IPS Working Group                                               R. Weber
INTERNET-DRAFT                                                   Brocade
<draft-ietf-ips-fcencapsulation-08.txt>
(Expires November, 2002)                                    M. Rajagopal
Category: standards-track                       LightSand Communications

                                                           F. Travostino
                                                         Nortel Networks
                         FC Frame Encapsulation
                                                            M. O'Donnell
                                                                  McDATA

                                                                C. Monia
                                                          Nishan Systems

                                                               M. Merhar
                                                          Pirus Networks

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC 2026 [1].

   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/ietf/lid-abstracts.txt

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

   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 8, 2002.











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Abstract

   This is the ips (IP Storage) working group draft describing the
   common Fibre Channel frame encapsulation format and a procedure for
   the measurement and calculation of frame transit time through the IP
   network. This specification is intended for use by any IETF protocol
   that encapsulates Fibre Channel (FC) frames. This draft describes a
   frame header containing information mandated for encapsulating,
   transmitting, de-encapsulating, and calculating the transit times of
   FC frames.

Conventions used in this document

   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 [2].

Table Of Contents

   1. Scope  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   2. Encapsulation Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
   3. The FC Encapsulation Header  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   3.1 FC Encapsulation Header Format  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
   3.2 FC Encapsulation Header Validation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
   3.2.1 Redundancy Based FC Encapsulation Header Validation . . . . . 7
   3.2.2 CRC Based FC Encapsulation Header Validation  . . . . . . . . 7
   4. Measuring Fibre Channel Frame Transit Time . . . . . . . . . . . 8
   5. The FC Frame  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   5.1 FC Frame Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   5.2 Bit and Byte Ordering  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
   5.3 FC SOF and EOF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
   6. Security  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   7. Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   8. Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   9. Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   11. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

   Appendix
   A  Fibre Channel Bit and Byte Numbering Guidance . . . . . . . . . 15
   B  Encapsulating Protocol Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   C  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

   Warning to Readers Familiar With Fibre Channel: Both Fibre
   Channel and IETF standards use the same byte transmission order.
   However, the bit and byte numbering is different. See appendix A
   for guidance.



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1. Scope

   This document describes common mechanisms for the transport
   of Fibre Channel frames over an IP network, including the
   encapsulation format and a mechanism for enforcing the Fibre
   Channel frame lifetime limits.

   The organization responsible for the Fibre Channel standards (INCITS
   Technical Committee T11) has determined that some functions and
   modes of operation are not interoperable to the degree required
   by the IETF (see FC-MI [8]). This draft includes applicable T11
   interoperability determinations in the form of restrictions on the
   use of this encapsulation mechanism.

   Use of these mechanisms in an encapsulating protocol requires an
   additional document to specify the encapsulating protocol specific
   functionality and appropriate security considerations. Because
   security considerations for this encapsulation depend on how it is
   used by encapsulating protocols, they are taken up in encapsulating
   protocol specific documents.

2. Encapsulation Concepts

   The smallest unit of data transmission and routing in Fibre Channel
   (FC) is the frame. FC frames include a Start Of Frame (SOF), End Of
   Frame (EOF), and the contents of the Fibre Channel frame.   The
   Fibre Channel frame includes a Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) code
   that provides error detection for the contents of the frame. FC
   frames are variable length. To facilitate transporting FC frames
   over an IP based transport such as TCP the native FC frame needs
   to be contained in (encapsulated in) a slightly larger structure
   as shown in figure 1.

       +--------------------+
       |       Header       |
       +--------------------+-----+
       |        SOF         |   f |
       +--------------------+ F r |
       |  FC frame content  | C a |
       +--------------------+   m |
       |        EOF         |   e |
       +--------------------+-----+

       Fig. 1 -  FC frame Encapsulation






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   The format and content of an FC frame are described in the FC
   standards (e.g., FC-FS [3], FC-SW-2 [4], and FC-PI [5]). Of
   importance to this encapsulation is the FC requirement that all
   frames SHALL contain a CRC for detection of transmission errors.

