Internet DRAFT - draft-ietf-ippm-multipoint-alt-mark
draft-ietf-ippm-multipoint-alt-mark
IPPM Working Group G. Fioccola, Ed.
Internet-Draft Huawei Technologies
Intended status: Experimental M. Cociglio
Expires: September 24, 2020 Telecom Italia
A. Sapio
R. Sisto
Politecnico di Torino
March 23, 2020
Multipoint Alternate Marking method for passive and hybrid performance
monitoring
draft-ietf-ippm-multipoint-alt-mark-09
Abstract
The Alternate Marking method, as presented in RFC 8321, can be
applied only to point-to-point flows because it assumes that all the
packets of the flow measured on one node are measured again by a
single second node. This document generalizes and expands this
methodology to measure any kind of unicast flows, whose packets can
follow several different paths in the network, in wider terms a
multipoint-to-multipoint network. For this reason the technique here
described is called Multipoint Alternate Marking.
Status of This Memo
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provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on September 24, 2020.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
document authors. All rights reserved.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
2. Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.1. Correlation with RFC5644 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3. Flow classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
4. Multipoint Performance Measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
4.1. Monitoring Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
5. Multipoint Packet Loss . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
6. Network Clustering . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
6.1. Algorithm for Cluster partition . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
7. Timing Aspects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
8. Multipoint Delay and Delay Variation . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.1. Delay measurements on multipoint paths basis . . . . . . 17
8.1.1. Single Marking measurement . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
8.2. Delay measurements on single packets basis . . . . . . . 17
8.2.1. Single and Double Marking measurement . . . . . . . . 17
8.2.2. Hashing selection method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
9. A Closed Loop Performance Management approach . . . . . . . . 20
10. Examples of application . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
11. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
12. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
13. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
14. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
14.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
14.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
1. Introduction
The Alternate Marking method, as described in RFC 8321 [RFC8321], is
applicable to a point-to-point path. The extension proposed in this
document applies to the most general case of multipoint-to-multipoint
path and enables flexible and adaptive performance measurements in a
managed network.
The Alternate Marking methodology described in RFC 8321 [RFC8321]
allows the synchronization of the measurements in different points by
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dividing the packet flow into batches. So it is possible to get
coherent counters and show what is happening in every marking period
for each monitored flow. The monitoring parameters are the packet
counter and timestamps of a flow for each marking period. Note that
additional details about the applicability of the Alternate Marking
methodology are described both in RFC 8321 [RFC8321] and in the paper
[IEEE-Network-PNPM].
There are some applications of the Alternate Marking method where
there are a lot of monitored flows and nodes. Multipoint Alternate
Marking aims to reduce these values and makes the performance
monitoring more flexible in case a detailed analysis is not needed.
For instance, by considering n measurement points and m monitored
flows,the order of magnitude of the packet counters for each time
interval is n*m*2 (1 per color). The number of measurement points
and monitored flows may vary and depends on the portion of the
network we are monitoring (core network, metro network, access
network) and on the granularity (for each service, each customer).
So if both n and m are high values the packet counters increase a lot
and Multipoint Alternate Marking offers a tool to control these
parameters.
The approach presented in this document is applied only to unicast
flows and not to multicast. Broadcast, Unknown-unicast, and
Multicast (BUM) traffic is not considered here, because traffic
replication is not covered by the Multipoint Alternate Marking
method. Furthermore it can be applicable to anycast flows and Equal-
Cost MultiPath (ECMP) paths can also be easily monitored with this
technique.
In short, RFC 8321 [RFC8321] applies to point-to-point unicast flows
and BUM traffic while this document and its Clustered Alternate
Marking method is valid for multipoint-to-multipoint unicast flows,
anycast and ECMP flows.
The Alternate Marking method can therefore be extended to any kind of
multipoint to multipoint paths, and the network clustering approach
presented in this document is the formalization of how to implement
this property and allow a flexible and optimized performance
measurement support for network management in every situation.
Without network clustering, it is possible to apply Alternate Marking
only for all the network or per single flow. Instead, with network
clustering, it is possible to use the partition of the network into
clusters at different levels in order to perform the needed degree of
detail. In some circumstances it is possible to monitor a Multipoint
Network by analysing the Network Clustering, without examining in
depth. In case of problems (packet loss is measured or the delay is
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too high) the filtering criteria could be specified more in order to
perform a detailed analysis by using a different combination of
clusters up to a per-flow measurement as described in RFC 8321
[RFC8321].
