Network Working Group T. Mizrahi Internet-Draft Marvell Intended status: Informational G. Fioccola Expires: September 6, 2017 Telecom Italia M. Chen L. Zheng Huawei Technologies G. Mirsky March 5, 2017 Passive Performance Monitoring using a Multiplexed Marking Field draft-mizrahi-ippm-multiplexed-alternate-marking-01 Abstract This memo introduces a marking method that uses a single marking bit, or two marking values, and allows accurate loss and delay measurement. Status of This Memo This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. The list of current Internet- Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/. 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." This Internet-Draft will expire on September 6, 2017. Copyright Notice Copyright (c) 2017 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the document authors. All rights reserved. This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal Provisions Relating to IETF Documents (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of publication of this document. Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 1] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.1. Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 2.2. Abbreviations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3. Alternate Marking using a Multiplexed Marking Bit . . . . . . 4 3.1. Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3.2. Timing and Synchronization Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . 5 4. Alternate Marking using Two Multiplexed Marking Values . . . 7 5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 7.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 1. Introduction Alternate marking, defined in [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark], is a method for measuring packet loss, packet delay, and packet delay variation. Typical delay measurement protocols require the two measurement points (MPs) to exchange timestamped test packets. In contrast, the alternate marking method does not require control packets to be exchanged. Instead, every data packet carries a color indicator, which divides the traffic into consecutive blocks of packets. The color indicator may either be a single-bit binary indication, or a two reserved values of a larger field, such as an IPv6 Flow Label or an MPLS Label. Throughout the rest of the document it is assumed that the color indication is a single-bit field, unless specified otherwise. The color value is toggled periodically, as illustrated in Figure 1. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 2] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 A: packet with color 0 B: packet with color 1 Packets AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA Time ----------------------------------------------------------> | | | | | | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 5 ... | | | | | Color 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 Figure 1: Alternate marking: packets are monitored on a per-color basis. Alternate marking is used between two MPs, the initiating MP, and the monitoring MP. The initiating MP incorporates the marking field into en-route packets, allowing the monitoring MP to use the marking field in order to bind each packet to the corresponding block. Each of the MPs maintains two counters, one per color. At the end of each block the counter values can be collected by a central management system, and analyzed; the packet loss can be computed by comparing the counter values of the two MPs. When using alternate marking delay measurement can be performed in one of three ways (as per [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark]): o Single marking: the first packet of each block is used by both MPs as a reference for delay measurement. The timestamp of this packet is measured by the two measurement points, and can be collected by the mangement system from each of the measurement points, which can compute the path delay by comparing the two timestamps. The drawback of this approach is that it is not accurate when packets arrive out-of-order, as the two measurement may have a different view of which packet was the first in the block. o Average delay: each of the MPs computes the average packet timestamp of each block. The management system can then compute the delay by comparing the average times of the two MPs. The drawback of this approach is that it may be computationally heavy, or difficult to implement at the data plane. o Double marking: each packet uses two marking bits. One bit is used as a color indicator, and one is used as a timestamping indicator. This method resolves the drawbacks raised for the two previous methods, at the expense of an extra bit in the packet header. