Service Function Chaining (SFC) Architecture
RFC 7665
| Document | Type | RFC - Informational (October 2015; Errata) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Authors | Joel Halpern , Carlos Pignataro | ||
| Last updated | 2020-01-21 | ||
| Replaces | draft-merged-sfc-architecture | ||
| Stream | IETF | ||
| Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized with errata bibtex | ||
| Reviews | |||
| Stream | WG state | Submitted to IESG for Publication | |
| Document shepherd | Jim Guichard | ||
| Shepherd write-up | Show (last changed 2015-03-28) | ||
| IESG | IESG state | RFC 7665 (Informational) | |
| Action Holders |
(None)
|
||
| Consensus Boilerplate | Yes | ||
| Telechat date | |||
| Responsible AD | Alia Atlas | ||
| Send notices to | (None) | ||
| IANA | IANA review state | Version Changed - Review Needed | |
| IANA action state | No IANA Actions | ||
Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) J. Halpern, Ed.
Request for Comments: 7665 Ericsson
Category: Informational C. Pignataro, Ed.
ISSN: 2070-1721 Cisco
October 2015
Service Function Chaining (SFC) Architecture
Abstract
This document describes an architecture for the specification,
creation, and ongoing maintenance of Service Function Chains (SFCs)
in a network. It includes architectural concepts, principles, and
components used in the construction of composite services through
deployment of SFCs, with a focus on those to be standardized in the
IETF. This document does not propose solutions, protocols, or
extensions to existing protocols.
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/rfc7665.
Halpern & Pignataro Informational [Page 1]
RFC 7665 SFC Architecture October 2015
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2015 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
Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
(http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
publication of this document. Please review these documents
carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect
to this document. Code Components extracted from this document must
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.
Halpern & Pignataro Informational [Page 2]
RFC 7665 SFC Architecture October 2015
Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.1. Scope . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2. Assumptions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.3. Specification of Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.4. Definition of Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
2. Architectural Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.1. Service Function Chains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
2.2. Service Function Chain Symmetry . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
2.3. Service Function Paths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
2.3.1. Service Function Chains, Service Function Paths, and
Rendered Service Path . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
3. Architecture Principles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4. Core SFC Architecture Components . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.1. SFC Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.2. Service Function (SF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3. Service Function Forwarder (SFF) . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
4.3.1. Transport-Derived SFF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.4. SFC-Enabled Domain . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
4.5. Network Overlay and Network Components . . . . . . . . . 18
4.6. SFC Proxy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
4.7. Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.8. Reclassification and Branching . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
4.9. Shared Metadata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5. Additional Architectural Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.1. The Role of Policy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.2. SFC Control Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
5.3. Resource Control . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
5.4. Infinite Loop Detection and Avoidance . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.5. Load-Balancing Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
5.6. MTU and Fragmentation Considerations . . . . . . . . . . 24
5.7. SFC OAM . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
5.8. Resilience and Redundancy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
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