This approach fits very well with the Closed Loop Network and
Software Defined Network (SDN) paradigm where the SDN Orchestrator
and the SDN Controllers are the brains of the network and can manage
flow control to the switches and routers and, in the same way, can
calibrate the performance measurements depending on the desired
accuracy. An SDN Controller Application can orchestrate how accurate
the network performance monitoring is setup by applying the
Multipoint Alternate Marking as described in this document.
It is important to underline that, as extension of RFC 8321
[RFC8321], this is a methodology draft, so the mechanism that can be
used to transmit the counters and the timestamps is out of scope here
and the implementation is open. Several options are possible, e.g.
[I-D.zhou-ippm-enhanced-alternate-marking].
Note that, as for RFC 8321 [RFC8321], the fragmented packets case can
be managed with this methodology if fragmentation happens outside the
portion of the monitored network.
2. Terminology
The definitions of the basic terms are identical to those found in
Alternate Marking (RFC 8321 [RFC8321]). It is to be remembered that
RFC 8321 [RFC8321] is valid for point-to-point unicast flows and BUM
traffic.
The important new terms that need to be explained are listed below:
Multipoint Alternate Marking: Extension to RFC 8321 [RFC8321],
valid for multipoint-to-multipoint unicast flows, anycast and ECMP
flows. It can also be referred as Clustered Alternate Marking;
Flow definition: The concept of flow is generalized in this
document. The identification fields are selected without any
constraints and, in general, the flow can be a multipoint-to-
multipoint flow, as a result of aggregate point-to-point flows;
Monitoring Network: it is identified with the nodes of the network
that are the measurement points (MPs) and the links that are the
connections between MPs. The Monitoring Network graph depends on
the flow definition, so it can represent a specific flow or the
the entire network topology as aggregate of all the flows;
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Cluster: smallest identifiable subnetwork of the entire Monitoring
Network graph that still satisfies the condition that the number
of packets that goes in is the same that goes out;
Multipoint metrics: packet loss, delay and delay variation are
extended to the case of multipoint flows. It is possible to
compute these metrics on multipoint paths basis in order to
associate the measurements to a cluster, to a combination of
clusters or to the entire monitored network. For delay and delay
variation, it is also possible to define the metrics on a single
packet basis and it means that the multipoint path is used to
easily couple packets between input and output nodes of a
multipoint path.
The next section highlights the correlation with the terms used in
RFC 5644 [RFC5644].
2.1. Correlation with RFC5644
RFC 5644 [RFC5644] is limited to active measurements using a single
source packet or stream, and observations of corresponding packets
along the path (spatial), at one or more destinations (one-to-group),
or both.
Instead, the scope of this memo is to define multiparty metrics for
passive and hybrid measurements in a group-to-group topology with
multiple sources and destinations.
RFC 5644 [RFC5644] introduces metric names that can be reused also
here but have to be extended and rephrased to be applied to the
Alternate Marking schema:
a. the multiparty metrics are not only one-to-group metrics but can
be also group-to-group metrics;
b. the spatial metrics, used for measuring the performance of
segments of a source to destination path, are applied here to
group-to-group segments (called Clusters).
3. Flow classification
An unicast flow is identified by all the packets having a set of
common characteristics. This definition is inspired by RFC 7011
[RFC7011].
As an example, by considering a flow as all the packets sharing the
same source IP address or the same destination IP address, it is easy
to understand that the resulting pattern will not be a point-to-point
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connection, but a point-to-multipoint or multipoint-to-point
connection.
In general a flow can be defined by a set of selection rules used to
match a subset of the packets processed by the network device. These
rules specify a set of layer-3 and layer-4 headers fields
(Identification Fields) and the relative values that must be found in
matching packets.
The choice of the identification fields directly affects the type of
paths that the flow would follow in the network. In fact, it is
possible to relate a set of identification fields with the pattern of
the resulting graphs, as listed in Figure 1.
A TCP 5-tuple usually identifies flows following either a single path
or a point-to-point multipath (in case of load balancing). On the
contrary, a single source address selects aggregate flows following a
point-to-multipoint, while a multipoint-to-point can be the result of
a matching on a single destination address. In case a selection rule
and its reverse are used for bidirectional measurements, they can
correspond to a point-to-multipoint in one direction and a
multipoint-to-point in the opposite direction.
So the flows to be monitored are selected into the monitoring points
using packet selection rules, that can also change the pattern of the
monitored network.
Note that, more in general, the flow can be defined at different
levels based on the encapsulation considered and additional
conditions that are not in the packet header can also be included as
part of matching criteria.
