Skip to main content

Inband Flow Analyzer
draft-kumar-ippm-ifa-00

The information below is for an old version of the document.
Document Type
This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Expired".
Authors Jai Kumar , Surendra Anubolu , John Lemon , Hugh Holbrook , Anoop Ghanwani , Dezhong Cai , Heidi Ou , Yizhou Li
Last updated 2018-10-18
RFC stream (None)
Formats
Additional resources
Stream Stream state (No stream defined)
Consensus boilerplate Unknown
RFC Editor Note (None)
IESG IESG state I-D Exists
Telechat date (None)
Responsible AD (None)
Send notices to (None)
draft-kumar-ippm-ifa-00
INTERNET-DRAFT                                                  J. Kumar
Intended Status: Experimental                                 S. Anubolu
                                                                J. Lemon
                                                           Broadcom Inc.
                                                             H. Holbrook
                                                         Arista Networks
                                                             A. Ghanwani
                                                                Dell EMC
                                                                  D. Cai
                                                                   H. OU
                                                            AliBaba Inc.
                                                                   Y. Li
                                                                  Huawei
Expires: April 21, 2019                                 October 18, 2018

                          Inband Flow Analyzer
                        draft-kumar-ippm-ifa-00

Abstract

   Inband Flow Analyzer (IFA) records flow specific information from an
   end station and/or switches across a network.  This document
   discusses the method to collect data on a per hop basis across a
   network and perform localized or end to end analytics operations on
   the data.  This document also describes a transport-agnostic header
   definition that may be used for tunneled and non-tunneled flows
   alike.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as
   Internet-Drafts.

   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."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/1id-abstracts.html
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 1]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html

Copyright and License Notice

   Copyright (c) 2018 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
   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 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.1  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.2 Scope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.3 Applicability  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.4 Motivation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2. Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.1 Encapsulation Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.2 Operational Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.3 Cost and Performance Requirements  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
   3. IFA Operations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.1 IFA Zones  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.2 IFA Function Nodes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       3.2.1 Initiating Function Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.2.2. Transit Function Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.2.3. Terminating Function Node . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     3.3 IFA Cloning, Truncation, and Drop  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     3.4 IFA Header . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.4.1 IFA Option 1 Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
       3.4.2 IFA Option 2 Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     3.5 IFA Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
       3.5.1 Global Name Space (GNS) Identifier . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       3.5.2 Local Name Space (LNS) Identifier  . . . . . . . . . . . 12
       3.5.3 Device ID  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     3.6 IFA Network Overhead . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     3.7 IFA Analytics  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 2]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

     3.8 IFA Packet Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
       3.8.1 TCP/UDP Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
       3.8.2 VxLAN Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
       3.8.3 GRE Packet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
       3.8.4 Geneve Packet  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
     3.9 IFA Load Balancing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   4. Interoperability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   6. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
     6.1  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
     6.2 Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
     A.1 Probe Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
     A.2 DSCP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
     A.3 IP Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
     A.4 IPv4 Identification or Reserved Flag . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 3]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

1.  Introduction

   This document describes an Inband Flow Analyzer (IFA) a mechanism to
   mark a packet to enable the collection of metadata regarding the
   analyzed flow.  IFA defines an IFA header to mark the flow and direct
   the collection of analyzed metadata per marked packet per hop across
   a network.  The ability to mark a packet using an IFA OAM header can
   be leveraged to create synthetic flows meant for network data
   collection.  This document describes a mechanism that may be used to
   monitor live traffic and/or create synthetic flows.  This document
   also describes IFA zones, IFA reports, and IFA metadata.  IFA does
   not require changes to protocol headers in order to collect metadata
   or analyze flows.  IFA puts minimal requirements on switching
   silicon.  

1.1  Terminology

   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].

   IFA: Inband Flow Analyzer

   MTU: Maximum Transmit Unit

1.2 Scope

   This document describes IFA deployment, the type of traffic that is
   supported, header definitions, analytics, and data path functions.

   IFA deployment involves defining an IFA zone and understanding the
   requirements in terms of traffic overhead and points of data
   collection. Given that IFA provides the ability to perform local
   analytics on the collected data, this document describes the scope of
   the analytics function as well. The scope of IFA is from an end
   station and/or ToR, through any/all nodes in the network, and
   terminating in a network switch and/or an end station.

