Subject: I-D Action: draft-lapukhov-dataplane-probe-00.txt

From: [email-masked]
Date: Fri, 18 Mar 2016 06:29:44 -0700

A New Internet-Draft is available from the on-line Internet-Drafts directories.

        Title           : Data-plane probe for in-band telemetry collection
        Author          : Petr Lapukhov
	Filename        : draft-lapukhov-dataplane-probe-00.txt
	Pages           : 16
	Date            : 2016-03-18

Abstract:
   Detecting and isolating network faults in IP networks has
   traditionally been done using tools like ping and traceroute (see
   [RFC7276]) or more complex systems built on similar concepts of
   active probing and path tracing.  While using active synthetic probes
   is proven to be helpful in detecting data-plane faults, isolating
   fault location has proven to be a much harder problem, especially in
   diverse networks with multiple active forwarding planes (e.g.  IP and
   MPLS).  Moreover, existing end-to-end tools do not generally support
   functionality beyond dealing with packet loss - for example, they are
   hardly useful for detecting and reporting transient (i.e. milli- or
   even micro-second) network congestion.

   Modern network forwarding hardware can enable more sophisticated
   data-plane functionality that provides substantial improvement to the
   isolation and identification capabilities of network elements.  For
   example, it has become possible to encode a snapshot of a network
   elements forwarding state within the packet payload as it transits
   the device.  One example of such device/network state would be queue
   depth on the egress port taken by that specific packet.  When
   combined with a unique device identifier embedded in the same packet,
   this could allow for precise time and topological identification of
   the the congested location within the network.

   This document proposes a standard format for embedding telemetry
   information in UDP-based probing packets, i.e. packets designated for
   testing the network while not carrying application traffic.  These
   active probes could be conveyed over multiple protocols (ICMP, UDP,
   TCP, etc.) but this document specifically focuses on UDP, given its
   simple semantics.  In addition this document provides recommendations
   on handling the active probes by devices that do not support the
   required data-plane functionality.

The IETF datatracker status page for this draft is:
https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-lapukhov-dataplane-probe/

There's also a htmlized version available at:
https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-lapukhov-dataplane-probe-00

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