The Alternate Marking method is applicable only to a single path (and
partially to a one-to-one multipath), so the extension proposed in
this document is suitable also for the most general case of
multipoint-to-multipoint, which embraces all the other patterns of
Figure 1.
point-to-point single path
+------+ +------+ +------+
---<> R1 <>----<> R2 <>----<> R3 <>---
+------+ +------+ +------+
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point-to-point multipath
+------+
<> R2 <>
/ +------+ \
/ \
+------+ / \ +------+
---<> R1 <> <> R4 <>---
+------+ \ / +------+
\ /
\ +------+ /
<> R3 <>
+------+
point-to-multipoint
+------+
<> R4 <>---
/ +------+
+------+ /
<> R2 <>
/ +------+ \
+------+ / \ +------+
---<> R1 <> <> R5 <>---
+------+ \ +------+
\ +------+
<> R3 <>
+------+ \
\ +------+
<> R6 <>---
+------+
multipoint-to-point
+------+
---<> R1 <>
+------+ \
\ +------+
<> R4 <>
/ +------+ \
+------+ / \ +------+
---<> R2 <> <> R6 <>---
+------+ / +------+
+------+ /
<> R5 <>
/ +------+
+------+ /
---<> R3 <>
+------+
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multipoint-to-multipoint
+------+ +------+
---<> R1 <> <> R6 <>---
+------+ \ / +------+
\ +------+ /
<> R4 <>
+------+ \
+------+ \ +------+
---<> R2 <> <> R7 <>---
+------+ \ / +------+
\ +------+ /
<> R5 <>
/ +------+ \
+------+ / \ +------+
---<> R3 <> <> R8 <>---
+------+ +------+
Figure 1: Flow classification
The case of unicast flow is considered in the previous figure.
Anyway the anycast flow is also in scope because there is no
replication and only a single node from the anycast group receives
the traffic, so it can be viewed as a special case of unicast flow.
Furthermore, an ECMP flow is in scope by definition, since it is a
point-to-multipoint unicast flow.
4. Multipoint Performance Measurement
By Using the Alternate Marking method only point-to-point paths can
be monitored. To have an IP (TCP/UDP) flow that follows a point-to-
point path we have to define, with a specific value, 5 identification
fields (IP Source, IP Destination, Transport Protocol, Source Port,
Destination Port).
Multipoint Alternate Marking enables the performance measurement for
multipoint flows selected by identification fields without any
constraints (even the entire network production traffic). It is also
possible to use multiple marking points for the same monitored flow.
4.1. Monitoring Network
The Monitoring Network is deduced from the Production Network, by
identifying the nodes of the graph that are the measurement points,
and the links that are the connections between measurement points.
There are some techniques that can help with the building of the
monitoring network (as an example it is possible to mention
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[I-D.ietf-ippm-route]). In general there are different options: the
monitoring network can be obtained by considering all the possible
paths for the traffic or also by periodically checking the traffic
(e.g. daily, weekly, monthly) and update the graph as appropriate,
but this is up to the Network Management System (NMS) configuration.
So a graph model of the monitoring network can be built according to
the Alternate Marking method: the monitored interfaces and links are
identified. Only the measurement points and links where the traffic
has flowed have to be represented in the graph.
The following figure shows a simple example of a Monitoring Network
graph:
+------+
<> R6 <>---
/ +------+
+------+ +------+ /
<> R2 <>---<> R4 <>
/ +------+ \ +------+ \
/ \ \ +------+
+------+ / +------+ \ +------+ <> R7 <>---
---<> R1 <>---<> R3 <>---<> R5 <> +------+
+------+ \ +------+ \ +------+ \
\ \ \ +------+
\ \ <> R8 <>---
\ \ +------+
\ \
\ \ +------+
\ <> R9 <>---
\ +------+
\
\ +------+
<> R10 <>---
+------+
Figure 2: Monitoring Network Graph
Each monitoring point is characterized by the packet counter that
refers only to a marking period of the monitored flow.
The same is applicable also for the delay but it will be described in
the following sections.
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5. Multipoint Packet Loss
Since all the packets of the considered flow leaving the network have
previously entered the network, the number of packets counted by all
the input nodes is always greater or equal than the number of packets
counted by all the output nodes. Non-initial fragments are not
considered here.
The assumption is the use of the Alternate Marking method. And in
case of no packet loss occurring in the marking period, if all the
input and output points of the network domain to be monitored are
measurement points, the sum of the number of packets on all the
ingress interfaces equals the number on egress interfaces for the
monitored flow. In this circumstance, if no packet loss occurs, the
intermediate measurement points have only the task to split the
measurement.
It is possible to define the Network Packet Loss of one monitored
flow for a single period: <<In a packet network, the number of lost
packets is the number of packets counted by the input nodes minus the
number of packets counted by the output nodes>>. This is true for
every packet flow in each marking period.