   IFA can create a synthetic stream of traffic and use it to collect
   metadata along the path. This sampled stream is later discarded. IFA
   can also insert metadata on a per packet basis in live traffic.
   Inband insertion of metadata can be done within the payload or via
   tail stamping. This draft defines an identification mechanism using a
   dedicated protocol type in the IP header for identifying IFA. 

1.3 Applicability

   IFA is capable of providing traffic analysis in an encapsulation-
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 4]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   agnostic manner. Simple TCP and UDP flows, as well as tunneled flows,
   can be monitored. IFA can be enabled on an end station, or it can be
   enabled just on network switches. Enabling IFA on an end station
   provides better scalability and visibility by monitoring intra end
   station or inter end station traffic. IFA performs best when there is
   hardware assistance for deriving the flow metadata in the data path. 
   This document describes data path functions for IFA.

1.4 Motivation

   The main motivation for IFA is to collect analyzed metadata on a per
   packet per flow basis for a given application. The IFA header is
   defined in order to work for any IP packet, and with minimal impact
   on hardware performance.

2. Requirements

   IFA requirements are defined with operational efficiency, performance
   of the network, and cost of hardware in mind.

2.1 Encapsulation Requirements

   IFA packets MUST be clearly marked and identifiable so that a
   networking element in the flow path can insert metadata or perform
   other IFA operations.

   IFA packets need to be easily identified for performance reasons. IFA
   packet identification MUST be the same for all the encapsulation
   types. This means that expensive hardware modifications are not
   needed for supporting new protocol types.

   Since IFA packet processing is a data path function, the IFA header
   MUST avoid next header chaining. Simple parsing in the switch
   hardware is required to maintain the switch performance and cost.

   A single IFA encapsulation MUST support IPv4,IPv6 protocol types for
   tunneled and non-tunneled packets, preserving the fields used for
   load balancing hash computation.

   IFA SHOULD support a checksum for the entire IFA metadata stack
   instead of per metadata element.

2.2 Operational Requirements

   IFA MUST preserve the flow path across the network.

   IFA MUST incur minimal traffic overhead.
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 5]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   IFA MUST provide an option to clone and truncate a packet to avoid
   disrupting the PMTU discovery of a network. 

   Cloning MUST be done at a sampled ratio to keep the network overhead
   minimum.

   IFA MUST provide the ability to insert metadata on cloned traffic.

   IFA MUST provide the ability to insert metadata on live traffic.

   IFA MUST provide the ability to specify checksum validation on the
   IFA header and metadata. 

   IFA MUST provide the ability to define a zone using hop count.

   IFA MUST provide the ability for a networking element to perform
   metadata insertion in the payload or append it via tail stamping.

   IFA MUST be able to support an IFA zone name space, also referred to
   as a global name space. 

   IFA MUST be able to support a per hop name space, also referred to as
   a local name space.

2.3 Cost and Performance Requirements

   The IFA header and metadata MUST be treated as foreign data present
   in the application data. IFA SHOULD be able to insert or strip the
   IFA data without modifying the layer 3 and layer 4 headers. This will
   help keep the cost of hardware down with no degradation in
   performance.

   IFA MUST support the ability to clone and/or truncate live traffic
   for IFA metadata insertion. This is needed for PMTU protocols to work
   well within the IFA zone.

   The IFA header MUST provide the ability to differentiate between a
   cloned packet and an original packet. This is needed for hardware to
   be able to identify and filter the cloned traffic at the edge of an
   IFA zone. 

   IFA encapsulation MUST NOT impact the parse depth of hardware for
   packet processing.  This will help avoid degradation in performance
   when IFA is enabled.

   IFA MUST NOT require pre-allocation for reserving the space in a
   packet. The overhead of managing reserved space in a packet can
   result in performance degradation.
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 6]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

3. IFA Operations

   IFA performs flow analysis, and possible actions on the flow data,
   inband. Once a flow is enabled for analysis, a node with the role of
   "Initiator" makes a copy of the flow or samples the live traffic
   flow, or tags a live traffic flow for analysis and data collection.
   Copying of a flow is done by sampling or cloning the flow.  These new
   packets are representative packets of the original flow and possess
   the exact same characteristics as the original flow. This means that
   IFA packets traverse the same path in the network and same queues in
   the networking element as the original packet would. Figure 1 shows
   the IFA based Telemetry Framework. The terminating node is
   responsible for terminating the IFA flow by summarizing the metadata
   of the entire path and sending it to a Collector. 

