slice identifier (e.g. an MPLS label) and each node
   in the path uses the slice identifier to identify the slice in which
   the traffic is forwarded.

   [I-D.bestbar-teas-ns-packet] introduces the notion of Slice Aggregate
   which comprises of one of more IETF network slice traffic streams.  A
   Slice Aggregate is identified by a Slice Selector (SS), and packets
   carry the SS so that associated forwarding treatment or S-PHB (Slice
   policy Per Hop Behavior - the externally observable forwarding
   behavior applied to a specific packet belonging to a slice aggregate)
   - can be applied along the path.

   [I-D.li-apn-problem-statement-usecases] describes challenges faced by
   network operators when attempting to provide fine-grained traffic
   operations to satisfy the various requirements demanded by new



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   applications that require differentiated service treatment and
   [I-D.li-apn-framework] proposes a framework for solution:

   "... proposes a new framework, named Application-aware
   Networking (APN), where application-aware information (i.e.  APN
   attribute) including APN identification (ID) and/or APN parameters
   (e.g. network performance requirements) is encapsulated at network
   edge devices and carried in packets traversing an APN domain in order
   to facilitate service provisioning, perform fine-granularity traffic
   steering and network resource adjustment."

   The authors of this document believe that the IETF Network Slicing
   framework, when augmented by the Slice Aggregate, addresses the APN
   problem domain very well.  This documents describes how BIER
   [RFC8279] works together with IETF network slicing, with or without
   Slice Aggregate to provide fine granularity traffic differentiation
   (e.g. down to per-flow level) that is demanded in the APN problem
   statement.

2.  BIER with IETF Network Slicing

   Since an IETF Network Slice is a logical network topology, each slice
   may have its BIRT (which maps to a set of BIFTs when BitStringLength
   and SetID are considered).  While it is tempting and seems logical to
   map a slice to a BIER sub-domain, and it is straightforward to do so
   when the number of slices is smaller than 256 (the max number of sub-
   domains), this document allows to map a slice directly to a BIRT
   instead of a sub-domain.

   Now a BIRT corresponds to a <sub-domain, slice> tuple, and each BIFT
   corresponds to a <subdomain-id, slice-id, bitstring length, set-id>
   tuple.  In forwarding plane a BIFT is only identified by a 20-bit
   opaque number locally on a BFR, which could be an MPLS label or just
   a plain number in case of non-MPLS data plane.  Therefore, it is
   feasible to have many slices in the same sub-domain - each slice will
   have its own BIRT so that the same BFER in the same sub-domain can be
   reached via different nexthop BFRs according to different BIRTs (i.e.
   different set of corresponding BIFTs) for different slices.

   With this, up to 2^20 slices could be supported in theory - the only
   limit is the number of BIFT entries that a BFR can hold.

   Mapping a slice directly to a BIRT instead of a sub-domain not only
   allows more than 256 slices but also reduces the burden of sub-domain
   related provisioning (e.g. a BFR-ID is needed for each <sub-domain,
   BFIR/BFER>).  Of course, as mentioned earlier, if the number of
   slices is smaller than 256 then a slice can map to a sub-domain as
   well.



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3.  BIER with Slice Aggregates

   Per [I-D.bestbar-teas-ns-packet], a Slice Aggregate may be the
   aggregation of several entire slices, or just a particular flow in a
   slice.  With a Slice Aggregate for several entire slices, the
   different slices (of the same Slice Aggregate) also map to the same
   BIRT.  In that case, for the same destination BFER, traffic in those
   different slices are forwarded to the same (set of ECMP) nexthop BFER
   according to the shared BIRT, yet other forwarding treatment (e.g.
   queuing) could still be different.

   In [RFC8279], a sub-domain is associated with only one topology and
   each sub-domain has its own BIRT calculated using the topology
   information.  When multiple slices are associated with a single sub-
   domain, each slice (or a set of slices) also has its own BIRT
   calculated based on the slice's (or the set of slices') topology
   information.  Therefore, having a sub-domain with multiple slices
   does not violate the underlying principle of BIER architecture, i.e.,
   a BIRT is calculated on a corresponding topology, whether the
   topology is for a sub-domain as in [RFC8279] or for a <sub-domain,
   slice or set of slices> tuple as in this document.

   The BIER header has a 6-bit DSCP field.  If that is not enough to
   identify different slices or slice aggregates that share the same
   BIRT, an explicit Slice Selector can be carried in "BIER Extension
   Header" [I-D.zzhang-intarea-generic-delivery-functions].

