IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Mediation: Problem Statement
RFC 5982

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Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                 A. Kobayashi, Ed.
Request for Comments: 5982                                   NTT PF Lab.
Category: Informational                                   B. Claise, Ed.
ISSN: 2070-1721                                      Cisco Systems, Inc.
                                                             August 2010

    IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Mediation: Problem Statement

Abstract

   Flow-based measurement is a popular method for various network
   monitoring usages.  The sharing of flow-based information for
   monitoring applications having different requirements raises some
   open issues in terms of measurement system scalability, flow-based
   measurement flexibility, and export reliability that IP Flow
   Information Export (IPFIX) Mediation may help resolve.  This document
   describes some problems related to flow-based measurement that
   network administrators have been facing, and then it describes IPFIX
   Mediation applicability examples along with the problems.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5982.

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   Copyright (c) 2010 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
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Kobayashi and Claise          Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 5982           IPFIX Mediation: Problem Statement        August 2010

   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 ....................................................3
   2. Terminology and Definitions .....................................3
   3. IPFIX/PSAMP Documents Overview ..................................5
      3.1. IPFIX Documents Overview ...................................5
      3.2. PSAMP Documents Overview ...................................5
   4. Problem Statement ...............................................5
      4.1. Coping with IP Traffic Growth ..............................6
      4.2. Coping with Multipurpose Traffic Measurement ...............7
      4.3. Coping with Heterogeneous Environments .....................7
      4.4. Summary ....................................................7
   5. Mediation Applicability Examples ................................8
      5.1. Adjusting Flow Granularity .................................8
      5.2. Collecting Infrastructure ..................................8
      5.3. Correlation for Data Records ...............................9
      5.4. Time Composition ...........................................9
      5.5. Spatial Composition .......................................10
      5.6. Data Record Anonymization .................................11
      5.7. Data Retention ............................................11
      5.8. IPFIX Export from a Branch Office .........................12
      5.9. Distributing Data Record Types ............................13
      5.10. Flow-Based Sampling and Selection ........................14
      5.11. Interoperability between Legacy Protocols and IPFIX ......15
   6. IPFIX Mediators' Implementation-Specific Problems ..............15
      6.1. Loss of Original Exporter Information .....................15
      6.2. Loss of Base Time Information .............................16
      6.3. Transport Sessions Management .............................16
      6.4. Loss of Options Template Information ......................16
      6.5. Template ID Management ....................................17
      6.6. Consideration for Network Topology ........................18
      6.7. IPFIX Mediation Interpretation ............................18
      6.8. Consideration for Aggregation .............................19
   7. Summary and Conclusion .........................................20
   8. Security Considerations ........................................20