                              +----------+
                              |          |
                              |Collector |--------------+
                              |          |              |
                              +----------+              |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
                                                        |
     +--------------+        +------------+        +----+-----------+
     |Initiator Node|        |Transit Node|        |Terminating Node|
     |   +------+   |        |  +------+  |        |     +------+   |
     |   | IFA  |   |------->|  | IFA  |  |------->|     | IFA  |   |
     |   +------+   |IFA flow|  +------+  |IFA flow|     +------+   |
     +--------------+        +------------+        +----------------+

                      Figure 1 IFA Zone Framework

3.1 IFA Zones

   An IFA zone is the domain of interest where IFA monitoring is
   enabled. An IFA zone MUST have designated IFA function nodes. An IFA
   zone can also be controlled by setting an appropriate TTL value in
   the L3 header. Initiating and Terminating function nodes are always
   at the edge of the IFA zone. Internal nodes in the IFA zone are
   always Transit function nodes.

3.2 IFA Function Nodes
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 7]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   There are three types of IFA functional nodes.

3.2.1 Initiating Function Node

   An end station, a switch, or any other middlebox can perform IFA
   initiating function.  It is advantageous to keep this role closest to
   the application to maximize flow visibility.  An IFA initiating
   function node performs the following functions:

   - Samples the flow traffic of interest based on a configuration.  
   - Converts the traffic into an IFA flow by adding an IFA header to
   each sample. 
   - Updates the packet with initiating function node metadata. 
   - May mandate a specific template ID metadata by all networking
   elements.
   - May mandate tail stamping of metadata by all networking elements.

3.2.2. Transit Function Node

   An IFA transit node is responsible for inserting transit node
   metadata in an IFA packet.

3.2.3. Terminating Function Node

   An IFA terminating node is responsible for the following: 
   - Inserts terminating node metadata in an IFA packet.
   - Performs a local analytics function on one or more segments of
   metadata, e.g., threshold breach for residence time, congestion
   notifications, and so on. 
   - Filters an IFA flow in case of cloned traffic
   - Removes the IFA headers and forwards the packet in case of live
   traffic

3.3 IFA Cloning, Truncation, and Drop

   IFA allows cloning live traffic. Cloned traffic will have same
   network path characterization as the original traffic. 

   Cloned traffic can be truncated to accommodate for PMTU of the IFA
   zone.

   Clone traffic MUST be dropped by the terminating node of IFA zone.

3.4 IFA Header

   A compact IFA header is described below. An experimental IP protocol
   number is used in the IP header to identify an IFA packet. The IP
   header protocol type field is copied into the IFA header NextHdr
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 8]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   field for hardware to correctly interpret the layer 4 header.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      IPv4 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Time to Live | Protocol = IFA|         Header Checksum       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                     Source IPv4 Address                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Destination IPv4 Address                    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   or
      IPv6 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Payload Length        |Next Hdr = IFA |   Hop Limit   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                       Source IPv6 Address                     +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                    Destination IPv6 Address                   +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver=2.0|  GNS  |NextHdr = IP_xx|      Flags    |  Curr Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                     Figure 2 IFA 2.0 Header Format
 

Kumar, et al.                                                   [Page 9]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   (1) Version (4 bits) - Specifies the version of IFA header.
   (2) GNS (4 bits) - Global Name Space. Specifies the IFA zone scoped
   name space for IFA metadata.
   (3) Protocol Type (8 bits) - IP Header protocol type. This is copied
   from the IP header.
   (4) Flags (8 bits)

        0: Option1 - IFA Option 1. Indicates the presence of the Option
        1 header. 
        1: TA - Turn Around. Indicates that the IFA packet needs to be
        turned around at the terminating node of the IFA zone.
        2: I - Inband. Indicates this is live traffic. Strip and forward
        MUST be performed by the terminator node if this bit is set.
        3: TS - Tail Stamp.  Indicates the IFA zone is requiring tail
        stamping of metadata.
        4: Reserved.  MUST be initialized to 0 on transmission and
        ignored on receipt.
        5: Reserved.  MUST be initialized to 0 on transmission and
        ignored on receipt.
        6: Reserved.  MUST be initialized to 0 on transmission and
        ignored on receipt.
        7: Option2 - IFA Option 2.  Indicates the presence of the Option
        2 checksum header. The checksum MUST be computed and updated for
        the IFA header and metadata.

