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Microloop prevention by introducting a local convergence delay
draft-litkowski-rtgwg-uloop-delay-01

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
Authors Stephane Litkowski , Bruno Decraene , Pierre Francois
Last updated 2013-08-19
Replaced by draft-ietf-rtgwg-uloop-delay, draft-ietf-rtgwg-uloop-delay, draft-ietf-rtgwg-uloop-delay, RFC 8333
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draft-litkowski-rtgwg-uloop-delay-01
Routing Area Working Group                                  S. Litkowski
Internet-Draft                                               B. Decraene
Intended status: Standards Track                                  Orange
Expires: February 20, 2014                                   P. Francois
                                            IMDEA Networks/Cisco Systems
                                                         August 19, 2013

     Microloop prevention by introducting a local convergence delay
                  draft-litkowski-rtgwg-uloop-delay-01

Abstract

   This document describes a mechanism for link-state routing protocols
   to prevent a subset of transient loops during topology changes.  It
   introduces a two-step convergence by introducing a delay between the
   network wide convergence and the node advertising the failure.  As
   the network wide convergence is delayed in case of down events, this
   mechanism can be used for planned maintenance or for unplanned outage
   provided a fast reroute mechanism is used in conjunction to convert a
   failure into a less urgent topology change.

   Simulation using real network topologies and costs, with pathological
   convergence behaviour, have been performed.  While the proposed
   mechanism does not provide a complete solution, it is simple and it
   solves an interesting fraction of the transient loops in the analyzed
   SP topologies.

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 [RFC2119].

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."

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   This Internet-Draft will expire on February 20, 2014.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2013 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  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Overview of the solution  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   3.  Specification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.1.  Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     3.2.  Current IGP reactions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.3.  Local delay . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       3.3.1.  Link down event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       3.3.2.  Link up event . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Use case  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  Applicable case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.2.  Non applicable case . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  Applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     5.1.  Topological applicability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   6.  Deployment considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7
   7.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   8.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   9.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   10. References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     10.1.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     10.2.  Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9

1.  Introduction

   In figure 1, upon link AD down event, for the destination A, if D
   updates its forwarding entry before C, a transient forwarding loop
   occurs between C and D. We have a similar loop for link up event, if
   C updates its forwarding entry A before D.

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        A ------ B
        |        |
        |        |
        D--------C        All the links have a metric of 1 except BC=5

        Figure 1

2.  Overview of the solution

   This document defines a two-step convergence initiated by the router
   detecting the failure and advertising the topological changes in the
   IGP.  This introduces a delay between the convergence of the local
   router compared to the network wide convergence.  This delay is
   positive in case of "down" events and negative in case of "up"
   events.

   This ordered convergence, is similar to the ordered FIB proposed
   defined in [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-ordered-fib], but limited to only one hop
   distance.  The proposed mechanism reuses also some concept described
   in [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-microloop-analysis] with some limitation and
   improvements.  As a consequence, it can only eliminate the loops
   between the node local to the event and its neighbors.  In the SP
   topologies that were analyzed, this can avoid a high number of
   transient loops.  On the other hand, as this mechanism is local to
   the router, it can be deployed incrementally with incremental
   benefit.

3.  Specification

3.1.  Definitions

   This document will refer to the following existing IGP timers:

   o  LSP_GEN_TIMER: to batch multiple local events in one single local
      LSP update.  It is often associated with damping mechanism to
      slowdown reactions by incrementing the timer when multiple
      consecutive events are detected.

   o  SPF_TIMER: to batch multiple events in one single computation.  It
      is often associated with damping mechanism to slowdown reactions
      by incrementing the timer when the IGP is instable.

   o  IGP_LDP_SYNC_TIMER: defined in [RFC5443] to give LDP some time to
      establish the session and learn the MPLS labels before the link is
      used.

   This document introduces the following two new timers :

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   o  ULOOP_DELAY_DOWN_TIMER: slowdown the network wide IGP convergence
      in case of link down events.

   o  ULOOP_DELAY_UP_TIMER: slowdown the local node convergence in case
      of link up events.

