Forwarding and Control Element Separation (ForCES) Logical Functional Block (LFB) Subsidiary Management
RFC 7729

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                     B. Khasnabish
Request for Comments: 7729                                  ZTE TX, Inc.
Category: Standards Track                                  E. Haleplidis
ISSN: 2070-1721                                     University of Patras
                                                      J. Hadi Salim, Ed.
                                                       Mojatatu Networks
                                                           December 2015

           Forwarding and Control Element Separation (ForCES)
          Logical Functional Block (LFB) Subsidiary Management

Abstract

   Deployment experience has demonstrated the value of using the
   Forwarding and Control Element Separation (ForCES) architecture to
   manage resources other than packet forwarding.  In that spirit, the
   Forwarding Element Manager (FEM) is modeled by creating a Logical
   Functional Block (LFB) to represent its functionality.  We refer to
   this LFB as the Subsidiary Mechanism (SM) LFB.  A Control Element
   (CE) that controls a Forwarding Element's (FE) resources can also
   manage its configuration via the SM LFB.  This document introduces
   the SM LFB class, an LFB class that specifies the configuration
   parameters of an FE.  The configuration parameters include new LFB
   class loading and CE associations; they also provide manipulation of
   debug mechanisms along with a general purpose attribute definition to
   describe configuration information.

Status of This Memo

   This is an Internet Standards Track document.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Further information on
   Internet Standards is available in Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7729.

Khasnabish, et al.           Standards Track                    [Page 1]
RFC 7729            ForCES LFB Subsidiary Management       December 2015

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     1.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     1.2.  Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   2.  Use Cases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.1.  High Availability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.2.  Scalability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.3.  Adding New Resources to an NE . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.4.  New LFB Class Installation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     2.5.  Logging Mechanism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
     2.6.  General-Purpose Attribute Definition  . . . . . . . . . .   7
   3.  Applicability Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.1.  FE Integrated . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     3.2.  Virtual FEs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   4.  SM Library  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.1.  Frame Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     4.2.  Data Type Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.3.  Metadata Definitions  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
     4.4.  SM  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       4.4.1.  Data Handling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.4.2.  Components  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.4.3.  Capabilities  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       4.4.4.  Events  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   5.  XML for SM LFB  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   6.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  17
   7.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     7.1.  LFB Class Names and LFB Class Identifiers . . . . . . . .  18
   8.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18
     8.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18