Internet DRAFT - draft-zhang-sfc-sch

draft-zhang-sfc-sch



 



Network Working Group                                           H. Zhang
Internet-Draft                                                 L. Fourie
Intended Status: Proposed Standard                                Huawei
                                                               R. Parker
                                                       Affirmed Networks
                                                                M. Zarny
                                                           Goldman Sachs

Expires: May 24, 2015                                  December 23, 2014


                          Service Chain Header
                         draft-zhang-sfc-sch-03


Abstract This document describes a service chaining header format and
   encapsulation mechanism that is used to facilitate the forwarding of
   data packets along the service function chain path. This header also
   allows for the transport of metadata to support various service chain
   related functionality.

Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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Copyright and License Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 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
 


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   (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
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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   2.  Conventions used in this document  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
   3.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
     4.2 Mandatory Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
     4.3 Optional Metadata Fields . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
       4.3.1 Generic Context Block  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       4.3.2 Rendered Service Path Identifier . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
     4.4 Header Associated Operations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
   5. SCH Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     5.1 SCH in Overlay GRE Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     5.2 SCH in Overlay VXLAN Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
     5.3 SCH in IP/UDP Encapsulation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
     5.4 SCH in MAC Encapsulation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
   6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   7.  IANA and IEEE Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   8.  References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     8.1  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
     8.2  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   9.  Appendix A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     9.1 OAM Operation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     9.2 Service Function Selector  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     9.3 Target Address . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
     9.4 OAM Service Function Trace . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   10. Acknowledgments  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16













 


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1.  Introduction

Service chaining is a traffic steering technology for applying an
ordered set of network service functions to traffic flows between two
endpoints. Network service functions may include NAT, firewall, server
load balancing, WAN optimization, and others, many of which can operate
up to OSI Layer 7, and run on hardware appliances or virtual machines.

Service function chaining is an enabling technology for providing more
agile service delivery required by cloud computing and network functions
virtualization. (See [SFC-PS] and [SFC-ARCH] for more detailed
discussions on service chaining.)

In order to support service function chaining, a mechanism is needed to
carry service function chain (SFC) path and optional metadata
information across various SFC entities. Ideally, the mechanism imposes
minimal network overhead, works over various transport technologies at
different OSI layers, and can accommodate future services. Given the
likelihood of innovation in existing and future service functions and
the impossibility of predicting what form every type of metadata will
take, the mechanism should allow for the flexibility of carrying
different types and lengths of metadata for different usage scenarios,
and accommodate the addition of new types of service metadata. (See
[SFC-META] for metadata considerations for service function chains.)

It is acknowledged that an either out-of-band or in-band mechanism or a
combination of both may be utilized to transfer metadata in service
function chains. This document describes only an in-band mechanism.

This document proposes the use of the Service Chain Header (SCH), which
comprises a fixed-length mandatory portion used for steering purposes
and an optional variable-length TLV (Type-Length-Value) approach to
carry in-band metadata between service function chaining entities.

The SCH may be used to carry: (1) both SFC path steering information and
metadata; (2) only SFC path steering information, in which case the
Metadata Length field shall be set to zero; or (3) only metadata, in
which case the Path Identifier and SF Index fields shall be set to zero
for transmit and ignored upon receipt.

2.  Conventions used in this document

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 RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

3.  Terminology

 


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Most of the terminologies used in this document are from [SFC-ARCH],
[SFC-FWK] and [SFC-META], and are summarized here for convenience:

Service Function (SF): A network function that provides a value-added
service to packet flows. A service function can act at any OSI layer.
Service functions include: firewall, DPI (Deep Packet Inspection), NAT,
HTTP Header Enrichment function, TCP optimizer, load-balancer, etc.

   SF Chain: An ordered list of Service Function instances. See SF Map.

   SF Chain Identifier: Identifies an SF Chain (SF Map Index).

   SFC-enabled domain: Denotes a network (or a region thereof) that
      implements SFC.

   SF Identifier: A unique identifier that unambiguously identifies an
      SF within an SFC-enabled domain. SF Identifiers are assigned,
      configured and managed by the administrative entity that operates
      the SFC-enabled domain. SF identifiers can be structured as
      strings, or in other formats. SF Identifiers are not required to
      be globally unique nor be exposed to or used by another SF-enabled
      domain.

   Service Function Forwarder (SFF): Provides service layer forwarding.
      An SFF receives frames/packets from an SFC Network Forwarder and
      forwards the traffic to the associated SF(s) using information
      contained in the SCH.

   SFC Network Forwarder (SNF): Forwards traffic flows along the SFPs
      they belong to based on the information contained in the SFC
      encapsulation.

