TOC 
Network Working GroupC. Sommer
Internet-DraftF. Dressler
Intended status: InformationalUniv. Erlangen
Expires: January 8, 2009G. Muenz
 Univ. Tuebingen
 July 07, 2008


Rich Template Set Extension to the IPFIX Protocol
<draft-sommer-ipfix-richtemplate-00.txt>

Status of this Memo

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Abstract

This draft describes the Rich Template Set, a Template Set for the IPFIX Protocol, as well as its respective Template Records. One possible application domain for this new Set is the transport of IPFIX Flow Mediation selection criteria. In comparison to the use of Common Properties, the use of Rich Template Sets reduces the overhead of repeated transmissions and makes data transmissions more robust against failures.



Table of Contents

1.  Introduction
2.  Rich Template
3.  Use of the Rich Template in Flow Aggregation
4.  Security considerations
5.  IANA Considerations
6.  Normative References
§  Authors' Addresses
§  Intellectual Property and Copyright Statements




 TOC 

1.  Introduction

IPFIX supports the concept of a Mediator, a device that receives, transforms, and exports data streams using IPFIX. A major requirement of flow mediation is the reduction of the volume of IPFIX traffic by discarding and aggregating received information. [I‑D.dressler‑ipfix‑aggregation] (Dressler, F., Sommer, C., Muenz, G., and A. Kobayashi, “IPFIX Flow Aggregation,” July 2008.) describes how pattern matching is used for flow aggregation. The draft also outlines how to select flows and subsequently communicate the selection criteria to an IPFIX Collector, using Common Properties of the resulting Compound Flows to describe these attributes. In order to avoid the overhead of the repeated transmissions of all Common Properties (or their identifiers) in all Flow Records, a new Template Set, the Rich Template Set, is introduced. This Template Set allows an Exporting Process to simultaneously declare and transmit Common Properties to a receiver.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT", "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119] (Bradner, S., “Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels,” March 1997.).



 TOC 

2.  Rich Template



0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|          Set ID = 4           |          Length               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                     Rich Template Record 1                    |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                     Rich Template Record N                    |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                          Padding (opt)                        |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

 Figure 1: Rich Template Set Format 

The basic format of a Rich Template Set is shown in Figure 1 (Rich Template Set Format). It is the same as that of a Template Set defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.), except for a different Set ID.

The format of individual Rich Template Records, however, differs from that of Template Records and is shown in Figure 2 (Rich Template Record Format).



0                   1                   2                   3
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|  Template ID (> 255)          |  Field Count                  |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|  Data Count                   |  Common Properties ID         |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                       Field 1 Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                       Field N Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                        Data 1 Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                        Data M Specifier                       |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                          Data 1 Value                         |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                              ...                              |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
|                                                               |
|                          Data M Value                         |
|                                                               |
+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

 Figure 2: Rich Template Record Format 

The Rich Template Set field definitions are as follows:

Set ID
Type of this Template Set. A Set ID value of 4 is proposed for the Rich Template Set.
Length
Total length of this set in bytes, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).
Padding
OPTIONAL padding, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).

The Rich Template Record field definitions are as follows:

Template ID
Template ID of this Rich Template Record. As defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.), this value MUST be greater than 255.
Field Count
Number of regular fields that will be sent in subsequent Data Records using this Template, as defined in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.).
Data Count
Number of fixed-value fields that will be sent in this Template.
Common Properties ID
Contains an identifier that can be referred to by commonPropertiesId Information Elements, as introduced in [I‑D.ietf‑ipfix‑reducing‑redundancy] (Boschi, E., “Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports,” May 2007.).
Field N Specifier
Information Element identifier, Field length and an Enterprise Number (if applicable) of field N. Refer to [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.) for more information on Field Specifiers.
Data M Specifier
Same as "Field N Specifier", but used for Common Properties of all Data Records of this Template. Together with Data M Value, a similar encoding like TLV (type-length-value) is achieved.
Data M Value
Bit representation of a Common Property as would be transmitted in a Data Record.