   (5) Current Length (8 bits) - Specifies the current length of the
   metadata in multiples of 4 octets.

3.4.1 IFA Option 1 Header

   This header is optional.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      | Request Vector| Action Vector |   Hop Limit   |   Max Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                  Figure 3 IFA Option 1 Header Format

   Request Vector (8 bits) - This vector specifies the presence of
   fields as specified by GNS.  Fields are always quad octet aligned.
   This field can be made extensible by defining a new GNS for an IFA
   zone.

   Action Vector (8 bits) - This vector specifies node-local or end-to-
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 10]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   end action on the IFA packets.

   Hop Limit (8 bits) - Specifies the maximum allowed hops in an IFA
   zone. This field is initialized by the initiator node. The hop limit
   MUST be decremented at each hop. If the hop limit becomes 0, transit
   nodes MUST stop inserting metadata. A value of 0xFF means that the
   Hop limit check MUST be ignored.

   Max Length (8 bits) - Specifies the maximum allowed length of
   metadata stack in multiples of 4 octets. This field is initialized by
   the initiator node. Each node in the path MUST compare the current
   length with the max length, and if the current length equals or
   exceeds the max length, the transit nodes MUST stop inserting
   metadata.

3.4.2 IFA Option 2 Header

   This header is optional.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Checksum             |           Reserved            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                  Figure 4 IFA Option 2 Header Format

   Checksum (16 bits) - The checksum covering the IFA header and
   metadata stack.

   Reserved (16 bits) - Reserved.  MUST be initialized to 0 on
   transmission and ignored on receipt.

3.5 IFA Metadata

   This is the information inserted by each hop after the IFA header.
   IFA metadata can be inserted at the following offsets:

   - Payload Stamping: Immediately after the layer 4 header
   - Tail Stamping: After the end of the packet

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 11]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  LNS  |                     Device ID                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               | 
      ~                LNS defined metadata (contd)                   ~
      .                                                               .
      .                                                               .
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                      Figure 3 IFA Metadata Format

   The IFA metadata header contains a set fields as defined by the name
   space identifier. Two types of name space identifiers are proposed.

3.5.1 Global Name Space (GNS) Identifier

   A GNS is specified in the IFA header by the initiator node.  The
   scope of a GNS is an IFA zone.  All networking elements in an IFA
   zone MUST insert metadata as per the GNS ID specified in the IFA
   header.

   This is defined as the "Uniform Mode" of deployment. 

   A GNS value of 0xF indicates that metadata in an IFA zone is defined
   by the LNS of each hop.

   The advantage of using the uniform mode is having a simple and
   uniform metadata stack.  This means less load on a collector for
   parsing.

   The disadvantage is that metadata fields are supported based on the
   least capable networking element in the IFA zone.

3.5.2 Local Name Space (LNS) Identifier

   An LNS is specified in the metadata header.  A GNS value of 0xF in
   the IFA header indicates the presence of an LNS.

   A switch pipeline MUST parse the GNS field in the IFA header.  The
   parsing result will dictate the name space ID that the hop needs to
   comply with.

   This is defined as the "Non-uniform Mode" of deployment. 

   The advantage of using the non-uniform mode is having a flexible
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 12]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   metadata stack.  This allows each hop to include the most relevant
   data for that hop.

   The disadvantage is more complex parsing by a collector.

3.5.3 Device ID

   A 28-bit unique identifier for the device inserting the metadata.  If
   a GNS other than 0xF is present, then the device ID can be expanded
   to a 32 bit value.  This is to support including an IPv4 loopback
   address as a Device ID.

3.6 IFA Network Overhead

   A common problem associated with inserting metadata on a per packet
   per flow basis is the amount of traffic overhead on the network.  IFA
   2.0 is defined to minimize the overhead on the network.

   IFA Base Header: 4 octets
   IFA Option 1   : 4 octets
   IFA Option 2   : 4 octets

   IFA metadata with LNS: 4 octets
   IFA metadata with GNS: 0 octets

   Minimum Overhead:
      IFA header    : 4 octets
      IFA Metadata  : 4 octets
      Total Overhead: 8 octets per packet

3.7 IFA Analytics

   There are two kinds of actions considered in this proposal.