3. The FC Encapsulation Header

3.1 FC Encapsulation Header Format

   Figure 2 shows the format of the required FC Encapsulation Header.

     W|------------------------------Bit------------------------------|
     o|                                                               |
     r|                    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3|
     d|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|
      +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     0|   Protocol#   |    Version    |  -Protocol#   |   -Version    |
      +---------------+---------------+---------------+---------------+
     1|                                                               |
      +-----           Encapsulating Protocol Specific            ----+
     2|                                                               |
      +-----------+-------------------+-----------+-------------------+
     3|   Flags   |   Frame Length    |   -Flags  |   -Frame Length   |
      +-----------+-------------------+-----------+-------------------+
     4|                      Time Stamp [Seconds]                     |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     5|                  Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction]                |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+
     6|                              CRC                              |
      +---------------------------------------------------------------+

       Fig. 2 -  FC Encapsulation Header Format

   The fields in the FC Encapsulation Header are defined as follows.

   Protocol#: The Protocol# field SHALL contain a number that indicates
   which encapsulating protocol is employing the FC Encapsulation.
   The values in the Protocol# field are assigned by IANA (see
   appendix C).

   Version: The Version field SHALL contain 0x01 to indicate that this
   version of the FC Encapsulation is being used. All other values are
   reserved for future versions of the FC Encapsulation.

   -Protocol#: The -Protocol# field SHALL contain the one's complement
   of the contents of the Protocol# field. FC Encapsulation receivers
   SHOULD either validate the CRC or compare the Protocol# and -
   Protocol# fields to verify that an FC Encapsulation Header is


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   being processed according to a policy defined by the encapsulating
   protocol.

   -Version: The -Version field SHALL contain the one's complement of
   the contents of the Version field. FC Encapsulation receivers SHOULD
   either validate the CRC or compare the Version and -Version fields
   to verify that an FC Encapsulation Header is being processed
   according to a policy defined by the encapsulating protocol.

   Encapsulating Protocol Specific: The usage of these words differs
   based on the contents of the Protocol# field, i.e., the usage of
   these words is defined by the encapsulating protocol that is
   employing this encapsulation.

   Flags: The Flags bits provide information about the usage of the
   FC Encapsulation Header as shown in figure 3.

       |------------------------Bit--------------------------|
       |                                                     |
       |    0        1        2        3        4        5   |
       +--------------------------------------------+--------+
       |                  Reserved                  |  CRCV  |
       +--------------------------------------------+--------+

       Fig. 3 -  Flags Field Format

   Reserved Flags bits: These bits are reserved for use by future
   versions of the FC Encapsulation and SHALL be set to zero on send.
   Encapsulating protocols employing the encapsulation described in
   this specification MAY require checking for zero on receive, however
   doing so has the potential to create incompatibilities with future
   versions of this encapsulation. Changes in the usage of the Reserved
   Flags bits MUST be identified by changes in the contents of the
   Version field. Encapsulating protocols employing the encapsulation
   described in this specification MUST NOT make use of the Reserved
   Flags bits in any fashion other than that described in this
   specification.

   CRCV (CRC Valid Flag): A CRCV bit value of one indicates that
   the contents of the CRC field are valid. A CRCV bit value of zero
   indicates that the contents of the CRC field are invalid. The value
   of the CRCV bit SHALL be constant for all FC Encapsulation Headers
   sent on a given connection.

   Frame Length: The Frame Length field contains the length of the
   entire FC Encapsulated frame including the FC Encapsulation Header
   and the FC frame (including SOF and EOF words). This length is
   based on a unit of 32-bit words. All FC frames are 32-bit-word-


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   aligned and the FC Encapsulation Header is always word-aligned;
   therefore a32-bit word length is acceptable.

   -Flags: The -Flags field SHALL contain the one's complement of the
   contents of the Flags field. FC Encapsulation receivers SHOULD
   either validate the CRC or compare the Flags and -Flags fields to
   verify that an FC Encapsulation Header is being processed according
   to a policy defined by the encapsulating protocol.