 TOC 

3.  Use of the Rich Template in Flow Aggregation

The Rich Template is well-suited for use in flow aggregation, as introduced in [I‑D.dressler‑ipfix‑aggregation] (Dressler, F., Sommer, C., Muenz, G., and A. Kobayashi, “IPFIX Flow Aggregation,” July 2008.). Table 1 (Relation between field modifiers, Flow Records, and Rich Templates) illustrates the relationship between a flow aggregator's field modifiers and patterns on the one hand, and the resulting regular and fixed-value fields in the Rich Template on the other hand. It can be seen that the analyzer is able to deduce all instructions of the Aggregation Rule considering the structure of the Rich Template, except the combination "discard without pattern" that does not result in any field.



field modifierpatternfield in Flow Recordfixed-value field in Rich Template
discard no N/A N/A
discard yes N/A yes, contains pattern
keep no yes N/A
keep yes yes, if pattern specifies a range of values yes, contains pattern
mask no yes, IP network address N/A
mask yes yes, IP network address yes, contains pattern

 Table 1: Relation between field modifiers, Flow Records, and Rich Templates 

Assume, for example, the concentrator was given the Aggregation Rule shown in Table 2 (Example Rule).



IPFIX FieldFilteringAggregation
sourceIPv4Address 192.0.2.0/28 discard
destinatonTransportPort   keep
packetDeltaCount   aggregate

 Table 2: Example Rule 

Based on the Aggregation Rule, the concentrator would now first send a corresponding Rich Template Record as shown in Table 3 (Rich Template used).



FieldValue
Template ID 10001
Field Count 2
Data Count 2
Common Properties ID 0
Field 1 Type Destination Port
Field 2 Type Packets
Data 1 Type Source IP Prefix
Data 2 Type Source IP Mask
Data 1 Value 192.0.2.0
Data 2 Value 28

 Table 3: Rich Template used 

Assume further that the concentrator receives the Flow Records shown in Table 4 (Incoming Flows).



Source IPSource PortDestination IPDestination PortPackets
192.0.2.1 64235 192.0.2.101 80 10
192.0.2.2 64236 192.0.2.102 110 10
192.0.2.3 64237 192.0.2.103 80 10
192.0.2.101 64238 192.0.2.1 80 10
192.0.2.102 64239 192.0.2.2 80 10

 Table 4: Incoming Flows 

The concentrator would then export Data Records of this type, which contain the Compound Flows resulting from aggregation. Note that the Flows' Common Property, having a source IP address in 192.0.2.0/28, was already transmitted in the Rich Template Record and is thus not included in Data Records. The exported Data Records, shown in Table 5 (Aggregated Flows), only contain the aggregated packet counts and the destination port, the latter being the only discriminating Flow Key property.



Destination PortPackets
80 20
110 10

 Table 5: Aggregated Flows 



 TOC 

4.  Security considerations

This document introduces a new IPFIX Template Set, a variation on the Template Set and data types introduced in [RFC5101] (Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” January 2008.) and [I‑D.ietf‑ipfix‑reducing‑redundancy] (Boschi, E., “Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports,” May 2007.). No additional security considerations apply.



 TOC 

5.  IANA Considerations

Use of the Rich Template Set requires one new IPFIX Set ID to be assigned.



 TOC 

6. Normative References

[I-D.dressler-ipfix-aggregation] Dressler, F., Sommer, C., Muenz, G., and A. Kobayashi, “IPFIX Flow Aggregation,” draft-dressler-ipfix-aggregation-05 (work in progress), July 2008 (TXT).
[I-D.ietf-ipfix-reducing-redundancy] Boschi, E., “Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports,” draft-ietf-ipfix-reducing-redundancy-04 (work in progress), May 2007 (TXT).
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., “Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate Requirement Levels,” BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997 (TXT, HTML, XML).
[RFC5101] Claise, B., “Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of IP Traffic Flow Information,” RFC 5101, January 2008 (TXT).


 TOC 

Authors' Addresses

  Christoph Sommer
  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
  Department of Computer Science 7
  Martensstr. 3
  Erlangen 91058
  Germany
Phone:  +49 9131 85-27993
Email:  christoph.sommer@informatik.uni-erlangen.de
URI:  http://www7.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/~sommer/
  
  Falko Dressler
  University of Erlangen-Nuremberg
  Department of Computer Science 7
  Martensstr. 3
  Erlangen 91058
  Germany
Phone:  +49 9131 85-27914
Email:  dressler@informatik.uni-erlangen.de
URI:  http://www7.informatik.uni-erlangen.de/
  
  Gerhard Muenz
  University of Tuebingen
  Computer Networks and Internet
  Sand 13
  Tuebingen 72076
  Germany
Phone:  +49 7071 29-70534
Email:  muenz@informatik.uni-tuebingen.de
URI:  http://net.informatik.uni-tuebingen.de/


 TOC 

Full Copyright Statement

Intellectual Property