   (1)  Action Bit MAP in IFA Header - This is encoded in the IFA
   header.  Each node in the path MAY use the action bitmap to insert or
   not insert the metadata based on exceeding a locally-specified
   threshold.  Not inserting the metadata is indicated by setting the
   field value to -1 (all 1s).

   (2) Terminating Node Actions - A terminating node may decide to
   perform threshold or other actions on the set of metadata in the
   packet.  This information is not encoded in the IFA header.

3.8 IFA Packet Format

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 13]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   The IFA header is treated as a layer 3 header extension.

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                        IP Header                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                       IFA Header                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                     Layer 4 Header                            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    IFA Metadata Stack                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      ~                                                               ~
      |                     Layer 4 Header                            |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                       Figure 4 IFA Packet Format

3.8.1 TCP/UDP Packet

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 14]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      IPv4 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Time to Live | Protocol = IFA|         Header Checksum       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                     Source IPv4 Address                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                  Destination IPv4 Address                     |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   or
      IPv6 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Payload Length        |Next Hdr = IFA |   Hop Limit   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                    Source IPv6 Address                        +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                 Destination IPv6 Address                      +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver=2.0|  GNS  |NextHdr=TCP/UDP|      Flags    |  Curr Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      TCP Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |          Source Port          |       Destination Port        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                        Sequence Number                        |
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 15]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    Acknowledgment Number                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Data |           |U|A|P|R|S|F|                               |
      | Offset| Reserved  |R|C|S|S|Y|I|            Window             |
      |       |           |G|K|H|T|N|N|                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |           Checksum            |         Urgent Pointer        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    Options                    |    Padding    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Metadata Stack:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    IFA Metadata Stack                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      TCP Payload:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             data                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                   Figure 5 TCP/UDP IFA Packet Format

3.8.2 VxLAN Packet

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 16]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      IPv4 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Time to Live | Protocol = IFA|         Header Checksum       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Source IPv4 Address                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Destination IPv4 Address                    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   or
      IPv6 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Payload Length        |Next Hdr = IFA |   Hop Limit   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                    Source IPv4 Address                        +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                 Destination IPv6 Address                      +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver=2.0|  GNS  | NextHdr = UDP |      Flags    |  Curr Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Outer UDP Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |           Source Port         |       Dest Port = VXLAN Port  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |           UDP Length          |        UDP Checksum           |
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 17]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Metadata Stack:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    IFA Metadata Stack                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      VXLAN Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |R|R|R|R|I|R|R|R|            Reserved                           |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             data                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                    Figure 6 VxLAN IFA Packet Format

3.8.3 GRE Packet

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 18]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      IPv4 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Time to Live | Protocol = IFA|         Header Checksum       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Source IPv4 Address                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Destination IPv4 Address                    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   or
      IPv6 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Payload Length        |Next Hdr = IFA |   Hop Limit   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                    Source IPv6 Address                        +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                 Destination IPv6 Address                      +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver=2.0|  GNS  | NextHdr = GRE |      Flags    |  Curr Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      GRE Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |C|       Reserved0       | Ver |         Protocol Type         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |      Checksum (optional)      |       Reserved1 (Optional)    |
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 19]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Metadata Stack:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    IFA Metadata Stack                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      GRE Payload:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             data                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
                     Figure 7 GRE IFA Packet Format

3.8.4 Geneve Packet

 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 20]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

       0                   1                   2                   3
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
      IPv4 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version|  IHL  |Type of Service|          Total Length         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Identification        |Flags|      Fragment Offset    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |  Time to Live | Protocol = IFA|         Header Checksum       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                      Source IPv4 Address                      |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                   Destination IPv4 Address                    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   or
      IPv6 Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Version| Traffic Class |           Flow Label                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |         Payload Length        |Next Hdr = IFA |   Hop Limit   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                    Source IPv6 Address                        +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +                 Destination IPv6 Address                      +
      |                                                               |
      +                                                               +
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver=2.0|  GNS  | NextHdr = UDP |      Flags    |  Curr Length  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Outer UDP Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |       Source Port = xxxx      |    Dest Port = Geneve Port    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |           UDP Length          |        UDP Checksum           |
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 21]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      IFA Metadata Stack:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    IFA Metadata Stack                         |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

      Geneve Header:
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |Ver|  Opt Len  |O|C|    Rsvd.  |          Protocol Type        |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |        Virtual Network Identifier (VNI)       |    Reserved   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    Variable Length Options                    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                             data                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                   Figure 8 Geneve IFA Packet Format

3.9 IFA Load Balancing

   IFA changes the IP protocol field value to IFA protocol number. IP
   protocol field value is included in the hash computation. This will
   impact load balancing of flows.