The Monitored Network Packet Loss with n input nodes and m output
nodes is given by:
PL = (PI1 + PI2 +...+ PIn) - (PO1 + PO2 +...+ POm)
where:
PL is the Network Packet Loss (number of lost packets)
PIi is the Number of packets flowed through the i-th Input node in
this period
POj is the Number of packets flowed through the j-th Output node in
this period
The equation is applied on a per-time-interval basis and on an per-
flow basis:
The reference interval is the Alternate Marking period as defined
in RFC 8321 [RFC8321].
The flow definition is generalized here, indeed, as described
before, a multipoint packet flow is considered and the
identification fields can be selected without any constraints.
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6. Network Clustering
The previous Equation can determine the number of packets lost
globally in the monitored network, exploiting only the data provided
by the counters in the input and output nodes.
In addition it is also possible to leverage the data provided by the
other counters in the network to converge on the smallest
identifiable subnetworks where the losses occur. These subnetworks
are named Clusters.
A Cluster graph is a subnetwork of the entire Monitoring Network
graph that still satisfies the packet loss equation (introduced in
the previous section) where PL in this case is the number of packets
lost in the Cluster. As for the entire Monitoring Network graph, the
Cluster is defined on a per-flow basis.
For this reason a Cluster should contain all the arcs emanating from
its input nodes and all the arcs terminating at its output nodes.
This ensures that we can count all the packets (and only those)
exiting an input node again at the output node, whatever path they
follow.
In a completely monitored unidirectional network (a network where
every network interface is monitored), each network device
corresponds to a Cluster and each physical link corresponds to two
Clusters (one for each device).
Clusters can have different sizes depending on flow filtering
criteria adopted.
Moreover, sometimes Clusters can be optionally simplified. For
example when two monitored interfaces are divided by a single router
(one is the input interface and the other is the output interface and
the router has only these two interfaces), instead of counting
exactly twice, upon entering and leaving, it is possible to consider
a single measurement point (in this case we do not care of the
internal packet loss of the router).
It is worth highlighting that it might also be convenient to define
Clusters based on the topological information and applicable to all
the possible flows in the monitored network.
6.1. Algorithm for Cluster partition
A simple algorithm can be applied in order to split our monitoring
network into Clusters. This can be done for each direction
separately. The Cluster partition is based on the Monitoring Network
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Graph that can be valid for a specific flow or can also be general
and valid for the entire network topology.
It is a two-step algorithm:
o Group the links where there is the same starting node;
o Join the grouped links with at least one ending node in common.
Considering that the links are unidirectional, the first step implies
to list all the links as connection between two nodes and to group
the different links if they have the same starting node. Note that
it is possible to start from any link and the procedure works anyway.
Following this classification, the second step implies to eventually
join the groups classified in the first step by looking at the ending
nodes. If different groups have at least one common ending node,
they are put together and belong to the same set. After the
application of the two steps of the algorithm, each one of the
composed sets of links together with the endpoint nodes constitutes a
Cluster.
In our monitoring network graph example it is possible to identify
the Clusters partition by applying this two-step algorithm.
The first step identifies the following groups:
1. Group 1: (R1-R2), (R1-R3), (R1-R10)
2. Group 2: (R2-R4), (R2-R5)
3. Group 3: (R3-R5), (R3-R9)
4. Group 4: (R4-R6), (R4-R7)
5. Group 5: (R5-R8)
And then, the second step builds the Clusters partition (in
particular we can underline that Group 2 and Group 3 connect
together, since R5 is in common):
1. Cluster 1: (R1-R2), (R1-R3), (R1-R10)
2. Cluster 2: (R2-R4), (R2-R5), (R3-R5), (R3-R9)
3. Cluster 3: (R4-R6), (R4-R7)
4. Cluster 4: (R5-R8)
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The flow direction here considered is from left to right. For the
opposite direction the same way of reasoning can be applied and, in
this example, you get the same Clusters partition.
In the end the following 4 Clusters are obtained:
Cluster 1
+------+
<> R2 <>---
/ +------+
/
+------+ / +------+
---<> R1 <>---<> R3 <>---
+------+ \ +------+
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\
\ +------+
<> R10 <>---
+------+
Cluster 2
+------+ +------+
---<> R2 <>---<> R4 <>---
+------+ \ +------+
\
+------+ \ +------+
---<> R3 <>---<> R5 <>---
+------+ \ +------+
\
\
\
\
\ +------+
<> R9 <>---
+------+
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Cluster 3
+------+
<> R6 <>---
/ +------+
+------+ /
---<> R4 <>
+------+ \
\ +------+
<> R7 <>---
+------+
Cluster 4
+------+
---<> R5 <>
+------+ \
\ +------+
<> R8 <>---
+------+
Figure 3: Clusters example
There are Clusters with more than 2 nodes and two-nodes Clusters. In
the two-nodes Clusters the loss is on the link (Cluster 4). In more-
than-2-nodes Clusters the loss is on the Cluster but we cannot know
in which link (Cluster 1, 2, 3).
