Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) IETF Proposed Standard Requirements Analysis
RFC 4602

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Network Working Group                                        T. Pusateri
Request for Comments: 4602                              Juniper Networks
Category: Informational                                      August 2006

         Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM)
              IETF Proposed Standard Requirements Analysis

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   This document provides supporting documentation to advance the
   Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) routing
   protocol from IETF Experimental status to Proposed Standard.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................2
   2. RFC 1264 Requirements ...........................................2
      2.1. Documents Specifying the Protocol and Its Usage ............2
      2.2. Management Information Base ................................2
      2.3. Explicit Security Architecture .............................2
      2.4. Implementation Existence ...................................3
           2.4.1. XORP ................................................3
           2.4.2. Cisco IOS/IOX .......................................3
           2.4.3. Infosys Technologies, Ltd. ..........................3
           2.4.4. Procket Networks ....................................3
      2.5. Evidence of Testing ........................................4
           2.5.1. Cisco ...............................................4
           2.5.2. XORP ................................................4
           2.5.3. Procket Networks ....................................5
      2.6. Suitability ................................................5
      2.7. Authentication Mechanisms ..................................5
   3. Security Considerations .........................................5
   4. Acknowledgements ................................................5
   5. References ......................................................6
      5.1. Normative References .......................................6
      5.2. Informative References .....................................6

Pusateri                     Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4602         PIM-SM Proposed Standard Req. Analysis      August 2006

1.  Introduction

   This analysis provides supporting documentation to advance the
   Protocol Independent Multicast - Sparse Mode (PIM-SM) routing
   protocol from the IETF Experimental status to Proposed Standard.
   PIM-SM was first published as RFC 2117 [RFC2117] in 1997 and then
   again as RFC 2362 [RFC2362] in 1998.  The protocol was classified as
   Experimental in both of these documents.  The PIM-SM protocol
   specification was then rewritten in whole in order to more fully
   specify the protocol.  It is this new specification that is to be
   advanced to Proposed Standard.

2.  RFC 1264 Requirements

   Section 4.0 of RFC 1264 [RFC1264] describes the requirements for
   routing protocols to advance to Proposed Standard.  Each requirement
   is listed below along with an explanation of how the requirement has
   been satisfied.

2.1.  Documents Specifying the Protocol and Its Usage

   The authors of the new PIM-SM specification [RFC4601] have taken
   considerable care to fully specify the protocol operation.  It
   removes all known ambiguities and tries to normalize corner cases
   that existed in the previous specification.  It has been used to
   provide several interoperable implementations by developers that were
   not authors of the specification.  These implementations will be
   described below.

2.2.  Management Information Base

   A Management Information Base for PIM is currently specified in RFC
   2934 [RFC2934].  This MIB has many implementations and has been used
   by network management applications for several years.  Updates to
   this MIB to support IPv6 and other improvements based on operation
   experience are in progress in the PIM Working Group of the IETF.

2.3.  Explicit Security Architecture

   The new PIM Sparse-Mode protocol specification contains an extensive
   security section explaining its security features and limitations.
   Data integrity protection and groupwise data origin authentication is
   provided for PIM protocol messages.

Pusateri                     Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 4602         PIM-SM Proposed Standard Req. Analysis      August 2006

2.4.  Implementation Existence

   There are at least 4 known independent implementations of the new
   protocol specification, and there are over 6 independent
   implementations of a previous version (RFC 2362) of the
   specification.  The new specification was carefully written to be
   backward compatible with the old specification allowing