   Forwarding plane MUST support reading the IP protocol field value
   stored in IFA NextHDR field for hash computation.

4. Interoperability Considerations

   Version 2.0 of this protocol specification is not backward compatible
   with version 1.0.

5. Security Considerations

   A successful attack on an OAM protocol can prevent the detection of
   failures or anomalies, or create a false illusion of nonexistent
   ones.

   The metadata elements of IFA can be used by attackers to collect
   information about the network hops.

   Adding IFA headers or adding to IFA metadata can be used to consume
   resources within the path being monitored or by a collector.

   Adding IFA headers or adding to IFA metadata can be used to force
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 22]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   exceeding the MTU for the path being monitored resulting in
   fragmentation and/or packet drops.

   IFA is expected to be deployed within controlled network domains,
   containing attacks to that controlled domain.  Limiting or preventing
   monitoring or attacks using IFA requires limiting or preventing
   unauthorized access to the domain in which IFA is to be used, and
   preventing leaking IFA metadata beyond the controlled domain.

6. References

6.1  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

6.2 Informative References

   [RFC791] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc791

   [RFC6864] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc6864

   [RFC3514] https://tools.ietf.org/html/rfc3514

   [IFA 1.0] https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-kumar-ifa-00

Authors' Addresses

   Jai Kumar
   Broadcom Inc.
   Email: jai.kumar@broadcom.com

   Surendra Anubolu
   Broadcom Inc.
   Email: surendra.anubolu@broadcom.com

   John Lemon
   Broadcom Inc.
   Email: john.lemon@broadcom.com

   Hugh Holbrook
   Arista Networks 
   Email: holbrook@arista.com

   Anoop Ghanwani
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 23]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

   Dell EMC
   Email: anoop.ghanwani@dell.com

   Dezhong Cai
   AliBaba Inc.
   Email: d.cai@alibaba-inc.com

   Heidi OU
   AliBaba Inc.
   Email: heidi.ou@alibaba-inc.com

   Yizhou Li
   Huawei Technologies
   EMail: liyizhou@huawei.com

Appendix A
   Appendix A is just for informational purposes.  The following options
   were considered for the IFA protocol.

A.1 Probe Marker

   One of the challenges of using probe signatures in an IFA header is a
   false positive.  

   The IFA version 2.0 header takes care of large header sizes and
   identification based on probe markers.  Probe markers can cause false
   positives if there is a match on the first 64 bits of the layer 4
   payload.  

   This approach is not a preferred approach, but is supported by this
   draft as a version 1.0 header. 

A.2 DSCP

   [RFC791] EXP/LU Pool 3 can be used for identifying IFA packets.  CU
   bits can be used for identifying IFA packets.

   The problem with using TOS bits is that they are pervasively used in
   the network deployment and are responsible for affecting the
   forwarding decision.

   This approach is not supported or recommended by this draft. 
 

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 24]
INTERNET DRAFT                    IFA                   October 18, 2018

A.3 IP Options

   [RFC791] The Options provide for control functions needed or useful
   in some situations but unnecessary for the most common
   communications.  The options include provisions for timestamps,
   security, and special routing.

   There are various problems with this approach.
   (1) The IPv4 header size can become arbitrarily large with the
   presence of options.
   (2) A switch pipeline typically handles IP option packets as
   exception path processing and punts them to a host CPU.
   (3) IP options make the construction of firewalls cumbersome, and are
   typically disallowed or stripped at the perimeter of enterprise
   networks by firewalls.

   This approach is not supported or recommended by this draft. 

A.4 IPv4 Identification or Reserved Flag

   [RFC6864] [RFC3514] Another suggestion is to use the IPv4
   identification field or reserved flag.  This suggestion is also
   discarded and not supported for the following reasons:

   [RFC6864] prohibits usage of id field for any other purposes.

   [RFC3514] prohibits using flags bit 0 for security reasons.

Kumar, et al.                                                  [Page 25]