   This means that, even for a transit BFR, if provisioned to support
   slice aggregates identified by a Slice Selector in the extension
   header, it must check if the "Proto" field is set to a value for BIER
   Extension Header.

   Note: while the concept of "BIER Extension Header" is first brought
   up in that Generic Delivery Functions draft
   [I-D.zzhang-intarea-generic-delivery-functions] in intarea WG, it is
   expected that BIER specific work will be brought to the BIER WG.

4.  Specifications

   BIER signaling for OSPF/ISIS/BGP is extended to include slice
   information so that slice-specific BIRTs can be built.

4.1.  ISIS Signaling

   A BIER MPLS Encapsulation Extended Sub-sub-TLV is defined with a new
   type to allow sub-sub-sub-TLVs in it.  Besides the new type and
   additional sub-sub-sub-TLVs, the rest are the same as original BIER
   MPLS Encapsulation Sub-sub-TLV [RFC8401].



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       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |    Type       |   Length      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   Max SI      |BS Len |                    Label              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |   sub-sub-sub-TLVs (variable)                                 |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Type: Value of TBD indicating Extended sub-sub-TLV for MPLS

   Length: Variable

   Sub-sub-sub-TLVs: for information like Slice Selector

   Sub-sub-sub-TLVs will be defined to include Slice Selector
   information [I-D.bestbar-teas-ns-packet] that identifies a slice or a
   Slice Aggregate, and potentially other information.  Note that the
   Slice Aggregate here is for a set of slices instead of a flow in a
   slice.  Future revisions will have more details.

   Similar encoding will be defined for non-MPLS encapsulation in future
   revisions.

4.1.1.  OSPF Signaling

   Similar encoding will be defined for OSPF signaling in future
   revisions.

4.1.2.  BGP Signaling

   Similar encoding will be defined for BGP signaling in future
   revisions.

4.2.  BIER Extension Header

   This will be tracked by a separate BIER draft.  For now, please refer
   to [I-D.zzhang-intarea-generic-delivery-functions].

5.  Security Considerations

   To be provided.








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6.  IANA Considerations

   To be provided.

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [I-D.bestbar-teas-ns-packet]
              Saad, T., Beeram, V. P., Wen, B., Ceccarelli, D., Halpern,
              J., Peng, S., Chen, R., Liu, X., Contreras, L. M., and R.
              Rokui, "Realizing Network Slices in IP/MPLS Networks",
              draft-bestbar-teas-ns-packet-03 (work in progress), July
              2021.

   [I-D.zzhang-intarea-generic-delivery-functions]
              Zhang, Z., Bonica, R., Kompella, K., and G. Mirsky,
              "Generic Delivery Functions", draft-zzhang-intarea-
              generic-delivery-functions-02 (work in progress), August
              2021.

   [RFC8279]  Wijnands, IJ., Ed., Rosen, E., Ed., Dolganow, A.,
              Przygienda, T., and S. Aldrin, "Multicast Using Bit Index
              Explicit Replication (BIER)", RFC 8279,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC8279, November 2017,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8279>.

   [RFC8401]  Ginsberg, L., Ed., Przygienda, T., Aldrin, S., and Z.
              Zhang, "Bit Index Explicit Replication (BIER) Support via
              IS-IS", RFC 8401, DOI 10.17487/RFC8401, June 2018,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8401>.

7.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-teas-ietf-network-slices]
              Farrel, A., Gray, E., Drake, J., Rokui, R., Homma, S.,
              Makhijani, K., Contreras, L. M., and J. Tantsura,
              "Framework for IETF Network Slices", draft-ietf-teas-ietf-
              network-slices-04 (work in progress), August 2021.

   [I-D.li-apn-framework]
              Li, Z., Peng, S., Voyer, D., Li, C., Liu, P., Cao, C.,
              Mishra, G., Ebisawa, K., Previdi, S., and J. N. Guichard,
              "Application-aware Networking (APN) Framework", draft-li-
              apn-framework-03 (work in progress), May 2021.






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   [I-D.li-apn-problem-statement-usecases]
              Li, Z., Peng, S., Voyer, D., Xie, C., Liu, P., Qin, Z.,
              Mishra, G., Ebisawa, K., Previdi, S., and J. N. Guichard,
              "Problem Statement and Use Cases of Application-aware
              Networking (APN)", draft-li-apn-problem-statement-
              usecases-04 (work in progress), June 2021.

Authors' Addresses

   Zhaohui Zhang
   Juniper Networks

   Email: zzhang@juniper.net


   Antoni Przygienda
   Juniper Networks

   Email: prz@juniper.net
































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