IETF Last Call Review of draft-ietf-bmwg-network-tester-cfg-15
review-ietf-bmwg-network-tester-cfg-15-opsdir-lc-chen-2026-06-29-00

Hi,

I have been selected as the Operational Directorate (opsdir) reviewer for this
Internet-Draft.

The Operational Directorate reviews all operational and management-related
Internet-Drafts to ensure alignment with operational best practices and that
adequate operational considerations are covered.

A complete set of _"Guidelines for Considering Operations and Management in
IETF Specifications"_ can be found at
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-opsawg-rfc5706bis/.

While these comments are primarily for the Operations and Management Area
Directors (Ops ADs), the authors should consider them alongside other feedback
received.

- Document: draft-ietf-bmwg-network-tester-cfg

- Reviewer: Gen Chen

- Review Date: 29-06-2026

- Intended Status: [Standards Track]

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## Summary

Has Nits: This document is basically ready for publication but has nits that
should be considered prior to publication.

## General Operational Comments Alignment with RFC 5706bis

This draft delivers high value by standardizing tester management via YANG,
replacing proprietary vendor CLIs/APIs. It enables automated, reproducible
benchmark execution in labs. It integrates with NETCONF/YANG stacks, reduces
manual scripting errors, and provides essential building blocks (modifiers,
filters, statistics) for structured network testing.

The draft includes dedicated "Operational Considerations" (Section 6) and
"Security Considerations" (Section 7) sections, it addresses key aspects:
installation via NETCONF/YANG, dependency on ietf-interfaces, and basic
operational impact.

## Nits

The draft is essentially ready for publication. However, adding a
hardware-controlled duration leaf (parallel to existing total-frames) is
strongly suggested. This matches the intuitive "run for X seconds" paradigm
used in most benchmark suites. Unlike external controller sleep, a native
hardware timer ensures more accurate termination, is immune to NETCONF session
timeouts, and guarantees traffic stops deterministically.

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