Internet DRAFT - draft-rfc4020bis
draft-rfc4020bis
Network Working Group M. Cotton
Internet-Draft ICANN
Obsoletes: 4020 (if approved) September 4, 2012
Intended status: Informational
Expires: March 8, 2013
Early IANA Allocation of Standards Track Code Points
draft-rfc4020bis-00
Abstract
This memo describes a process for early allocation of code points by
IANA from registries for which "Specification Required", "RFC
Required", "IETF Review", or "Standards Action" policies apply. This
process can be used to alleviate the problem where code point
allocation is needed to facilitate desired or required implementation
and deployment experience prior to publication of an RFC that would
normally trigger code point allocation.
This document obsoletes RFC 4020.
Status of this Memo
This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
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This Internet-Draft will expire on March 8, 2013.
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Table of Contents
1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
2. Conditions for Early Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3. Process for Early Allocation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
3.1. Request . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.2. Follow-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.3. Expiry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
4. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
5. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
6. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Appendix A. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
Author's Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
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1. Introduction
In protocol specifications documented in RFCs, there is often a need
to allocate code points for various objects, messages, or other
protocol entities so that implementations can interoperate. Many of
these code point spaces have registries handled by the Internet
Assigned Number Authority (IANA). Several IANA allocation policies
are described in RFC 5226 [5226]. Some of them, such as "First Come
First Served" or "Expert Review", do not require a formal IETF action
before the IANA performs allocation. However, in situations where
code points are a scarce resource and/or the IETF community wishes to
retain tight control of the protocol, policies such as "IETF Review"
(formerly "IETF Consensus"), or "Standards Action" have been used.
Such allocation policies represents a problem in situations where
implementation and/or deployment experience are desired or required
before the document becomes a RFC.
To break the deadlock, document authors often choose some "seemingly
unused" code points, often by selecting the next available value from
the registry; these may turn out to be different from those later
assigned by IANA. To make this problem worse, "pre-RFC"
implementations are often developed and deployed based on these code
point selections. This creates several potential interoperability
problems between early implementations and implementations of the
final standard, as described below:
1. IANA allocates code points different from those that early
implementations assumed would be allocated. Early
implementations won't interoperate with standard ones.
2. IANA allocates code points for one extension while a "pre-RFC"
implementation of a different extension chooses the same code
point. The different extensions will collide on the same code
point in the field.
This gets in the way of the main purpose of standards; namely, to
facilitate interoperable implementations.
It is easy to say that pre-RFC implementations should be kept private
and should not be deployed; however, both the length of the standards
process and the immense value of early implementations and early
deployments suggest finding a better solution. As an example, in the
case of documents produced by Working Groups in the Routing Area, a
pre-RFC implementation is highly desirable and sometimes even
required [RFC4794], and early deployments provide useful feedback on
the technical and operational quality of the specification.
This memo addresses the early allocation of code points from spaces
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whose allocation policy is "Specification Required" (where an RFC is
used as the stable reference), "RFC Required", "IETF Review", and
"Standards Action". For an explanation of these allocation policies,
see [RFC5226].
A policy for IANA early allocations was previously described in
[RFC4020]. This document obsoletes RFC 4020 and adds other
registration procedures to the types of registries that can qualify
for early allocation.
2. Conditions for Early Allocation
The following conditions must hold before a request may be made for
early allocation of code points:
a. The code points must be from a space designated as "Specification
Required" (where an RFC is used as the stable reference), "RFC
Required", "IETF Review", or "Standards Action".
b. The format, semantics, processing, and other rules related to
handling the protocol entities defined by the code points
(henceforth called "specifications") must be adequately described
in an Internet-Draft.
c. The specifications of these code points must be stable; i.e., if
there is a change, implementations based on the earlier and later
specifications must be seamlessly interoperable.
d. There is sufficient interest in early (pre-RFC) implementation
and deployment in the community.
If conditions (a) or (b) are not met, then the processes in this memo
do not apply.
3. Process for Early Allocation
There are three processes associated with early allocation: making
the request for code points; following up on the request; and
revoking an early allocation. It cannot be emphasized enough that
these processes must have a minimal impact on IANA itself, or they
will not be feasible.
The processes described below assume that the document in question is
the product of an IETF Working Group. If this is not the case,
replace "WG chairs" below with "Shepherding Area Director".
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3.1. Request
The process for requesting and obtaining early allocation of code
points is as follows:
1. The authors (editors) of the document submit a request for early
allocation to the Working Group chairs, specifying which code
points require early allocation and which document they should be
assigned to.
2. The WG chairs determine whether the conditions for early
allocations described in section 2 are met; particularly,
conditions (c) and (d).