In this way the calculation of packet loss can be made on Cluster
basis. Note that the packet counters for each marking period permit
to calculate the packet rate on Cluster basis, so Committed
Information Rate (CIR) and Excess Information Rate (EIR) could also
be deduced on Cluster basis.
Obviously, by combining some Clusters in a new connected subnetwork
(called Super Cluster) the Packet Loss Rule is still true.
In this way, in a very large network there is no need to configure
detailed filter criteria to inspect the traffic. You can check a
multipoint network and, in case of problems, you can go deep with a
step-by-step cluster analysis, but only for the cluster or
combination of clusters where the problem happens.
In summary, once defined a flow, the algorithm to build the Cluster
Partition considers all the possible links and nodes crossed by the
given flow, even if there is no traffic. It is based on topological
information. So, if the flow does not enter or traverse all the
nodes, the counters have a non-zero value for the involved nodes,
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while a zero value for the other nodes without traffic, but, in the
end all the formulas are still valid.
The algorithm described above is an Iterative clustering algorithm,
but it is also possible to apply a Recursive clustering algorithm by
using the node-node adjacency matrix representation
([IEEE-ACM-ToN-MPNPM]).
The complete and mathematical analysis of the possible Algorithms for
Cluster partition, including the considerations in terms of
efficiency and a comparison between the different methods, is in the
paper [IEEE-ACM-ToN-MPNPM].
7. Timing Aspects
It is important to consider the timing aspects, since out of order
packets happen and have to be handled as well as described in RFC
8321 [RFC8321]. But, in a multi-source situation an additional issue
has to be considered. With multipoint path, the egress nodes will
receive alternate marked packets in random order from different
ingress nodes, and this must not affect the measurement.
So, if we analyse a multipoint-to-multipoint path with more than one
marking node, it is important to recognize the reference measurement
interval. In general the measurement interval for describing the
results is the interval of the marking node that is more aligned with
the start of the measurement, as reported in the following figure.
Note that the mark switching approach based on a fixed timer is
considered in this document.
time -> start stop
T(R1) |-------------|
T(R2) |-------------|
T(R3) |------------|
Figure 4: Measurement Interval
In the figure it is assumed that the node with the earliest clock
(R1) identifies the right starting and ending time of the
measurement, but it is just an assumption and other possibilities
could occur. So, in this case, T(R1) is the measurement interval and
its recognition is essential in order to be compatible and make
comparison with other active/passive/hybrid Packet Loss metrics.
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When we expand to multipoint-to-multipoint flows, we have to consider
that all source nodes mark the traffic and this adds more complexity.
Regarding the timing aspects of the methodology, RFC 8321 [RFC8321]
already describes two contributions that are taken into account: the
clock error between network devices and the network delay between
measurement points.
But we should now consider an additional contribution. Since all
source nodes mark the traffic, the source measurement intervals can
be of different lengths and with different offsets and this mismatch
m can be added to d, as shown in figure.
...BBBBBBBBB | AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA | BBBBBBBBB...
|<======================================>|
| L |
...=========>|<==================><==================>|<==========...
| L/2 L/2 |
|<=><===>| |<===><=>|
m d | | d m
|<====================>|
available counting interval
Figure 5: Timing Aspects for Multipoint paths
So the misalignment between the marking source routers gives an
additional constraint and the value of m is added to d (that already
includes clock error and network delay).
Thus, three different possible contributions are considered: clock
error between network devices, network delay between measurement
points and the misalignment between the marking source routers.
In the end, the condition that must be satisfied to enable the method
to function properly is that the available counting interval must be
> 0, and that means:
L - 2m - 2d > 0.
This formula needs to be verified for each measurement point on the
multipoint path, where m is misalignment between the marking source
routers, while d, already introduced in RFC 8321 [RFC8321], takes
into account clock error and network delay between network nodes.
Therefore, the mismatch between measurement intervals must satisfy
this condition.
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Note that the timing considerations are valid for both packet loss
and delay measurements.
8. Multipoint Delay and Delay Variation
The same line of reasoning can be applied to Delay and Delay
Variation. Similarly to the delay measurements defined in RFC 8321
[RFC8321], the marking batches anchor the samples to a particular
period and this is the time reference that can be used. It is
important to highlight that both delay and delay variation
measurements make sense in a multipoint path. The Delay Variation is
calculated by considering the same packets selected for measuring the
Delay.