   -Frame Length: The -Frame Length field SHALL contain the one's
   complement of the contents of the Frame Length field. FC
   Encapsulation receivers SHOULD either validate the CRC or compare
   the Frame Length and -Frame Length fields to verify that an FC
   Encapsulation Header is being processed according to a policy
   defined by the encapsulating protocol.

   Time Stamp [Seconds]: The Time Stamp [Seconds] field contains zero
   or the number of seconds since 0 hour on 1 January 1900 at the time
   the FC Encapsulated frame is place in the outgoing data stream.

   Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction]: The Time Stamp [Second Fraction]
   field contains the fraction of the second at the time the FC
   Encapsulated frame is place in the outgoing data stream. Non-
   significant low order bits may be set to zero. Table 1 shows
   some example Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] values.

               +------------+--------------------+
               |            |     Time Stamp     |
               |   Second   | [Seconds Fraction] |
               +------------+--------------------+
               | n.50000... |     0x80000000     |
               | n.25000... |     0x40000000     |
               | n.12500... |     0x20000000     |
               +------------+--------------------+

       Table 1  Example Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] values

   Note that, since some time in 1968 (second 2,147,483,648) the
   most significant bit (bit 0 of Time Stamp [Seconds]) has been
   set and that the field will overflow some time in 2036 (second
   4,294,967,296). Should FCIP be in use in 2036, some external
   means will be necessary to qualify time relative to 1900 and time
   relative to 2036 (and other multiples of 136 years). There will
   exist a 200-picosecond interval, henceforth ignored, every 136
   years when the 64-bit field will be 0, which by convention is
   interpreted as an invalid or unavailable timestamp.




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   The Time Stamp [Seconds] and Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] words
   follow the in time format described in Simple Network Time Protocol
   (SNTP) Version 4 [9]. The contents of the Time Stamp [Seconds] and
   Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] words SHALL be set as described in
   section 4.

   CRC: When the CRCV Flag bit is zero, the CRC field SHALL contain
   zero. When the CRCV Flag bit is one, the CRC field SHALL contain a
   CRC for words 0 to 5 of the FC Encapsulation Header computed using
   the equations, polynomial, initial value, and bit order defined for
   Fibre Channel in FC-FS [3]. Using this algorithm, the bit order of
   the resulting CRC corresponds to that of FC-1 layer. The CRC
   transmitted over the IP network shall correspond to the equivalent
   value converted to FC-2 format as specified in FC-FS.

3.2 FC Encapsulation Header Validation

   Two mechanisms are provided for validating an FC Encapsulation
   Header:

    - Redundancy based
    - CRC based

   The two mechanisms address the needs of two different design and
   operating environments.

3.2.1 Redundancy Based FC Encapsulation Header Validation

   Redundancy based validation of an FC Encapsulation Header relies
   on duplicated and one's complemented fields in the header.

   Encapsulating protocols that use redundancy based validation SHOULD
   define how receiving devices use one's complement fields to verify
   header validity.

   Header validation based on redundancy is a stepwise process in
   that the first word is validated, then the second, then the third
   and so on. A decision that a candidate header is not valid may be
   reached before the complete header is available.

3.2.2 CRC Based FC Encapsulation Header Validation

   CRC based validation of an FC Encapsulation Header relies on a CRC
   located in the last word of the header.

   Header validation based on the CRC defined in section 3.1 requires
   computing the CRC for all bytes preceding the CRC word, and
   comparing the results to the CRC word's contents.


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4. Measuring Fibre Channel Frame Transit Time

   To comply with FC-FS [3], an FC Fabric must specify and limit the
   lifetime of a frame. In an FC Fabric comprised of IP-connected
   elements, one component of the frame's lifetime is the time required
   to traverse the connection. To ensure that the total frame lifetime
   remains within the limits required by the FC Fabric, the
   encapsulation described in this specification contains provisions
   for recording the departure time of an encapsulated frame injected
   into a connection. If the encapsulated frame originator and
   recipient have access to aligned and synchronized time bases,
   the transit time through the IP network can then be computed.