   SF Map: Refers to an ordered list of SF identifiers. Each SF Map is
      identified with a unique identifier called SF Map Index. This is
      referred to as a service function chain in this document.

   SF Locator: An SF Node identifier used to reach the said SF node. A
      locator is typically an IP address or a FQDN.

   Legacy Node: Refers to any node that is not an SF Node nor an SFC
      Boundary Node. This node can be located within an SFC-enabled
      domain or outside an SFC-enabled domain.

   SF Proxy Node: A Network Element along the data path, to enforce SFC
      functions on behalf of legacy SF nodes.

   SFC Boundary Node (or Boundary Node): Denotes a node that connects
      one SFC-enabled domain to a node either located in another SFC-
 


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      enabled domain or in a domain that is SFC-unaware.

   SFC Egress Node (or Egress Node): Denotes an SFC Boundary Node that
      handles traffic which leaves the SFC-enabled domain the Egress
      Node belongs to.

   SFC Ingress Node (or Ingress Node): Denotes an SFC Boundary Node that
      handles the traffic entering the SFC-enabled domain the Ingress
      Node belongs to.

   SF Node: Denotes any node within an SFC-enabled domain that embeds
      one or multiple SFs.

   Service Function Instance (SFI): Denotes an instantiation of a
      service function on a service node, such as a FW instance. A
      service function can have multiple service instances running on
      the same SF node with each service instance having its own service
      profile.

   SFC Classifier (or Classifier): An entity that classifies frames or
      packets for service chaining according to classification rules
      defined in an SFC Policy Table. Frames/packets are then marked
      with the corresponding SF Chain Identifier. SFC Classifier can be
      embedded in an SFC Boundary (Ingress) Node or SF proxy node in
      which case the Classifier will do the encapsulation after getting
      the L2/L3 frame/packet from a Legacy SN. The SFC Classifier can
      also run on an independent (physical or virtual) platform.

   Metadata: Provides contextual information about the data packets
      which traverse a service chain. Metadata can be used to convey
      contextual information not available at one location in the
      network to another location in the network where that information
      is not readily available. While primarily intended for consumption
      by SF(s), metadata MAY also be interpreted by other SFC entities.

  4.  Service Chain Header 4.1 Header Format

      The Service Chain Header (SCH) consists of a mandatory fixed
      length part followed by a number of optional variable length
      metadata as shown in Figure 1. The mandatory fields carry "SFC
      path" information, which is used to steer the frames or packets
      through an ordered set of service function instances along the
      service function chain. The optional variable length fields carry
      application/service/content related metadata information which can
      be used by any SFC entities. The optional fields are formatted as
      Type-Length-Value structures. If any field in the header is not in
      use, the value of that field MUST be set to zero.

 


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       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      | Ver |M|B|R|R|R|Metadata Length|        Protocol Type          |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |               Path Identifier                 |    SF Index   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                    Optional Metadata TLVs                     |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+



       Figure 1: Service Chain Header

4.2 Mandatory Fields

   Ver: Represents the Service Chain Header version. This field is 3
      bits long, and the current version is 0.

   M bit: Indicates that this frame/packet is an operations and
      management (OAM) packet. SF nodes MUST examine the payload and
      take appropriate action (i.e. return status information). The M-
      bit may be used in conjunction with OAM-specific TLVs (See
      Appendix A for an example). OAM message specifics and handling
      details are for future study and are outside the scope of this
      document.

   B bit: The B (Bypass) bit, when set to 1, it is used by a Service
      Function to signal to its Service Function Forwarder that no
      further packets are to be sent to it for the flow specified in
      encapsulated packet.

   R bits: Reserved bits for future extensions. These bits MUST be set
      to 0 on transmit, and ignored on receive.

   Metadata length: The total length of all of the optional Metadata
      TLVs, in 4 octet units.

   Protocol type: The 2-octet IEEE EtherType of the packet or frame
      immediately following the entire SCH header [ETYPES].

   Path Identifier: Identifies a service function path. It represents a
      sequence of network locators, one for each service function that
      is to be invoked. Participating SFC entities MUST use this
      identifier when selecting the next hop for the packet or frame.
      The path identifier can also be used for diagnostics and trouble-
      shooting associated with a service chain. For cases where the SCH
      is used solely to convey metadata, the Path Identifier is set to 0
 


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      on transmit and ignored on receive.

   Service Function Index: An index to each service function instance
      associated with the service path. The service path index can be
      used to handle loop detection, flow reentry into a previous SF
      node of the SFC requiring another different service instance
      treatment, etc. The first service function instance in the path is
      identified with service index 1. For cases where the SCH is used
      solely to convey metadata, the Service Function Index is set to 0
      on transmit and ignored on receive.