In general, it is possible to perform delay and delay variation
measurements on multipoint paths basis or on single packets basis:
o Delay measurements on multipoint paths basis means that the delay
value is representative of an entire multipoint path (e.g. whole
multipoint network, a cluster or a combination of clusters).
o Delay measurements on a single packet basis means that you can use
multipoint path just to easily couple packets between input and
output nodes of a multipoint path, as it is described in the
following sections.
8.1. Delay measurements on multipoint paths basis
8.1.1. Single Marking measurement
Mean delay and mean delay variation measurements can also be
generalized to the case of multipoint flows. It is possible to
compute the average one-way delay of packets, in one block, in a
cluster or in the entire monitored network.
The average latency can be measured as the difference between the
weighted averages of the mean timestamps of the sets of output and
input nodes. This means that, in the calculation, it is possible to
weigh the timestamps by considering the number of packets for each
endpoints.
8.2. Delay measurements on single packets basis
8.2.1. Single and Double Marking measurement
Delay and delay variation measurements relative to only one picked
packet per period (both single and double marked) can be performed in
the Multipoint scenario with some limitations:
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Single marking based on the first/last packet of the interval
would not work, because it would not be possible to agree on the
first packet of the interval.
Double marking or multiplexed marking would work, but each
measurement would only give information about the delay of a
single path. However, by repeating the measurement multiple
times, it is possible to get information about all the paths in
the multipoint flow. This can be done in case of point-to-
multipoint path but it is more difficult to achieve in case of
multipoint-to-multipoint path because of the multiple source
routers.
If we would perform a delay measurement for more than one picked
packet in the same marking period and, especially, if we want to get
delay measurements on multipoint-to-multipoint basis, both single and
double marking method are not useful in the Multipoint scenario,
since they would not be representative of the entire flow. The
packets can follow different paths with various delays, and in
general it can be very difficult to recognize marked packets in a
multipoint-to-multipoint path especially in the case when there is
more than one per period.
A desirable option is to monitor simultaneously all the paths of a
multipoint path in the same marking period and, for this purpose,
hashing can be used as reported in the next Section.
8.2.2. Hashing selection method
RFC 5474 [RFC5474] and RFC 5475 [RFC5475] introduce sampling and
filtering techniques for IP Packet Selection.
The hash-based selection methodologies for delay measurement can work
in a multipoint-to-multipoint path and can be used both coupled to
mean delay or stand alone.
[I-D.mizrahi-ippm-compact-alternate-marking] introduces how to use
the Hash method (RFC 5474 [RFC5474] and RFC 5475 [RFC5475]) combined
with Alternate Marking method for point-to-point flows. It is also
called Mixed Hashed Marking: the coupling of marking method and
hashing technique is very useful because the marking batches anchor
the samples selected with hashing and this simplifies the correlation
of the hashing packets along the path.
It is possible to use a basic hash or a dynamic hash method. One of
the challenges of the basic approach is that the frequency of the
sampled packets may vary considerably. For this reason the dynamic
approach has been introduced for point-to-point flow in order to have
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the desired and almost fixed number of samples for each measurement
period. In the hash-based sampling, Alternate Marking is used to
create periods, so that hash-based samples are divided into batches,
allowing to anchor the selected samples to their period. Moreover in
the dynamic hash-based sampling, by dynamically adapting the length
of the hash value, the number of samples is bounded in each marking
period. This can be realized by choosing the maximum number of
samples (NMAX) to be caught in a marking period. The algorithm
starts with only few hash bits, that permit to select a greater
percentage of packets (e.g. with 0 bit of hash all the packets are
sampled, with 1 bit of hash half of the packets are sampled, and so
on). When the number of selected packets reaches NMAX, a hashing bit
is added. As a consequence, the sampling proceeds at half of the
original rate and also the packets already selected that do not match
the new hash are discarded. This step can be repeated iteratively.
It is assumed that each sample includes the timestamp (used for delay
measurement) and the hash value, allowing the management system to
match the samples received from the two measurement points. The
dynamic process statistically converges at the end of a marking
period and the final number of selected samples is between NMAX/2 and
NMAX. Therefore, the dynamic approach paces the sampling rate,
allowing to bound the number of sampled packets per sampling period.
In a multipoint environment the behaviour is similar to a point-to
point flow. In particular, in the context of a multipoint-to-
multipoint flow, the dynamic hash could be the solution to perform
delay measurements on specific packets and to overcome the single and
double marking limitations.
