Network Working Group Y. Weingarten
Internet-Draft
Intended status: Informational S. Aldrin
Expires: January 7, 2013 Huawei Technologies
July 6, 2012
Requirements for MPLS Shared Mesh Protection
draft-weingarten-mpls-smp-requirements-00.txt
Abstract
This document presents the basic network objectives for the behavior
of shared mesh protection (SMP) not based on control-plane support.
This is an expansion of the basic requirements presented in the MPLS
Transport Profile Requirements (RFC5654) and MPLS Transport Profile
Survivability Framework (RFC6372), documents. This document should
be used as a basis for the definition of the mechanism that would be
used to implement SMP for MPLS data paths, in networks that do not
employ a control plane for its operation.
Status of this Memo
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1. Protection or Restoration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Scope of document . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2.1. Relationship to MPLS-TP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3. Contributing Authors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2. Terminology and Notation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
2.1. Acronyms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. SMP Architecture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1. Coordination of resources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4. SMP Network Objectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.1. Configuration and resource reservation . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.1.1. Querying resource availability . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
4.2. Control plane or data plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.3. Multiple faults . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.4. Notification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.5. Protection switching time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
4.6. Timers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
5. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
6. Managability Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
7. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
8. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
9. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
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1. Introduction
MPLS transport networks can be characterized as being a network of
connections between nodes within a mesh of nodes and the links
between them. The connections, that may be between neighboring
nodes, i.e. spanning a single physical link, or spanning a path of
several nodes, constitute the Label Switched Paths (LSP) that
transport packets between the endpoints of these paths. The
survivability of these connections, as described in [RFC6372], is a
critical aspect for various service providers that are bound by
Service Level Agreements (SLA) with their customers.
MPLS provides control-plane tools to support various survivability
schemes (Editor's note - add references). In addition, recent
efforts in the IETF have started providing for data-plane tools to
address aspects of data protection. In particular, [RFC6378] defines
a set of triggers and coordination protocol for 1:1 and 1+1 linear
protection of p2p paths.
When considering a full-mesh network and the protection of different
paths that criss-cross the mesh, it is possible to conserve the
amount of protection resources needed to protect the different data
paths. As pointed out in [RFC6372] and [RFC4428], applying 1+1
linear protection, requires that resources are allocated and used by
both the working and protection paths. Applying 1:1 protection
requires that all of the resources are allocated, but allows the
resources of the protection path to be utilized for pre-emptible
extra traffic. Extending this to 1:n or m:n protection allows the
resources of the protection path to be shared in the protection of
several working paths. However, there is a limitation in 1:n
protection architectures - that all of the n+1 paths must have
identical endpoints.
Shared Mesh Protection (SMP) supports a limited form of resource
sharing of the protection resources, while providing protection for
multiple data paths that may not have common endpoints and do not
share common points of failure. The basic configuration for data
paths that employ SMP is shown in Figure 1. In this figure, we show
two working paths [ABCDE] and [VWXYZ] that are protected (by 1:1
linear protection) protection paths [APQRE] and [VPQRZ] respectively.
The segment [PQR] and all of its protection resources are shared by
both of the protection paths.
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A----B----C----D----E
\ /
\ /
\ /
P-----Q-----R
/ \
/ \
/ \
V----W----X----Y----Z
Figure 1: Basic SMP architecture
1.1. Protection or Restoration
[RFC6372], based upon the definitions in [RFC4427] makes the
differentiation between "protection" and "restoration" dependent upon
the dynamism of the resource allocation. In SMP, the resources of
the protection paths are reserved at the time of path creation.
However, the allocation of the full resources, at least for the
shared segments will only be finalized at the time that the
protection path is actually activated. Therefore, for the purists -
regarding the terminology - SMP lies somewhere between protection and
restoration.
1.2. Scope of document
[RFC5654] also establishes that MPLS-TP should support shared
protection (Requirement 68) and that MPLS-TP must support sharing of
protection resources (Requirement 69).This document presents the
network objectives and a framework for applying SMP within an MPLS
network, without the use of control-plane protocols. There are
existing control-plane solutions for SMP within MPLS, however we
address those networks that for some reason, e.g. service provider
preferences or limitations, do not employ a full control plane
operation, or require service restoration faster than achievable with
control plane mechanisms.
The network objectives will also address possible additional
restrictions of the behavior of SMP in statically configured operator
networks.
Protection Switching Control (PSC) defines the protection switching
process, logic and protocol messages, based on the SMP actions sent
and received from participating LSRs. Definition of logic and
specific protocol messaging is out of scope of this document.