   When originating an encapsulated frame, an entity that does not
   support transit time calculation SHALL always set the Time Stamp
   [Seconds] and Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] fields to zero. When
   receiving an encapsulated frame, an entity that does not support
   transit time calculation SHALL ignore the contents of the Time
   Stamp words.

   The encapsulating protocol SHALL specify whether or not
   implementation support is required. The encapsulating protocol
   SHALL specify those conditions under which a received encapsulated
   frame MUST have its transit time checked before forwarding.

   Encapsulating and de-encapsulating entities that support this
   feature MUST have access to:

   a)  An internal time base having the stability and resolution
       necessary to comply with the requirements of the encapsulating
       protocol specification; and

   b)  A time base that is synchronized and aligned with the time base
       of other entities to which encapsulated frames may be sent or
       received. The encapsulating protocol specification MUST describe
       the synchronization and alignment procedure.

   With respect to its ability to measure and set transit time for
   encapsulated frames exchanged with another device, an entity is
   either in the Synchronized or Unsynchronized state. An entity is
   in the Unsynchronized state upon power-up and transitions to the
   Synchronized state once it has aligned its time base in accordance
   with the applicable encapsulating protocol specification.





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   An entity MUST return to the Unsynchronized state if it is unable
   to maintain synchronization of its time base as required by the
   encapsulating protocol specification.

   The policy for forwarding frames while in the Unsynchronized state
   SHALL be defined by the encapsulating protocol specification.

   If processing frames in the Unsynchronized state is permitted by
   the encapsulating protocol specification, the entity SHALL:

   a)  When de-encapsulating a frame, ignore the Time Stamp words.
       For example, if a calculated transit time exceeds a value that
       could cause the frame to violate FC maximum time in transit
       limits, the encapsulating protocol may specify that the frame is
       to be discarded; and

   b)  When encapsulating a frame set the Time Stamp [Seconds] and
       Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] words to zero. For example,
       an encapsulating protocol may specify that frames for which
       transit time cannot be determined are never to be forwarded
       over FC.

   When encapsulating a frame, an entity in the Synchronized state
   SHALL record the value of the time base in the Time Stamp [Seconds]
   and Time Stamp [Seconds Fraction] words in the encapsulation header.

   When de-encapsulating a frame, an entity in the Synchronized state
   SHALL:

   a)  Test the Time Stamp words to determine if they contain a time
   b)  as specified in [9]. If the time stamp is valid, the receiving
       entity SHALL compute the transit time by calculating the
       difference between its time base and the departure time recorded
       in the frame header. The receiving entity SHALL process the
       calculated transit time and the de-encapsulated frame in
       accordance with the applicable encapsulating protocol
       specification; or

   c)  If both Time Stamp words have a value of zero, the receiving
       entity SHALL de-encapsulate the frame without computing the
       transit time. The disposition of the frame and any other actions
       by the recipient SHALL be defined by the encapsulating protocol
       specification.

   Note: For most purposes, communication between entities is possible
   only while in the Synchronized state.




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5. The FC Frame

5.1 FC Frame Content

   Figure 4 shows the structure of a general FC-2 frame format.

       +------------------+
       |        SOF       |
       +------------------+
       | FC frame content |
       +------------------+
       |        EOF       |
       +------------------+
       Fig. 4 -  General FC-2 Frame Format

   As shown in figure 4, the FC frame content is defined as the data
   between the EOF and SOF delimiters (including the FC CRC) after
   conversion from FC-1 to FC-2 format as specified by FC-FS [3].

   When Fibre Channel devices convert the FC frame content to the FC-0
   physical transport, an encoding is applied to the FC frame content
   (e.g., 8b/10b encoding like that used in Gigbit Ethernet) for
   reasons that include redundancy and low level timing synchronization
   between sender and receiver. With the exceptions of SOF and EOF [3]
   all discussion of FC frame content in this document is at the 8-bit
   byte level, prior to the application of any such encoding.

