Subject: [bmwg] Spencer Dawkins' No Objection on draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-methodology-13: (with COMMENT)

From: Spencer Dawkins <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 13:28:55 -0700

Spencer Dawkins has entered the following ballot position for
draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-methodology-13: No Objection

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COMMENT:
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(I'm making the same comment on draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-terminology and
draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-methodology)

I'm looking at the ballot positions on draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-terminology and
draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-methodology that assert these documents aren't specific
to "data centers". That wouldn't surprise me, but I'm not seeing a definition
of "data center" in either document - did I miss it?

I suspect that the authors have specific technical characteristics in mind,
that happen to map onto what data centers look like today, but may not in the
future ("RFCs last forever"). Is it possible to tease those characteristics out?

(Full disclosure: my first working group in the IETF could have been called
"TCP over cellular links", but it turned out that when we said "cellular
links", we meant "low-speed links with high loss rates and asymmetric
bandwidth". "Cellular links" in the late 1990s didn't have the same
characteristics that "cellular links" have in 2017, but there are other link
types with those characteristics, so the documents ended up being useful in
places like CORE. I'm not suggesting anything like a restructure of the
document(s), only that they be clear about how future readers would know
whether they should be reading them in 2027)

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From: "MORTON, ALFRED C (AL)" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 20:38:10 +0000

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Spencer Dawkins [mailto:[email-masked]]
> Sent: Tuesday, June 20, 2017 4:29 PM
> To: The IESG
> Cc: [email-masked]; Sarah Banks; bmwg-
> [email-masked]; [email-masked]; [email-masked]
> Subject: Spencer Dawkins' No Objection on draft-ietf-bmwg-dcbench-
> methodology-13: (with COMMENT)
> 
...
[ACM] thanks Spencer.

I'm reminded that we used to call these places 
"computer rooms", and then "computer centers".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Data_center

I agree, the memo should say what we mean for this
apex-level term, and the article above may help the 
authors express it.

regards,
Al

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From: Lucien Avramov <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 13:44:11 -0700

> 
> Definitely agreed, will place a statement in both documents today to explain what datacenter switches are at time of writing. 
> 
> Thank you,
> Lucien
> 
>> On Jun 20, 2017, at 13:28, Spencer Dawkins <[email-masked]> wrote:
>>

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From: Lucien Avramov <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 13:42:42 -0700

Thank you,
Lucien

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From: Lucien <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 20 Jun 2017 19:57:33 -0700

Hi Spencer, Al (+Scott, +Warren), and all,

Thank you for the suggestion. Both drafts have been updated with explaining
what a data center network device unter test is for these tests.

Besides adding more clarity on both abstracts, and introduction, I added
the following text in the introduction section of each draft to specify
what a data center Network DUT is for these drafts.

I hope Scott will appreciate the low buffer comment, as the high
performance data center switches today have significantly less buffer than
other networking devices.

Currently, typical data Center networking devices are characterized
by:

-High port density (48 ports of more)

-High speed (up to 100 Gb/s currently per port)

-High throughput (line rate on all ports for Layer 2 and/or Layer 3)

-Low latency (in the microsecond or nanosecond range)

-Low amount of buffer (in the Mb range)

-Layer 2 and Layer 3 forwarding capability (Layer 3 not mandatory)

On Tue, Jun 20, 2017 at 1:42 PM, Lucien Avramov <[email-masked]>
wrote:

> Definitely agreed, will place a statement in both documents today to
> explain what datacenter switches are at time of writing.
>
> Thank you,
> Lucien
>

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From: Spencer Dawkins at IETF <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 21 Jun 2017 08:08:51 -0500

Hi, Lucien,

On Jun 20, 2017 21:57, "Lucien" <[email-masked]> wrote:

That's great, and thanks!

Spencer