The management system receives the samples including the timestamps
and the hash value from all the MPs, and this happens both for point-
to-point and for multipoint-to-multipoint flows. Then the longest
hash used by MPs is deduced and it is applied to couple timestamps of
the same packets of 2 MPs of a point-to-point path or of input and
output MPs of a Cluster (or a Super Cluster or the entire network).
But some considerations are needed: if there isn't packet loss the
set of input samples is always equal to the set of output samples.
In case of packet loss the set of output samples can be a subset of
input samples but the method still works because, at the end, it is
easy to couple the input and output timestamps of each caught packet
using the hash (in particular the "unused part of the hash" that
should be different for each packet).
Therefore, the basic hash is logically similar to the double marking
method, and in case of point-to-point path double marking and basic
hash selection are equivalent. The dynamic approach scales the
number of measurements per interval, and it would seem that double
marking would also work well if we reduced the interval length, but
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this can be done only for point-to-point path and not for multipoint
path, where we cannot couple the picked packets in a multipoint
paths. So, in general, if we want to get delay measurements on
multipoint-to-multipoint path basis and want to select more than one
packet per period, double marking cannot be used because we could not
be able to couple the picked packets between input and output nodes.
On the other hand we can do that by using hashing selection.
9. A Closed Loop Performance Management approach
The Multipoint Alternate Marking framework that is introduced in this
document adds flexibility to Performance Management (PM) because it
can reduce the order of magnitude of the packet counters. This
allows an SDN Orchestrator to supervise, control and manage PM in
large networks.
The monitoring network can be considered as a whole or can be split
in Clusters, that are the smallest subnetworks (group-to-group
segments), maintaining the packet loss property for each subnetwork.
They can also be combined in new connected subnetworks at different
levels depending on the detail we want to achieve.
An SDN Controller or a Network Management System (NMS) can calibrate
Performance Measurements since they are aware of the network
topology. They can start without examining in depth. In case of
necessity (packet loss is measured or the delay is too high), the
filtering criteria could be immediately reconfigured in order to
perform a partition of the network by using Clusters and/or different
combinations of Clusters. In this way the problem can be localized
in a specific Cluster or in a single combination of Clusters and a
more detailed analysis can be performed step-by-step by successive
approximation up to a point-to-point flow detailed analysis. This is
the so called Closed Loop.
This approach can be called Network Zooming and can be performed in
two different ways:
1) change the traffic filter and select more detailed flows;
2) activate new measurement points by defining more specified
clusters.
The Network Zooming approach implies that the some filters or rules
are changed and there is a transient time to wait once the new
network configuration takes effect and it can be determined by the
Network Orchestrator/Controller, based on the network conditions.
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For example, if the Network Zooming identifies the performance
problem for the traffic coming from a specific source, we need to
recognize the marked signal from this specific source node and its
relative path. For this purpose we can activate all the available
measurement points and specify better the flow filter criteria (i.e.
5-tuple). As an alternative, it can be enough to select packets from
the specific source for delay measurements, and in this case it is
possible to apply the hashing technique as mentioned in the previous
sections.
[I-D.song-opsawg-ifit-framework] defines an architecture where the
centralized Data Collector and Network Management can apply the
intelligent and flexible Alternate Marking algorithm as previously
described.
As for RFC 8321 [RFC8321], it is possible to classify the traffic and
mark a portion of the total traffic. For each period the packet rate
and bandwidth are calculated from the number of packets. In this way
the Network Orchestrator becomes aware if the traffic rate overcomes
limits. In addition more precision can be obtained by reducing the
marking period, indeed some implementations use a marking period of 1
sec and less.
In addition an SDN Controller could also collect the measurement
history.
It is important to mention that the Multipoint Alternate Marking
framework also helps Traffic Visualization. Indeed this methodology
is very useful to identify which path or which cluster is crossed by
the flow.
10. Examples of application
There are application fields where it may be useful to take into
consideration the Multipoint Alternate Marking:
o VPN: The IP traffic is selected on IP source basis in both
directions. At the endpoint WAN interface all the output traffic
is counted in a single flow. The input traffic is composed by all
the other flows aggregated for source address. So, by considering
n end-points, the monitored flows are n (each flow with 1 ingress
point and (n-1) egress points) instead of n*(n-1) flows (each
flow, with 1 ingress point and 1 egress point);
o Mobile Backhaul: LTE traffic is selected, in the Up direction, by
the EnodeB source address and, in Down direction, by the EnodeB
destination address because the packets are sent from the Mobile
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Packet Core to the EnodeB. So the monitored flow is only one per
EnodeB in both directions;
o Over The Top (OTT) services: The traffic is selected, in the Down
direction by the source addresses of the packets sent by OTT
Servers. In the opposite direction (Up) by the destination IP
addresses of the same Servers. So the monitoring is based on a
single flow per OTT Servers in both directions.
o Enterprise SD-WAN: SD-WAN allows to connect remote branch offices
to Data Centers and build higher-performance WANs. A centralized
controller is used to set policies and prioritize traffic. The
SD-WAN takes into account these policies and the availability of
network bandwidth to route traffic. This helps ensure that
application performance meets service level agreements (SLAs).