   The 8-bit bytes in the FC frame content can be translated directly
   for transmission over an IP Network. However, the FC SOF and EOF
   employ special 10b characters that have no 8b equivalents.
   Therefore, special byte placement and 8-bit character encodings
   are required to represent SOF and EOF.

5.2 Bit and Byte Ordering

   The Encapsulation Header, SOF, FC frame content (see section 5.1),
   and EOF are mapped to TCP using the big endian byte ordering, which
   corresponds to the standard network byte order or canonical form [7].












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5.3 FC SOF and EOF

   As described in section 5.1, representation of FC SOF and EOF in an
   IP Network byte stream requires special formatting and 8-bit code
   definitions. Therefore, the encapsulated FC frame SHALL have the
   format shown in figure 5. The redundancy of the SOF/EOF
   representation in the encapsulation format results from concerns
   that the information be protected from transmission errors.

     W|------------------------------Bit------------------------------|
     o|                                                               |
     r|                    1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 3 3|
     d|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|
      +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
     0|      SOF      |      SOF      |     -SOF      |     -SOF      |
      +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
     1|                                                               |
      +-----                   FC frame content                  -----+
      |                                                               |
      +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+
     n|      EOF      |      EOF      |     -EOF      |     -EOF      |
      +---------------+---------------+-------------------------------+

       Fig. 5 -  FC Frame Encapsulation Format

   Note: The number of 8-bit bytes in the FC frame content is always
   a multiple of four.

   SOF: The SOF fields contain the encoded SOF value selected from
   table 2.

       +-------+------+-------+    +-------+------+-------+
       |  FC   | SOF  |       |    |  FC   | SOF  |       |
       |  SOF  | Code | Class |    |  SOF  | Code | Class |
       +-------+------+-------+    +-------+------+-------+
       | SOFf  | 0x28 |   F   |    | SOFi4 | 0x29 |   4   |
       | SOFi2 | 0x2D |   2   |    | SOFn4 | 0x31 |   4   |
       | SOFn2 | 0x35 |   2   |    | SOFc4 | 0x39 |   4   |
       | SOFi3 | 0x2E |   3   |    +-------+------+-------+
       | SOFn3 | 0x36 |   3   |
       +-------+------+-------+

       Table 2  Translation of FC SOF values to SOF field contents

   -SOF: The -SOF fields contain the one's complement of the value in
   the SOF fields. Encapsulation receivers SHOULD validate the SOF
   field according to a policy defined by the encapsulating protocol.



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   EOF: The EOF fields contain the encoded EOF value selected from
   table 3.

       +-------+------+---------+   +--------+------+-------+
       |  FC   | EOF  |         |   |  FC    | EOF  |       |
       |  EOF  | Code |  Class  |   |  EOF   | Code | Class |
       +-------+------+---------+   +--------+------+-------+
       | EOFn  | 0x41 | 2,3,4,F |   | EOFdt  | 0x46 |   4   |
       | EOFt  | 0x42 | 2,3,4,F |   | EOFdti | 0x4E |   4   |
       | EOFni | 0x49 | 2,3,4,F |   | EOFrt  | 0x44 |   4   |
       | EOFa  | 0x50 | 2,3,4,F |   | EOFrti | 0x4F |   4   |
       +-------+------+---------+   +--------+------+-------+

       Table 3  Translation of FC EOF values to EOF field contents

   -EOF: The -EOF fields contain the one's complement of the value in
   the EOF fields. Encapsulation receivers SHOULD validate the EOF
   field according to a policy defined by the encapsulating protocol.

   Note: FC-BB-2 [6] lists SOF and EOF codes not shown in table 2 and
   table 3 (e.g., SOFi1 and SOFn1). However, FC-MI [8] identifies these
   codes as not interoperable, so they are not listed in this
   specification.


6. Security

   This document describes the encapsulation format only. Actual use
   of this format in a encapsulating protocol requires an additional
   document to specify the encapsulating protocol functionality and
   appropriate security considerations. Because security considerations
   for this encapsulation depend on how it is used by encapsulating
   protocols, they SHALL be described in encapsulating protocol
   specific documents.