3.2.  Current IGP reactions

   Upon a change of status on an adjacency/link, the existing behavior
   of the router advertising the event is the following:

   1.  UP/Down event is notified to IGP.

   2.  IGP processes the notification and postpones the reaction in
       LSP_GEN_TIMER msec.

   3.  Upon LSP_GEN_TIMER expiration, IGP updates its LSP/LSA and floods
       it.

   4.  SPF is scheduled in SPF_TIMER msec.

   5.  Upon SPF_TIMER expiration, SPF is computed and RIB/FIB are
       updated.

3.3.  Local delay

3.3.1.  Link down event

   Upon an adjacency/link down event, this document introduces a change
   in step 5 in order to delay the local convergence compared to the
   network wide convergence: the node SHOULD delay the forwarding entry
   updates by ULOOP_DELAY_DOWN_TIMER.  Such delay SHOULD only be
   introduced if all the LSDB modifications processed are only reporting
   down local events.  Note that determining that all topological change
   are only local down events requires analyzing all modified LSP/LSA as
   a local link or node failure will typically be notified by multiple
   nodes.  If a subsequent LSP/LSA is received/updated and a new SPF
   computation is triggered before the expiration of
   ULOOP_DELAY_DOWN_TIMER, then the same evaluation SHOULD be performed.

   As as result of this addition, routers local to the failure will
   converge slower than remote routers.

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3.3.2.  Link up event

   Upon an adjacency/link up event, this document introduces the
   following change in step 3 where the node SHOULD:

   o  Firstly build a LSP/LSA with the new adjacency but setting the
      metric to MAX_METRIC.  It SHOULD flood it but not compute the SPF
      at this time.

   o  Then build the LSP/LSA with the target metric but SHOULD delay the
      flooding of this LSP/LSA by SPF_TIMER + ULOOP_DELAY_UP_TIMER.
      MAX_METRIC is equal to MaxLinkMetric (0xFFFF) for OSPF and 2^24-2
      (0xFFFFFE) for IS-IS.

   o  Then continue with next steps (SPF computation) without waiting
      for the expiration of the above timer.  In other word, only the
      flooding of the LSA/LSP is delayed, not the local SPF computation.

   As as result of this addition, routers local to the failure will
   converge faster than remote routers.

   If this mechanism is used in cooperation with "LDP IGP
   Synchronization" as defined in [RFC5443] then the mechanism defined
   in RFC 5443 is applied first, followed by the mechanism defined in
   this document.  More precisely, the procedure defined in this
   document is applied once the LDP session is considered "fully
   operational" as per [RFC5443].

4.  Use case

   As previously stated, the mechanism only avoids the forwarding loops
   on the links between the node local to the failure and its neighbor.
   Forwarding loops may still occur on other links.

4.1.  Applicable case

        A ------ B ----- E
        |              / |
        |             /  |
    G---D------------C   F        All the links have a metric of 1

        Figure 2

   Let us consider the traffic from G to F. The primary path is
   G->D->C->E->F. When link CE fails, if C updates its forwarding entry
   for F before D, a transient loop occures.

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   By implementing the mechanism defined in this document on C, when the
   CE link fails, C delays the update of his forwarding entry to F, in
   order to let some time for D to converge.  When the timer expires on
   C, forwarding entry to F is updated.  There is no transient
   forwarding loop on the link CD.

   Note that C should implement a protection mechanism during the
   convergence delay in order to not increase the loss of traffic.

4.2.  Non applicable case

        A ------ B ----- E --- H
        |                      |
        |                      |
    G---D--------C ------F --- J ---- K

    All the links have a metric of 1 except BE=15

        Figure 3

   Let us consider the traffic from G to K. The primary path is
   G->D->C->F->J->K. When the CF link fails, if C updates its forwarding
   entry to K before D, a transient loop occures between C and D.

   By implementing the mechanism defined in this document on C, when the
   link CF fails, C delays the update of his forwarding entry to K,
   letting time for D to converge.  When the timer expires on C,
   forwarding entry to F is updated.  There is no transient forwarding
   loop between C and D. However, a transient forwarding loop may still
   occur between D and A. In this scenario, this mechanism is not enough
   to address all the possible forwarding loops.  However, it does not
   create additional traffic loss.  Besides, in some cases -such as when
   the nodes update their FIB in the following order C, A, D, for
   example because the router A is quicker than D to converge- the
   mechanism may still avoid the forwarding loop that was occuring.

5.  Applicability

   Simulations have been run on multiple service provider topologies.
   So far, only link down event have been tested.

