Host Identity Protocol (HIP) Architecture
RFC 4423

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• 03

Network Working Group                                       R. Moskowitz
Request for Comments: 4423     ICSA Labs, a division of Cybertrust, Inc.
Category: Informational                                      P. Nikander
                                           Ericsson Research Nomadic Lab
                                                                May 2006

               Host Identity Protocol (HIP) Architecture

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).

Abstract

   This memo describes a snapshot of the reasoning behind a proposed new
   namespace, the Host Identity namespace, and a new protocol layer, the
   Host Identity Protocol (HIP), between the internetworking and
   transport layers.  Herein are presented the basics of the current
   namespaces, their strengths and weaknesses, and how a new namespace
   will add completeness to them.  The roles of this new namespace in
   the protocols are defined.  The memo describes the thinking of the
   authors as of Fall 2003.  The architecture may have evolved since.
   This document represents one stable point in that evolution of
   understanding.

Table of Contents

   1. Disclaimer ......................................................2
   2. Introduction ....................................................2
   3. Terminology .....................................................4
      3.1. Terms Common to Other Documents ............................4
      3.2. Terms Specific to This and Other HIP Documents .............4
   4. Background ......................................................6
      4.1. A Desire for a Namespace for Computing Platforms ...........6
   5. Host Identity Namespace .........................................8
      5.1. Host Identifiers ...........................................9
      5.2. Storing Host Identifiers in DNS ............................9
      5.3. Host Identity Tag (HIT) ...................................10
      5.4. Local Scope Identifier (LSI) ..............................10
   6. New Stack Architecture .........................................11

Moskowitz & Nikander         Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 4423       Host Identity Protocol (HIP) Architecture        May 2006

      6.1. Transport Associations and End-points .....................11
   7. End-host Mobility and Multi-homing .............................12
      7.1. Rendezvous Mechanism ......................................13
      7.2. Protection against Flooding Attacks .......................13
   8. HIP and IPsec ..................................................14
   9. HIP and NATs ...................................................15
      9.1. HIP and TCP Checksums .....................................15
   10. Multicast .....................................................16
   11. HIP Policies ..................................................16
   12. Benefits of HIP ...............................................16
      12.1. HIP's Answers to NSRG Questions ..........................17
   13. Security Considerations .......................................19
      13.1. HITs Used in ACLs ........................................21
      13.2. Non-security considerations ..............................21
   14. Acknowledgements ..............................................22
   15. Informative References ........................................22

1.  Disclaimer

   The purpose of this memo is to provide a stable reference point in
   the development of the Host Identity Protocol architecture.  This
   memo describes the thinking of the authors as of Fall 2003; their
   thinking may have evolved since then.  Occasionally, this memo may be
   confusing or self-contradicting.  That is (partially) intentional,
   and it reflects the snapshot nature of this memo.

   This RFC is not a candidate for any level of Internet Standard.  The
   IETF disclaims any knowledge of the fitness of this RFC for any
   purpose and notes that the decision to publish is not based on IETF
   review.  However, the ideas put forth in this RFC have generated
   significant interest, including the formation of the IETF HIP Working
   Group and the IRTF HIP Research Group.  These groups are expected to
   generate further documents, sharing their findings with the whole
   Internet community.

2.  Introduction

   The Internet has two important global namespaces: Internet Protocol
   (IP) addresses and Domain Name Service (DNS) names.  These two
   namespaces have a set of features and abstractions that have powered
   the Internet to what it is today.  They also have a number of
   weaknesses.  Basically, since they are all we have, we try to do too
   much with them.  Semantic overloading and functionality extensions
   have greatly complicated these namespaces.