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 3] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 The double marking method allows for accurate measurement without incurring expensive computational load. However, in some cases allocating two bits for passive measurement is not possible. For example, if alternate marking is implemented over IPv4, allocating 2 marking bits in the IPv4 header is challenging, as every bit in the 20-octet header is costly; one of the possible approaches discussed in [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark] is reserve one or two bits from the DSCP field for remarking. In this case every marking bit comes at the expense of reducing the DSCP range by a factor of two. This memo extends the marking method of [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark]. The method introduced in this document uses a single marking bit in the packet header, while providing the advantages of the double marking method. In a nutshell, the color indicator and the timestamp indicator are multiplexed into a single bit. There is an underlying assumption that the two MPs that take part in the measurement are time-synchronized. 2. Terminology 2.1. Requirements Language 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 RFC 2119 [RFC2119]. 2.2. Abbreviations MP Measurement Point MPLS Multiprotocol Label Switching DSCP Differentiated Services Code Point LSP Label Switched Path SFL Synonymous Flow Label [I-D.bryant-mpls-sfl-framework] 3. Alternate Marking using a Multiplexed Marking Bit 3.1. Overview This section introduces a method that uses a single marking bit that serves two purposes: a color indicator, and a timestamp indicator. The double marking method that was discussed in the previous section uses two 1-bit values: a color indicator C, and a timestamp indicator T. The multiplexed marking bit, denoted by M, is an exclusive or between these two values: M = C XOR T. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 4] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 An example of the use of the multiplexed marking bit is depicted in Figure 2. The example considers two routers, R1 and R2, that use the multiplexed bit method to measure traffic from R1 to R2. In each block R1 designates one of the packets for delay measurement. In each of these designated packets the value of the multiplexed bit is reversed compared to the other packets in the same block, allowing R2 to distinguish the designated packets from the other packets. A: packet with color 0 B: packet with color 1 Packets AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA Time ----------------------------------------------------------> | | | | | | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 5 ... | | | | | Color 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Packets | | | | | marked for | | | | | timestamping | | | | | v v v v v Muxed bit 0000100000 1111011111 0000100000 1111101111 0001000000 Figure 2: Alternate marking with multiplexed bit. 3.2. Timing and Synchronization Aspects It is assumed that all MPs are synchronized to a common reference time with an accuracy of +/- A/2. Thus, the difference between the clock values of any two MPs is bounded by A. Clocks can be synchronized for example using NTP [RFC5905], PTP [IEEE1588], or by other means. The common reference time is used for dividing the time domain into equal-sized measurement periods, such that all packets forwarded during a measurement period have the same color, and consecutive periods have alternating colors. The single marking bit incorporates two multiplexed values. From the monitoring MP's perspective, the two values are Time-Division Multiplexed (TDM), as depicted in Figure 3. It is assumed that the start time of every measurement period is known to both the initiating MP and the monitoring MP. If the measurement period is L, then during the first and the last L/4 time units of each block the marking bit is interpreted by the monitoring MP as a color indicator. During the middle part of the block, the marking bit is interpreted as a timestamp indicator; if the value of this bit is different than Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 5] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 the color value, the corresponding packet is used as a reference for delay measurement. +--- Beginning of measurement period | v ...BBBBBBBBB | AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA | BBBBBBBBB... |<======================================>| | L | <========>|<========><==================><========>|<========> L/4 L/4 L/2 L/4 L/4 <===================><==================><===================> Detect color Detect timestamping Detect color change indication change Figure 3: Multiplexed marking field interpretation at the receiving measurement point. In order to prevent ambiguity in the receiver's interpretation of the marking field, the initiating MP is permitted to set the timestamp indication only during a specific interval, as depicted in Figure 4. Since the receiver is willing to receive the timestamp indication during the middle L/2 time units of the block, the sender refrains from sending the timestamp indication during a guardband interval of d time units at the beginning and end of the L/2-period. +--- Beginning of measurement period | v ...BBBBBBBBB | AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA | BBBBBBBBB... |<======================================>| | L | <========>|<========>|<================>|<========>| L/4 L/4 | L/2 | L/4 <=>|<=> <=>|<=> d d d d <==========> permissible timestamping indication interval Figure 4: A time domain view. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 6] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 The guardband d is given by d = A + D_max - D_min, where A is the clock accuracy, D_max is an upper bound on the network delay between the MPs, and D_min is a lower bound on the delay. It is straightforward from Figure 4 that d < L/4 must be satisfied. The latter implies a minimal requirement on the synchronization accuracy. All MPs must be synchronized to the same reference time with an accuracy of +/- L/8. Depending on the system topology, in some systems the accuracy requirement will be even more stringent, subject to d < L/4. Note that the accuracy requirement of the conventional alternate marking method [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark] is +/- L/2, while the multiplexed marking method requires an accuracy of +/- L/8. Note that we assume that the middle L/2-period is designated as the timestamp indication period, allowing a sufficiently long guardband between the transitions. However, a system may be configured to use a longer timestamp indication period or a shorter one, if it is guaranteed that the synchronization accuracy meets the guardband requirements (i.e., the constraints on d). 4. Alternate Marking using Two Multiplexed Marking Values As mentioned above, the color indicator is not necessarily a single bit, but may be implemented by using two well-known values in one of the header fields. For example, as defined in [I-D.bryant-mpls-rfc6374-sfl], two MPLS Label values can be used to indicate the two colors of a given LSP: the original Label value, and a Synonymous Flow Label (SFL) value. The bit multiplexing approach of Section 3 is applicable not only to single-bit color indicators, but also to two-value indicators; instead of using a single bit that is toggled between '0' and '1', two values of the indicator field, U and W, can be used in the same manner, allowing both loss and delay measurement to be performed using only two reserved values. Thus, the multiplexing approach of Figure 2 can be illustrated more generally with two values, U and W, as depicted in Figure 5. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 7] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 A: packet with color 0 B: packet with color 1 Packets AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA BBBBBBBBBB AAAAAAAAAA Time ----------------------------------------------------------> | | | | | | Block 1 | Block 2 | Block 3 | Block 4 | Block 5 ... | | | | | Color 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 1111111111 0000000000 ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ Packets | | | | | marked for | | | | | timestamping | | | | | v v v v v Muxed UUUUWUUUUU WWWWUWWWWW UUUUWUUUUU WWWWWUWWWW UUUWUUUUUU marking values Figure 5: Alternate marking with two multiplexed marking values, U and W. 5. IANA Considerations This memo includes no requests from IANA. 6. Security Considerations The security considerations of the alternate marking method are discussed in [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark]. Specifically, the method that is defined in this document requires slightly more stringent synchronization than the conventional marking method, potentially making the method more vulnerable to attacks on the time synchronization protocol. A detailed discussion about the threats against time protocols and how to mitigate them is presented in [RFC7384]. 7. References 7.1. Normative References [I-D.ietf-ippm-alt-mark] Fioccola, G., Capello, A., Cociglio, M., Castaldelli, L., Chen, M., Zheng, L., Mirsky, G., and T. Mizrahi, "Alternate Marking method for passive performance monitoring", draft-ietf-ippm-alt-mark-04 (work in progress), March 2017. Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 8] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997, . 7.2. Informative References [I-D.bryant-mpls-rfc6374-sfl] Bryant, S., Chen, M., Li, Z., Swallow, G., Sivabalan, S., Mirsky, G., and G. Fioccola, "RFC6374 Synonymous Flow Labels", draft-bryant-mpls-rfc6374-sfl-03 (work in progress), October 2016. [I-D.bryant-mpls-sfl-framework] Bryant, S., Chen, M., Li, Z., Swallow, G., Sivabalan, S., and G. Mirsky, "Synonymous Flow Label Framework", draft- bryant-mpls-sfl-framework-02 (work in progress), October 2016. [IEEE1588] IEEE, "IEEE 1588 Standard for a Precision Clock Synchronization Protocol for Networked Measurement and Control Systems Version 2", 2008. [RFC5905] Mills, D., Martin, J., Ed., Burbank, J., and W. Kasch, "Network Time Protocol Version 4: Protocol and Algorithms Specification", RFC 5905, DOI 10.17487/RFC5905, June 2010, . [RFC7384] Mizrahi, T., "Security Requirements of Time Protocols in Packet Switched Networks", RFC 7384, DOI 10.17487/RFC7384, October 2014, . Authors' Addresses Tal Mizrahi Marvell 6 Hamada st. Yokneam Israel Email: talmi@marvell.com Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 9] Internet-Draft Multiplexed Alternate Marking March 2017 Giuseppe Fioccola Telecom Italia Via Reiss Romoli, 274 Torino 10148 Italy Email: giuseppe.fioccola@telecomitalia.it Mach(Guoyi) Chen Huawei Technologies Email: mach.chen@huawei.com Lianshu Zheng Huawei Technologies Email: vero.zheng@huawei.com Greg Mirsky USA Email: gregimirsky@gmail.com Mizrahi, et al. Expires September 6, 2017 [Page 10]