7. Normative References

   [1] Bradner, S., "The Internet Standards Process -- Revision 3", BCP
       9, RFC 2026, October 1996.

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







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   [3] Fibre Channel Framing and Signaling (FC-FS), T11 Project
       1331-D, (http://www.t11.org/t11/docreg.nsf/ldl/fc-fs).

       Note: The Fibre Channel frame structure and CRC features
       referenced by this draft, while formally described in FC-FS,
       are substantially unchanged from similar features described
       in Fibre Channel Physical and Signaling Interface (FC-PH),
       ANSI X3.290-1994, June 1, 1994.

   [4] Fibre Channel Switch Fabric -2 (FC-SW-2), ANSI NCITS.355:2001,
       May 23, 2001.

   [5] Fibre Channel Physical Interfaces (FC-PI), ANSI NCITS.352:2002,
       August 18, 2000.

   [6] Fibre Channel Backbone -2 (FC-BB-2), T11 Project 1466-D, (http://
       www.t11.org/t11/docreg.nsf/ldl/fc-bb-2).

       Note: Published T11 standards are available from the INCITS
       online store http://www.incits.org, or the ANSI online store,
       http://www.ansi.org.

   [7] Narten, T. and C. Burton, "A Caution on The Canonical Ordering
       of Link-Layer Addresses", RFC 2469, December 1998.

8. Informative References

   [8] Fibre Channel Methodologies for Interconnects (FC-MI), T11
       Project 1377-D, (http://www.t11.org/t11/docreg.nsf/ldl/fc-mi).

   [9] Mills, D., "Simple Network Time Protocol (SNTP) Version 4 for
       IPv4, IPv6 and OSI", RFC 2030, October 1996.

   [10] Narten, T., Alvestrand, H., "Guidelines for Writing an IANA
       Considerations Section in RFCs", RFC 2434, October 1998.

   [11] Rajagopal, M., Rodriguez, E., Weber, R., "Fibre Channel Over
       TCP/IP (FCIP)", draft-ietf-ips-fcovertcpip-__.txt, Work in
       Progress.

   [12] Monia, C., et. al., "iFCP - A Protocol for Internet Fibre
       Channel Storage Networking", draft-ietf-ips-ifcp-__.txt, Work in
       Progress.







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9. Authors' Addresses

   Ralph Weber                        Murali Rajagopal
   ENDL Texas                         SV Systems Inc.
   representing Brocade Comm.         518 Valley Way
   Suite 102 PMB 178                  Milpitas, CA 95035
   18484 Preston Road                 USA
   Dallas, TX 75252                   Phone: +1 949 280 6516
   USA                                Email: muralir@cox.net
   Phone: +1 214 912 1373
   Email: roweber@acm.org

   Franco Travostino                  Michael E. O'Donnell
   Technology Center                  McDATA Corporation
   Nortel Networks, Inc.              310 Interlocken Parkway
   600 Technology Park                Broomfield, Co. 80021
   Billerica, MA 01821                USA
   USA                                Phone: +1 303 460 4142
   Phone: +1 978 288 7708             Fax: +1 303 465 4996
   Email: travos@nortelnetworks.com   Email: modonnell@mcdata.com

   Charles Monia                      Milan J. Merhar
   Nishan Systems                     43 Nagog Park
   3850 North First Street            Pirus Networks
   San Jose, CA 95134                 Acton, MA 01720
   USA                                USA
   Phone: +1 408 519 3986             Phone: +1 978 206 9124
   Email: cmonia@nishansystems.com    Email: Milan@pirus.com


10. Acknowledgements

   The authors express their appreciation to Mr. Vi Chau
   (vchau1@cox.net) for his contributions to the design team that
   developed this document. Mr. Chau is no longer working in this
   technology.

   The authors are also grateful to Mr. David Black, Mr. Mallikarjun
   Chadalapaka, and Mr. Robert Elliott for their reviews of this
   specification.