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1.2.1. Relationship to MPLS-TP
While some of the restrictions presented by this framework originate
from the considerations of transport networks, there is no real
constraint of the information presented here being applied to general
MPLS networks, and not necessarily as part of the Transport Profile
of MPLS.
1.3. Contributing Authors
David Allan, Gregory Mirsky, Daniel King
2. Terminology and Notation
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].
The terminology used in this document is based on the terminology
defined in the MPLS-TP Survivability Framework document [RFC6372]
which in-turn is based on [RFC4427].
2.1. Acronyms
This draft uses the following acronyms:
LSP Label Switched Path
PSC Protection State Coordination protocol
SLA Service Level Agreement
SMP Shared Mesh Protection
SRLG Shared Risk Link Group
3. SMP Architecture
Figure 1 shows a very basic configuration of working and protection
paths that may employ SMP. We may consider a slightly more involved
configuration, such as the one in Figure 2 in order to identify
certain basic characteristics of an SMP mesh network.
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A----B----C----D----E---N
\ / / \
\ M ---/-- \
\ / \ \
P-----Q-----R-----S----T
/| \ \ \ \
/ F---G---H J--K---L \
/ \
V------W-------X-------Y-------Z
Figure 2: Larger sample SMP architecture
Consider the network presented in Figure 2. There are five working
paths - [ABCDE], [MDEN], [FGH], [JKL], and [VWXYZ]. Each of these
has a corresponding protection path - [APQRE] (p1), [MSTN] (p2),
[FPQH] (p3), [JRSL] (p4), and [VPQRSTZ] (p5). The following segments
are shared by two or more of the protection paths - [PQ] is shared by
p1, p3, and p5, [QR] is shared by p1 and p5, [RS] is shared by p4 and
p5, and [ST] is shared by p2 and p5. In addition, we assume that the
available protection resources for these shared segments are not
sufficient to support the complete traffic capacity of the respective
working paths that may use the protection paths. We can further
observe that the main feature of the network that defines it as an
SMP network is the fact that the segment [PQRST], that is a sub-
segment of p5, is the union of all the shared segments while being a
whole shared segment of one of the protection paths.
In other words, the main feature of an SMP "protection domain" will
be the segment that is the union of all the shared segments of the
protection paths. We can further identify "protection groups" as the
different protection paths that share a common segment. For example,
referring to Figure 2, we have the following protection groups - {p1,
p3, p5} for [PQ], {p1, p5} for [QR], {p4, p5} for [RS], {p2, p5} for
[ST].
Typical deployment of SMP would require various network planning
activities. These would include:
o Identification of key services that require protection, and
determining the number of working and protection paths.
o Reviewing network topology to determine which working or
protection paths are required to be disjointed from each other,
and exclude specified resources such as links, nodes, shared risk
link groups (SRLGs).
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3.1. Coordination of resources
When a protection switch is triggered by any fault condition or
operator command, the SMP network must perform two operations almost
simultaneously - switch data traffic over to a protection path and
verify that the shared resources are allocated for this protection
path. The allocation of resources is dependent upon their
availability at each of the shared segments.
When the reserved resources of the shared segments are allocated for
a particular protection path, there may not be sufficient resources
available for an additional protection path. This then implies that
if an additional working path triggers a protection switch the
allocation of the resources may fail and MUST be treated as described
below in Section 4.3. In order to optimize the operation of the
allocation and preparing for cases of multiple working path failures,
the allocation of the shared resources SHALL be coordinated between
the different working paths in the SMP network.
4. SMP Network Objectives
4.1. Configuration and resource reservation
SMP is a survivability mechanism that is based on pre-configuration
of the network working paths and the corresponding protection paths.
This configuration may be based on either a control protocol or
static configuration by the management system. The protection
relationship between the working and protection paths SHOULD be
configured and the shared segments of the protection path must be
identified prior to use of the protection paths.
As opposed to the case of simple linear protection, where the
relationship between the working and protection paths is defined, the
resources for the protection path may be fully committed for the
unshared portions of the protection path. The protection path in the
case of SMP consists of segments that are dedicated to the protection
of the related working path and also segments that are shared with
other protection paths. On the shared segments, the protection
resources may be reserved but would not be allocated until requested
as part of a protection switch.
4.1.1. Querying resource availability
When a working path identifies a protection switching trigger it
SHOULD verify that the necessary protection resources are available
on the protection path. The resources may not be available because
they have been allocated to the protection of a higher priority
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working path, as described above.
