IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Applicability
RFC 5472

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Network Working Group                                           T. Zseby
Request for Comments: 5472                              Fraunhofer FOKUS
Category: Informational                                        E. Boschi
                                                          Hitachi Europe
                                                             N. Brownlee
                                                                   CAIDA
                                                               B. Claise
                                                     Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                              March 2009

            IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Applicability

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.

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Zseby, et al                 Informational                      [Page 1]
RFC 5472                  IPFIX Applicability                 March 2009

Abstract

   In this document, we describe the applicability of the IP Flow
   Information eXport (IPFIX) protocol for a variety of applications.
   We show how applications can use IPFIX, describe the relevant
   Information Elements (IEs) for those applications, and present
   opportunities and limitations of the protocol.  Furthermore, we
   describe relations of the IPFIX framework to other architectures and
   frameworks.

Zseby, et al                 Informational                      [Page 2]
RFC 5472                  IPFIX Applicability                 March 2009

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................4
      1.1. Terminology ................................................4
   2. Applications of IPFIX ...........................................4
      2.1. Accounting .................................................4
           2.1.1. Example .............................................5
      2.2. Traffic Profiling ..........................................7
      2.3. Traffic Engineering ........................................8
      2.4. Network Security ...........................................9
      2.5. QoS Monitoring ............................................11
           2.5.1. Correlating Events from Multiple
                  Observation Points .................................12
           2.5.2. Examples ...........................................12
      2.6. Inter-Domain Exchange of IPFIX Data .......................14
      2.7. Export of Derived Metrics .................................14
      2.8. Summary ...................................................15
   3. Relation of IPFIX to Other Frameworks and Protocols ............16
      3.1. IPFIX and IPv6 ............................................16
      3.2. IPFIX and PSAMP ...........................................16
      3.3. IPFIX and RMON ............................................16
      3.4. IPFIX and IPPM ............................................18
      3.5. IPFIX and AAA .............................................18
           3.5.1. Connecting via a AAA Client ........................20
           3.5.2. Connecting via an Application Specific
                  Module (ASM) .......................................21
      3.6. IPFIX and RTFM ............................................21
           3.6.1. Architecture .......................................21
           3.6.2. Flow Definition ....................................22
           3.6.3. Configuration and Management .......................22
           3.6.4. Data Collection ....................................22
           3.6.5. Data Model Details .................................23