11. Full Copyright Statement

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2002). All Rights Reserved.

   This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
   others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
   or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published


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   and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
   kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph
   are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this
   document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
   the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
   Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
   developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
   copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
   followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
   English.

   The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
   revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

   This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
   "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
   TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
   BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
   HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
   MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.


Appendix A - Fibre Channel Bit and Byte Numbering Guidance

   Both Fibre Channel and IETF standards use the same byte transmission
   order. However, the bit and byte numbering is different.

   Fibre Channel bit and byte numbering can be observed if the data
   structure heading shown in figure 6, is cut and pasted at the top
   of figure 2 and figure 5.

     W|------------------------------Bit------------------------------|
     o|                                                               |
     r|3 3 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1                    |
     d|1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0|

       Fig. 6 -  Fibre Channel Data Structure Bit and Byte Numbering

   Fibre Channel bit numbering for the Flags field can be observed
   if the data structure heading shown in figure 7, is cut and
   pasted at the top of figure 3.

       |------------------------Bit--------------------------|
       |                                                     |
       |   31       30       29       28       27       26   |

       Fig. 7 -  Fibre Channel Flags Bit Numbering



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Appendix B - Encapsulating Protocol Requirements

   This appendix lists the requirements placed on the encapsulating
   protocols that employ this encapsulation. The requirements listed
   here are suggested or described elsewhere in this document, but
   their collection in this appendix serves to assist encapsulating
   protocol authors in meeting all obligations placed upon them.

   Encapsulating Protocol Specific Data

   Encapsulating protocols employing this encapsulation SHALL:

    - specify the IANA assigned number used in the Protocol# field
    - specify the contents of the Encapsulating Protocol Specific field

   Encapsulating protocols employing this encapsulation SHALL define
   the procedures and policies necessary for verifying that an FC
   Encapsulation Header is being processed.

   Encapsulating protocols employing this encapsulation SHALL define
   the procedures and policies necessary for the detection of over age
   frames. The items to be specified and the choices available to an
   encapsulating protocol specification are as follows:

   a)  The encapsulating protocol requirements for measuring transit
       times. The encapsulating protocol MAY allow implementation of
       transit time measurement to be optional.

   b)  The requirements or guidelines for stability and resolution of
       the entity's time base.

   c)  The procedure for synchronizing an entity's time base, including
       the criteria for entering the Synchronized and Unsynchronized
       states.

   d)  The forwarding (or lack of forwarding) of frame traffic while in
       the Unsynchronized state.

       The specification MAY allow an entity in the Unsynchronized
       state to continue processing frame traffic.









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   e)  The procedure to be followed when frames are received that do
       not have a valid time stamp.

       The specification MAY allow such frames to be accepted by the
       entity.

   f)  Requirements for setting and testing the transit time limit and
       the procedure to be followed when a received frame is discarded
       due to its transit time exceeding the limit.


Appendix C - IANA Considerations

   The Protocol# (Protocol Number) field is an identifier number used
   to distinguish between the encapsulating protocols that employ this
   FC frame encapsulation. Values used in the Protocol# field are to be
   assigned from a new, separate registry that is maintained by IANA.

   All values in the Protocol# field are to be registered with and
   assigned by IANA with the following exceptions.

    - Protocol# value 0 should not be assigned until after all other
      values have been assigned.

    - Protocol# values 240-255 inclusive must be set aside for private
      use amongst cooperating systems.

   Following the policies outlined in [10], Protocol# values not listed
   above are to be assigned only for Standards Track RFCs approved by
   the IESG.

   In addition to creating the FC Frame Encapsulation Protocol Number
   Registry, the standards action of this RFC allocates the following
   two values from the registry:

    - Protocol# value 1 assigned to the FCIP (Fibre Channel Over TCP/
      IP) encapsulating protocol [11].

    - Protocol# value 2 assigned to the iFCP (A Protocol for Internet
      Fibre Channel Storage Networking) encapsulating protocol [12].










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