Cooperating Layered Architecture for Software-Defined Networking (CLAS)
RFC 8597

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Independent Submission                                     LM. Contreras
Request for Comments: 8597                                    Telefonica
Category: Informational                                    CJ. Bernardos
ISSN: 2070-1721                                                     UC3M
                                                                D. Lopez
                                                              Telefonica
                                                            M. Boucadair
                                                                  Orange
                                                              P. Iovanna
                                                                Ericsson
                                                                May 2019

Cooperating Layered Architecture for Software-Defined Networking (CLAS)

Abstract

   Software-Defined Networking (SDN) advocates for the separation of the
   control plane from the data plane in the network nodes and its
   logical centralization on one or a set of control entities.  Most of
   the network and/or service intelligence is moved to these control
   entities.  Typically, such an entity is seen as a compendium of
   interacting control functions in a vertical, tightly integrated
   fashion.  The relocation of the control functions from a number of
   distributed network nodes to a logical central entity conceptually
   places together a number of control capabilities with different
   purposes.  As a consequence, the existing solutions do not provide a
   clear separation between transport control and services that rely
   upon transport capabilities.

   This document describes an approach called Cooperating Layered
   Architecture for Software-Defined Networking (CLAS), wherein the
   control functions associated with transport are differentiated from
   those related to services in such a way that they can be provided and
   maintained independently and can follow their own evolution path.

Contreras, et al.             Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 8597                Layered SDN Architecture                May 2019

Status of This Memo

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

   This is a contribution to the RFC Series, independently of any other
   RFC stream.  The RFC Editor has chosen to publish this document at
   its discretion and makes no statement about its value for
   implementation or deployment.  Documents approved for publication by
   the RFC Editor are not candidates for any level of Internet Standard;
   see Section 2 of RFC 7841.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8597.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2019 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
   (https://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.

Contreras, et al.             Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 8597                Layered SDN Architecture                May 2019

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   3.  Architecture Overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
     3.1.  Functional Strata . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.1.1.  Transport Stratum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9
       3.1.2.  Service Stratum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       3.1.3.  Recursiveness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
     3.2.  Plane Separation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10
       3.2.1.  Control Plane . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.2.2.  Management Plane  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
       3.2.3.  Resource Plane  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   4.  Required Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  11
   5.  Communication between SDN Controllers . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
   6.  Deployment Scenarios  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12
     6.1.  Full SDN Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.1.1.  Multiple Service Strata Associated with a Single
               Transport Stratum . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.1.2.  Single Service Stratum Associated with Multiple
               Transport Strata  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
     6.2.  Hybrid Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13
       6.2.1.  SDN Service Stratum Associated with a Legacy