4.3 Optional Metadata Fields

   Optional metadata are added after the fixed part of the SCH. Each
   option is of variable length and has a minimum length of four octets.
   An optional 3-octet Organizational Unique Identifier (OUI) may be
   provided to differentiate multiple private number spaces for the Type
   field. If the OUI is not provided, the Type is assumed to be a
   registered globally unique type. Any SFC entities MAY add, modify, or
   remove metadata TLVs.

   The Appendix provides some examples of potential metadata TLV types
   and usage for reference.

   Figure 2 shows the format of the TLV: 

      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
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |P|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|      Type     |    Length     |   Value       |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |   Reserved    |                  OUI (optional)               |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
     |                            Value (optional)                   |
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


        Figure 2: TLV format

   P bit: The P (private) bit, when set to P=1, indicates that the
      optional OUI word (8-bit Reserved and 24-bit OUI) is present in
      this TLV. P=0 indicates that the optional OUI word is not present.

   R bits: Reserved bits for future extensions. These bits MUST be set
      to 0 on transmit and ignored on receive.

   Type: The type of the TLV, interpreted globally or per the OUI if
      present. A maximum of 256 types may be expressed within any
 


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      particular number space.

   Length: The total length of the TLV in 4-octet units. A maximum
      length of 1024 octets may be expressed.

   OUI: The 24-bit Organizational Unique Identifier [IEEE-OUI], present
      only if the P bit is set.

   Value: Usage of the 8-bit value in the first word is purely optional
      and may be useful for certain types of metadata, allowing
      registered types to fit into one 32-bit word and OUI-based types
      to fit into two 32-bit words. When the 8-bit value is
      insufficient, additional words for the value are added to the end
      of the TLV. The existence of optional Value words is inferred from
      the content of the Length field and the value of the P bit.

4.3.1 Generic Context Block

   The Generic Context Block creates a 16-octet metadata scratchpad to
   be used in a deployment-specific manner.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|      Type=1   |    Length=5   |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                                                               |
      |                                                               |
      |                     Generic Context Block                     |
      |                                                               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Figure 3: Generic Context Block

4.3.2 Rendered Service Path Identifier

   The Rendered Service Path Identifier TLV is used to identify a
   specific Rendered Service Path (RSP). The Rendered Service Path is
   the exact sequence of SFFs and SF instances followed for a given flow
   per [SFC-ARCH].

   An RSP may be generated in the control plane with the exact sequence
   of next-hops and communicated to all involved nodes via control plane
   or management channels. The exact sequence of SFFs and SF instances
   is known a priori. This may be viewed as an early binding of SFFs and
   SF instances to an RSP. This can be satisfied by the Path Identifier
   alone.

 


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       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|      Type=2   |    Length=2   |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                Rendered Service Path Identifier               |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

   Figure 4: Rendered Service Path Identifier

   There is also a need to provide a late binding approach to support
   load balancing across a group of SF instances, for example, to
   maintain statefulness. This allows the RSP to be constructed
   dynamically on a hop-by-hop basis by the the SFFs. The RSP identifies
   the exact sequence of SF instances to ensure that all traffic for a
   flow traverses the same SF instances.

   When this option is used, a new RSP Identifier is generated for the
   given SFP ID and is added as an optional metadata TLV to the SCH. The
   binding of each SFF and SF instance to a RSP is done through the hop-
   by-hop selection of the SFFs and SF instances as the first packet for
   a flow traverses the chain.

   The packet is sent to each SFF with the SFP ID and the RSP ID. The
   first SFF will select an instance of the first required SF and bind
   it to the {SFP ID, RSP ID}. The SFF will then choose a next SFF that
   hosts at least one instance of the next SF. (The next SFF could be
   the same SFF). The SF instance selection and binding to the {SFP ID,
   RSP ID} may be performed as such at each hop.

   Once the binding of the SFFs and SF instances is complete, the RSP ID
   is used to steer all subsequent traffic.

   A sufficient number of RSP IDs must be allocated for load balancing
   purposes.


4.4 Header Associated Operations

   The Service Chain Header is processed by SFC-aware entities. These
   entities include but are not limited to the SFC classifiers, SF
   nodes, SF forwarding nodes, SFC boundary nodes, and SF proxy nodes.
   The SCH can be used  by any SFC entities. Its use between the SFF and
   SF is optional and in many cases will be implementation dependent.
   The typical SFF behavior is simplified due to the presence of the
   metadata length field in the fixed portion of the header.