4.2. Control plane or data plane
As stated in both [RFC6372] and [RFC4428] full control of SMP,
including both configuration and the coordination of the protection
switching is potentially very complex. Therefore, it is suggested
that this be carried out under the control of a dynamic control plane
similar to GMPLS [RFC3945]. In fact, implementations for SMP with
GMPLS exist and the general principles of its operation are well
known, if not fully documented.
There are, however, operators, in particular in the transport sector,
that do not operate their MPLS networks under the control of a
control plane and require the ability of performing SMP protection
while utilizing data-plane tools for coordination of the protection
switching. This requirement is emphasized in different areas of
[RFC5654] for MPLS-TP environments. Therefore, it is imperative that
it be possible to perform all of the coordination needed for SMP via
data plane operations.
4.3. Multiple faults
If more than one working path is triggering a protection switch there
are different possible actions that the SMP network may apply. The
basic MPLS action MAY allow all of the protection paths to share the
resources of the shared segments, for those networks that support
multiplexing packets over the shared segments. For those networks,
in particular for networks that support the requirements in [RFC5654]
[and in particular support for requirement 58], that require the
exclusive use of the protection resources, the following behavior
SHOULD be supported:
o Relative priority MAY be assigned to each of the working paths
that share a common protection segment
o Resources of the shared segments SHALL be allocated to the
protection path according to the highest priority amongst those
requesting use of the resources.
o If the protection resources are currently in use by a protection
path, whose working path has a lower priority, resources SHALL be
allocated to the path with higher priority. Traffic with lower
priority MAY use available resources or MAY be interrupted.
o Shared segment resources MAY be used by existing traffic and
higher priority traffic for a short period until preemption is
completed.
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4.4. Notification
When a working path identifies a trigger for implementing a
switchover to the protection path, it SHALL attempt to switchover the
traffic to the protection path and requesting the allocation of the
resources for this protected traffic. If the protection path is not
able to allocate the necessary resources (e.g. the resources are
being used for protected traffic of higher priority), a notification
SHALL be sent to both endpoints of the requesting working path
indicating that the requested switchover cannot be fulfilled.
Similarly, if preemption is supported and as a result of the
allocation of resources to a different working path that triggered a
protection switch, the resources currently allocated for a particular
working path are being preempted then a notification SHALL be sent to
the endpoints of the working path whose traffic is being preempted
indicating that the resources are being preempted.
4.5. Protection switching time
In general, protection switching time is defined as the interval
after a switching trigger is identified until the traffic begins to
be transmitted on the protection path. This time is exclusive of the
time needed to complete preemption of existing traffic on the shared
segments as described in Section 4.3. Therefore, support for a
switcing time of 50ms is dependent upon the initial switchover to the
protection path
4.6. Timers
In order to prevent multiple switching actions for a single switching
trigger, SMP SHOULD be controlled a hold-off timer that would allow
lower level mechanisms to complete their switching actions before
invoking SMP protection actions.
In addition, to prevent an unstable recovering working path from
invoking intermittent switching operation, SMP SHOULD employ a wait-
to-restore timer during any reversion switching.
5. IANA Considerations
This document makes no request of IANA.
Note to RFC Editor: this section may be removed on publication as an
RFC.
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6. Managability Considerations
To be added in future version.
7. Security Considerations
To be added in future version.
8. Acknowledgements
TBD
9. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC5654] Niven-Jenkins, B., Nadeau, T., and C. Pignataro,
"Requirements for the Transport Profile of MPLS",
RFC 5654, Sept 2009.
[RFC6372] Sprecher, N. and A. Farrel, "MPLS-TP Survivability
Framework", RFC 6372, Sept 2011.
[RFC6378] Sprecher, N., Bryant, S., Osborne, E., Fulignoli, A., and
Y. Weingarten, "MPLS-TP Linear Protection", RFC 6378,
Nov 2011.
[RFC3945] Mannie, E., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label Switching
(GMPLS) Architecture", RFC 3945, Oct 2004.
[RFC4427] Mannie, E. and D. Papadimitriou, "Recovery (Protection and
Restoration) Terminology for GMPLS", RFC 4427, March 2006.
[RFC4428] Mannie, E. and D. Papadimitriou, "Analysis of Generalized
Multi-Protocol Label Switching (GMPLS)-based Recovery
Mechanisms (including Protection and Restoration)",
RFC 4428, March 2006.
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Authors' Addresses
Yaacov Weingarten
34 Hagefen St.
Karnei Shomron, 4485500
Israel
Phone:
Email: wyaacov@gmail.com
Sam Aldrin
Huawei Technologies
2330 Central Express Way
Santa Clara, CA 95951
United States
Email: aldrin.ietf@gmail.com
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