This methodology can also help the path selection for the WAN
connection based on per Cluster and per flow performance.
Note that the list is just an example and it is not exhaustive. More
applications are possible.
11. Security Considerations
This document specifies a method to perform measurements that does
not directly affect Internet security nor applications that run on
the Internet. However, implementation of this method must be mindful
of security and privacy concerns, as explained in RFC 8321 [RFC8321].
12. Acknowledgements
The authors would like to thank Al Morton, Tal Mizrahi, Rachel Huang
for the precious contribution.
13. IANA Considerations
This memo makes no requests of IANA.
14. References
14.1. Normative References
[RFC5474] Duffield, N., Ed., Chiou, D., Claise, B., Greenberg, A.,
Grossglauser, M., and J. Rexford, "A Framework for Packet
Selection and Reporting", RFC 5474, DOI 10.17487/RFC5474,
March 2009, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5474>.
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[RFC5475] Zseby, T., Molina, M., Duffield, N., Niccolini, S., and F.
Raspall, "Sampling and Filtering Techniques for IP Packet
Selection", RFC 5475, DOI 10.17487/RFC5475, March 2009,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5475>.
[RFC5644] Stephan, E., Liang, L., and A. Morton, "IP Performance
Metrics (IPPM): Spatial and Multicast", RFC 5644,
DOI 10.17487/RFC5644, October 2009,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5644>.
[RFC8321] Fioccola, G., Ed., Capello, A., Cociglio, M., Castaldelli,
L., Chen, M., Zheng, L., Mirsky, G., and T. Mizrahi,
"Alternate-Marking Method for Passive and Hybrid
Performance Monitoring", RFC 8321, DOI 10.17487/RFC8321,
January 2018, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8321>.
14.2. Informative References
[I-D.ietf-ippm-route]
Alvarez-Hamelin, J., Morton, A., Fabini, J., Pignataro,
C., and R. Geib, "Advanced Unidirectional Route Assessment
(AURA)", draft-ietf-ippm-route-07 (work in progress),
December 2019.
[I-D.mizrahi-ippm-compact-alternate-marking]
Mizrahi, T., Arad, C., Fioccola, G., Cociglio, M., Chen,
M., Zheng, L., and G. Mirsky, "Compact Alternate Marking
Methods for Passive and Hybrid Performance Monitoring",
draft-mizrahi-ippm-compact-alternate-marking-05 (work in
progress), July 2019.
[I-D.song-opsawg-ifit-framework]
Song, H., Qin, F., Chen, H., Jin, J., and J. Shin, "In-
situ Flow Information Telemetry", draft-song-opsawg-ifit-
framework-11 (work in progress), March 2020.
[I-D.zhou-ippm-enhanced-alternate-marking]
Zhou, T., Fioccola, G., Li, Z., Lee, S., and M. Cociglio,
"Enhanced Alternate Marking Method", draft-zhou-ippm-
enhanced-alternate-marking-04 (work in progress), October
2019.
[IEEE-ACM-ToN-MPNPM]
IEEE/ACM TRANSACTION ON NETWORKING, "Multipoint Passive
Monitoring in Packet Networks",
DOI 10.1109/TNET.2019.2950157, 2019.
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[IEEE-Network-PNPM]
IEEE Network, "AM-PM: Efficient Network Telemetry using
Alternate Marking", DOI 10.1109/MNET.2019.1800152, 2019.
[RFC7011] Claise, B., Ed., Trammell, B., Ed., and P. Aitken,
"Specification of the IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX)
Protocol for the Exchange of Flow Information", STD 77,
RFC 7011, DOI 10.17487/RFC7011, September 2013,
<https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7011>.
Authors' Addresses
Giuseppe Fioccola (editor)
Huawei Technologies
Riesstrasse, 25
Munich 80992
Germany
Email: giuseppe.fioccola@huawei.com
Mauro Cociglio
Telecom Italia
Via Reiss Romoli, 274
Torino 10148
Italy
Email: mauro.cociglio@telecomitalia.it
Amedeo Sapio
Politecnico di Torino
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24
Torino 10129
Italy
Email: amedeo.sapio@polito.it
Riccardo Sisto
Politecnico di Torino
Corso Duca degli Abruzzi, 24
Torino 10129
Italy
Email: riccardo.sisto@polito.it
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