3. The WG chairs gauge whether there is consensus within the WG that
early allocation is appropriate in the case of the given
document.
4. If steps 2) and 3) are satisfied, the WG chairs request approval
of the Area Director(s). The Area Director(s) may apply
judgement to the request especially if there is a risk of
registry depletion.
5. The WG chairs request IANA to make an early allocation.
6. IANA makes an allocation from the appropriate registry, marking
it as "Temporary", valid for a period of one year from the date
of allocation. The date of first allocation the date of expiry
should also be recorded in the registry and made visible to the
public.
Note that Internet Drafts should not include a specific value of a
code point until this value has been formally allocated by IANA.
3.2. Follow-Up
It is the responsibility of the document authors and the Working
Group chairs to review changes in the document, and especially in the
specifications of the code points for which early allocation was
requested, to ensure that the changes are backward compatible. If at
some point changes that are not backward compatible are nonetheless
required, a decision needs to be made as to whether previously
allocated code points must be deprecated (see section 3.3 for more
information on code point deprecation). The considerations include
aspects such as the possibility of existing deployments of the older
implementations and, hence, the possibility for a collision between
older and newer implementations in the field. If the document
progresses to the point at which IANA normally makes code point
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allocations, it is the responsibility of the authors and the WG
chairs to remind IANA that there were early allocations, and of the
code point values so allocated, in the IANA Considerations section of
the RFC-to-be. Allocation is then just a matter of removing the
"temporary" tag from the allocation description.
3.3. Expiry
If early allocations expire before the document progresses to the
point where IANA normally makes allocations, the authors and WG
chairs may repeat the process in section 3.1 to request renewal of
the code points. At most, one renewal request may be made; thus,
authors should choose carefully when the original request is to be
made.
As an exception to the above rule, under rare circumstances, more
than one allocation renewal may be justified. All such renewal
requests must be reviewed by the IESG. The renewal request to the
IESG must include the reasons why such renewal is necessary, and the
WG's plans regarding the specification.
If a follow-up request is not made, or the document fails to progress
to a RFC, the WG chairs are responsible for informing IANA that the
code points are to be marked "deprecated" (and are not to be
allocated). The WG chairs are further responsible for informing IANA
when the deprecated code points can be completely de-allocated (i.e.,
made available for new allocations). Implementers and deployers need
to be aware that this deprecation and de-allocation could take place
at any time after expiry, and an expired early allocation is
therefore best considered as deprecated.
In particular, it is not IANA's responsibility to track the status of
allocations, their expiration, or when they may be re-allocated.
Note that if a document is submitted for review to the IESG and at
the time of submission some early allocations are valid (not
expired), these allocations must not be expired while the document is
under IESG consideration or waiting in the RFC Editor's queue after
approval by the IESG.
4. IANA Considerations
This document defines procedures for early allocation of code points
in the registries with the "Specification Required", "RFC Required",
"IETF Review", and "Standards Action" policies and as such directly
affects IANA.
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5. Security Considerations
It is important to keep in mind 'denial of service' attacks on IANA
as a result of the processes in this memo. There are two that are
immediately obvious: depletion of code space by early allocations and
process overloading of IANA itself. The processes described here
attempt to alleviate both of these, but they should be subject to
scrutiny by IANA to ensure protection, and IANA may at any time
request the IESG to suspend the procedures described in this
document.
There is a significant concern that the procedures in this document
could be used as an end-run on the IETF process to achieve code point
allocation when an RFC will not be published. For example, a WG or a
WG chair might be put under pressure to obtain an early allocation
for a protocol extension for a particular company or for another SDO
even though it might be predicted that an IETF LC or IESG Evaluation
would reject the approach that is documented. The requirement for AD
consent of early review is an important safe-guard, and ADs with any
concern are strongly recommended to escalate the issue for IESG-wide
discussion.
6. Normative References
[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
[RFC4020] Kompella, K. and A. Zinin, "Early IANA Allocation of
Standards Track Code Points", BCP 100, RFC 4020,
February 2005.
[RFC4794] Fenner, B., "RFC 1264 Is Obsolete", RFC 4794,
December 2006.
[RFC5226] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
May 2008.
Appendix A. Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Bert Wijnen, Adrian Farrel, and Bill Fenner for their
input on RFC 4020. Thank you to Kireeti Kompella and Alex Zinin for
authoring RFC4020. Thank you to Adrian Farrel, Stewart Bryant, Leo
Vegoda for their reviews of this document.
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Author's Address
Michelle Cotton
Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
12025 Waterfront Drive, Suite 300
Los Angeles, CA 90094-2536
United States of America
Phone: +1-310-823-5800
Email: michelle.cotton@icann.org
URI: http://www.icann.org/
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