5.1.  Topological applicability

                            +----------+------+
                            | Topology | Gain |
                            +----------+------+
                            |    T1    | 71%  |

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                            |    T2    | 81%  |
                            |    T3    | 62%  |
                            |    T4    | 50%  |
                            |    T5    | 70%  |
                            |    T6    | 70%  |
                            |    T7    | 59%  |
                            |    T8    | 77%  |
                            +----------+------+

                Table 1: Number of Repair/Dst that may loop

   We evaluated the efficiency of the mechanism on eight different
   service provider topologies (different network size, design).  The
   benefit is displayed in the table above.  The benefit is evaluated as
   follows:

   o  We consider a tuple (link A-B, destination D, PLR S, backup
      nexthop N) as a loop if upon link A-B failure, the flow from a
      router S upstream from A (A could be considered as PLR also) to D
      may loop due to convergence time difference between S and one of
      his neighbor N.

   o  We evaluate the number of potential loop tuples in normal
      conditions.

   o  We evaluate the number of potential loop tuples using the same
      topological input but taking into account that S converges after
      N.

   o  Gain is how much loops we succeed to suppress.

6.  Deployment considerations

   Transient forwarding loops have the following drawbacks :

   o  Limit FRR efficiency : even if FRR is activated in 50msec, as soon
      as PLR has converged, traffic may be affected by a transient loop.

   o  It may impact traffic not directly concerned by the failure (due
      to link congestion).

   Our local delay proposal is a transient forwarding loop avoidance
   mechanism (like OFIB).  Even if it does not prevent all transient
   loops to happen, the efficiency versus complexity comparison of the
   mechanism makes it a good solution.

   Delaying convergence time is not an issue if we consider that the
   traffic is protected during the convergence.  It would be up to the

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   service provider to implement the local delay only for protected
   destinations or for all destinations.  Considering that a service
   provider may implement the local delay for non protected
   destinations, it must be aware that delaying convergence will
   increase the loss duration on the affected link but at the same time,
   will prevent some other link to be congestioned.  As a best practice,
   we recommend to activate the local delay only for protected
   destinations.

7.  Security Considerations

   This document does not introduce change in term of IGP security.  The
   operation is internal to the router.  The local delay does not
   increase the attack vector as an attacker could only trigger this
   mechanism if he already has be ability to disable or enable an IGP
   link.  The local delay does not increase the negative consequences as
   if an attacker has the ability to disable or enable an IGP link, it
   can already harm the network by creating instability and harm the
   traffic by creating forwarding packet loss and forwarding loss for
   the traffic crossing that link.

8.  Acknowledgements

   We wish to thanks the authors of [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-ordered-fib] for
   introducing the concept of ordered convergence: Mike Shand, Stewart
   Bryant, Stefano Previdi, Clarence Filsfils, and Olivier Bonaventure.

9.  IANA Considerations

   This document has no actions for IANA.

10.  References

10.1.  Normative References

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

   [RFC5443]  Jork, M., Atlas, A., and L. Fang, "LDP IGP
              Synchronization", RFC 5443, March 2009.

   [RFC5715]  Shand, M. and S. Bryant, "A Framework for Loop-Free
              Convergence", RFC 5715, January 2010.

10.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-microloop-analysis]

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              Zinin, A., "Analysis and Minimization of Microloops in
              Link-state Routing Protocols", draft-ietf-rtgwg-microloop-
              analysis-01 (work in progress), October 2005.

   [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-ordered-fib]
              Shand, M., Bryant, S., Previdi, S., Filsfils, C.,
              Francois, P., and O. Bonaventure, "Framework for Loop-free
              convergence using oFIB", draft-ietf-rtgwg-ordered-fib-12
              (work in progress), May 2013.

   [I-D.ietf-rtgwg-remote-lfa]
              Bryant, S., Filsfils, C., Previdi, S., Shand, M., and S.
              Ning, "Remote LFA FRR", draft-ietf-rtgwg-remote-lfa-02
              (work in progress), May 2013.

   [RFC3630]  Katz, D., Kompella, K., and D. Yeung, "Traffic Engineering
              (TE) Extensions to OSPF Version 2", RFC 3630, September
              2003.

   [RFC6571]  Filsfils, C., Francois, P., Shand, M., Decraene, B.,
              Uttaro, J., Leymann, N., and M. Horneffer, "Loop-Free
              Alternate (LFA) Applicability in Service Provider (SP)
              Networks", RFC 6571, June 2012.

Authors' Addresses

   Stephane Litkowski
   Orange

   Email: stephane.litkowski@orange.com

   Bruno Decraene
   Orange

   Email: bruno.decraene@orange.com

   Pierre Francois
   IMDEA Networks/Cisco Systems

   Email: pierre.francois@imdea.org

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