   These entities can perform the following operations related to the
 


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   SCH:

   1. Insertion of the Service Chain Header. This occurs at the start of
      a service chain. An SFC classifier determines which frames/packets
      are associated with which service chain. The classifier performs
      this task by matching the incoming frames/packets against certain
      flow descriptors and assigning them to specific chains. The
      service classifier MUST then insert appropriate SCH in the
      frames/packets of a flow that has been assigned to a service
      chain.

   2. Removal of the Service Chain Header. This occurs at the end of the
      service path. The last Service Network Forwarder (SNF) in the
      service path MUST remove the SCH from the frames/packets and then
      forward them to their final destination using its existing
      transport mechanism. This MUST also be performed by an SF Proxy
      Node if it is the last forwarding node.

   3. Service Path Selection. The Service Network Forwarder (SNF) uses
      the Service Chain Identification information in the SCH to steer
      the traffic flow along the SFC path.

   4. Service Function Instance Selection. The Service Function
      Forwarder (SFF) uses the Service Chain Identification information
      in the SCH to locate the service instance and forward the traffic
      flow to the service instance. The mapping of the Service Chain
      Identification to a service instance can be established through
      the management/control plane, which is out of scope of this
      document.

   5. Service Treatment. The Service Node could use the Service Chain
      Identification information as well as service metadata in the SCH
      to locate the service instance associated with the service chain
      and apply appropriate service treatment.

   6. Service Bypass. There are cases, e.g., long-lived flows, where a
      Service Function does not need to process any further packets for
      flow and that it should be bypassed. The Service Function signals
      this by setting the Bypass bit in the SCH of packets that it sends
      back to the SFF. The flow in question is identified from the
      encapsulated packet header.  When the SFF receives such a packet
      it marks that flow as an exception flow and does not send any
      further packets for that flow to the SF but instead forwards the
      packets to the next SFF or next SF in the chain. The SFF resets
      the Bypass bit to zero before sending the packet to the next
      downstream SFF or SF.


 


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5. SCH Encapsulation

   The SFC classifier adds the SCH to the original frame or packet (of
   types defined in [ETYPES]), and then adds the transport header used
   to forward the frame/packet through the service chain.

   The SCH is independent of the underlying transport used to provide
   reachability amongst the SFC entities. It can be encapsulated inside
   any transport mechanism. The following examples illustrate how the
   SCH can be encapsulated in typical transport mechanisms.

5.1 SCH in Overlay GRE Encapsulation

   The SCH can be encapsulated in a GRE transport as follows:

     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer MAC Header                 |
     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer IP Header (proto=GRE)      |
     +----------------------------------+
     | GRE Header (etype=SCH)           |
     +----------------------------------+
     | SCH (etype=Ethernet Payload Type)|
     +----------------------------------+
     | Ethernet Payload                 |
     +----------------------------------+

     Figure 5: SCH Encapsulation in GRE Transport

   Set GRE Header Protocol = SCH Ethertype

   SCH inserted between the GRE header and MAC payload



5.2 SCH in Overlay VXLAN Encapsulation

   The SCH can be encapsulated in a VXLAN transport as follows:
     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer MAC Header                 |
     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer IP Header                  |
     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer UDP Header (dport=VXLAN)   |
     +----------------------------------+
     | VXLAN Header                     |
     +----------------------------------+
     | Ethernet (etype=SCH)             |
 


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     +----------------------------------+
     | SCH (etype=Ethernet Payload Type)|
     +----------------------------------+
     | Ethernet Payload                 |
     +----------------------------------+

     Figure 6: SCH Encapsulation in VXLAN Transport

   Set VXLAN's inner Ethernet Ethertype= SCH Ethertype

   SCH inserted between the inner Ethernet header and MAC payload

5.3 SCH in IP/UDP Encapsulation

   The SCH can be encapsulated in a IP/UDP transport as follows.:

     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer MAC Header                 |
     +----------------------------------+
     | Outer IP Header (proto=UDP)      |
     +----------------------------------+
     | UDP Header (dport=SCH)           |
     +----------------------------------+
     | SCH (etype=Ethernet Payload type)|
     +----------------------------------+
     | Ethernet Payload                 |
     +----------------------------------+

     Figure 7: SCH Encapsulation in IP/UDP Transport

   Set UDP Header dport = SCH Ethertype, a special UDP port value should
   be assigned to SCH by IANA 

   SCH inserted between the IP/UDP header and MAC payload.



5.4 SCH in MAC Encapsulation

   The SCH can be encapsulated directly in a MAC transport (VLAN
   optional) as follows:
     +----------------------------------+
     | MAC Header (etype=SCH)           |
     +----------------------------------+
     | SCH (proto=Ethernet Payload Type)|
     +----------------------------------+
     | Ethernet Payload                 |
     +----------------------------------+
 


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     Figure 8: SCH Encapsulation in MAC Transport

   Set MAC Header Ethertype = SCH Ethertype

   SCH inserted between the MAC header and MAC Payload

6.  Security Considerations

   Although the SCH can be modified or spoofed by an unauthorized party,
   various options are available to avoid this. 

   Existing security protocols RFC 6071 [RFC6071] may be used to encrypt
   the content of a packet that includes the SCH. It should be noted
   that encryption and decryption of the SCH will impose a performance
   penalty. Existing security protocols that provide authenticity and
   authorization (e.g., RFC 2119 [RFC6071]) can be used.

   If possible, the SCH should be used in a controlled network with
   trusted devices, for example, a data center or a Gi-LAN network, thus
   reducing the risk of unauthorized header manipulation.

7.  IANA and IEEE Considerations

   Non-OUI TLV types shall be assigned by IANA.

   An EtherType assignment for the SCH will be requested from IEEE.

8.  References

8.1  Normative References


   [RFC2784]  Farinacci, D., Li, T., Hanks, S., Meyer, D., and P.
              Traina, "Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 2784,
              March 2000.

   [RFC0781]  Su, Z., "Specification of the Internet Protocol (IP)
              timestamp option", RFC 781, May 1981.

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

   [RFC6071]  Frankel, S. and S. Krishnan, "IP Security (IPsec) and
              Internet Key Exchange (IKE) Document Roadmap", RFC 6071,
              February 2011.


8.2  Informative References
 


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   [SFC-ARCH] Halpern, J. et al, Service Function Chaining (SFC) 
              Architecture  <https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-
              ietf-sfc-architecture/>.

   [SFC-FWK] Boucadair, M. et al, Service Function Chaining: Framework &
               Architecture  <http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-
              boucadair-sfc-framework/>.

   [SFC-META] Rijsman, B. and J. Moisand, Metadata Considerations 
              <http://http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-rijsman-sfc-
               metadata-considerations/>.

   [SFC-PS] Quinn, P., Ed. and T. Nadeau, Ed., "Service Function 
              Chaining Problem Statement", 2014, 
              <http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-sfc-problem- 
              statement/>.
































 


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9.  Appendix A

   Appendix A gives some examples of potential metadata TLV types and
   usage. It is out of scope of the document to define the list of types
   and usage. For exemplary purposes only, the formats assume globally
   registered types (i.e., the OUI word is not present).

9.1 OAM Operation

   The OAM Operation TLV, used in conjunction with the M-bit in the
   fixed portion of the SCH, allows a service function to specify an
   action to be taken by a downstream service function as a result of
   its service processing.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|      Type=3   |    Length=1   |    Action     |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
   Service actions could include the following:

     1 = drop packet
     2 = redirect flow
     3 = mirror flow
     4 = terminate connection

9.2 Service Function Selector

   The Service Function Identifier TLV allows a service function to
   select a specific service function to be used on a downstream service
   node.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|    Type=4   |      Length=2   |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |                  Service Function Identifier                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

9.3 Target Address

   The Target Address TLV allows an original destination IP address to
   be transported across the service chain to the last service function
   which restores that IP address to the destination IP address of the
   original packet.
       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
 


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      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|    Type=5     |    Length=3   |   Reserved    |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |                  Service Function Identifier                  |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                     Target IPv4 Address                       |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

9.4 OAM Service Function Trace

   The OAM Service Function List TLV supports OAM functionality and is
   used to obtain a list of service functions that have been traversed
   by the packet. Each service function adds its service function
   identifier to this list if the OAM Operation TLV indicates an SF
   Identifier.

       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
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |0|R|R|R|R|R|R|R|    Type=6     |    Length     |    Reserved   |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |                  Service Function Identifiers                 |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
      |                              ...                              |
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+



10. Acknowledgments

   The authors would like to thank Nicolas Bouthors, Linda Dunbar, Lucy
   Yong and Kevin Glavin for their review and comments.

Authors' Addresses


   Hong (Cathy) Zhang
   Huawei US R&D

   EMail: cathy.h.zhang@huawei.com


   Louis Fourie
   Huawei US R&D

   EMail: louis.fourie@huawei.com


 


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   Ron Parker
   Affirmed Networks

   EMail: ron_parker@affirmednetworks.com


   Myo Zarny
   Goldman Sachs

   EMail: myo.zarny@gs.com









































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