You are here: irt.org | RFCs | RFC2602 [ previous next ]
Network Working Group M. Davison
Request for Comments: 2602 Cisco Systems
Category: Standards Track June 1999
ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS
Status of this Memo
This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This memo defines how ILMI-based Server Discovery, which provides a
method for ATM-attached hosts and routers to dynamically determine
the ATM addresses of servers, shall be used to locate MARS servers.
1. Introduction
Presently, configuring a host or router to use MARS [1] is cumbersome
and error-prone since it requires at least one ATM address to be
statically configured on each host or router in the network.
Further, it is impossible to implement a diskless host to use MARS
since local configuration is required. ILMI-based Server Discovery,
hereafter referred to as "server discovery," provides a solution to
these problems.
A brief overview of the Integrated Local Management Interface (ILMI)
and the Service Registry MIB, as defined by the ATM Forum, are
provided in this memo. The reader should consult [2] for a complete
description of ILMI and this MIB, but the information contained here
is sufficient for an understanding of its use to support MARS server
discovery.
Davison Standards Track [Page 1]
RFC 2602 ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS June 1999 2. Integrated Local Management Interface The Integrated Local Management Interface (ILMI) [2] provides a mechanism for ATM-attached devices, such as hosts, routers, and ATM switches, to transfer management information. It is based on the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), Version 1, and supports get, get-next, set and trap operations. The ILMI specification designates the switch side of the ATM link as the 'network side' and the host/router side of the ATM link as the ' user side.' The Service Registry MIB, which is outlined in Section 3, is implmented on the network side and is queried from the user side. 3. ILMI 4.0 Service Registry MIB Server discovery utilizes the Service Registry MIB defined by the ATM Forum in ILMI Specification Version 4.0 [2]. To support the existing framework for IP over ATM, as embodied by ATMARP and MARS, ATM switches must support the Service Registry MIB. A row in the service registry table [2] is defined as: AtmfSrvcRegEntry ::= SEQUENCE { atmfSrvcRegPort INTEGER, atmfSrvcRegServiceID OBJECT IDENTIFIER, atmfSrvcRegATMAddress AtmAddress, atmfSrvcRegAddressIndex INTEGER, atmfSrvcRegParm1 OCTET STRING } The definition of each field in this structure is: atmfSrvcRegPort - The ATM port number for which this entry contains management information. The value of zero may be used to indicate the ATM interface over which a management request was received. atmfSrvcRegServiceID - This is the service identifier that uniquely identifies the type of service at the address provided in the table. (See Section 3.2 for MARS OID.) atmfSrvcRegATMAddress - This is the full address of the service. The ATM client will use this address to establish a connection with the service. atmfSrvcRegAddressIndex - An arbitrary integer to differentiate multiple rows containing different ATM addresses for the same service on the same port. Davison Standards Track [Page 2]
RFC 2602 ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS June 1999 atmfSrvcRegParm1 - An octet string whose size and meaning is determined by the value of atmfSrvcRegServiceID. The service registry table is indexed by atmfSrvcRegPort, atmfSrvcRegServiceID and atmfSrvcRegAddressIndex. 3.1 Service Parameter String A generic parameter string is defined in the service registry table, thus allowing protocol-specific parameters to be specified. To be consistent with [1], the parameter string for MARS shall be: mar$pro.type 16 bits Protocol type mar$pro.snap 40 bits Optional extension to protocol type mar$plen 8 bits Length of protocol address mar$addr plen octets Network address mar$mask plen octets Network mask Where mar$pro.type - See [1]. (IPv4 is 0x0800, IPv6 is 0x86DD) mar$pro.snap - See [1]. (IPv4 and IPv6 are 0) mar$plen - Length of the protocol address. (IPv4 is 4, IPv6 is 16) mar$addr - Network address represented in network byte order mar$mask - Network mask represented in network byte order 3.2 Service Object Identifier This OID, assigned in the ATM Forum Service Registry MIB, names MARS within the context of server discovery. atmfSrvcRegMARS OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { 1.3.6.1.4.1.353.1.5.4 } It does not name any managed objects, rather is used to locate appropriate rows in the service registery table. 4. MARS Client Behavior A MARS client will access the service registry table via ILMI using the SNMP GetNext operator to "sweep" (SNMP parlance for a linear search) beginning with {Port = 0, ServiceID = <see Section 3.2>, Index = 0} while holding the port number and the serviceID constant. Davison Standards Track [Page 3]
RFC 2602 ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS June 1999 (Port number 0 is used within ILMI to indicate "this port.") An MARS client with no local configuration, such as a diskless workstation, must use the row with the lowest index value if multiple MARS servers, possibly for multiple networks, are listed. MARS clients that have local IP configuration must use a row that has the appropriate IP address. For example, consider the case where an IP router has 3 logical interfaces defined on a single physical interface with IP addresses 1.0.0.1/8, 128.10.0.1/16 and 171.69.150.226/24. The router will sweep the service registry table looking for rows that have atmfSrvcRegParm1 values as shown below: Net number/mask atmfSrvcRegParm1 ---------------- -------------------------------------------------- 1.0.0.0/8 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 01 00 00 00 ff 00 00 00 128.10.0.0/16 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 80 0a 00 00 ff ff 00 00 171.69.150.0/24 08 00 00 00 00 00 00 04 ab 45 96 00 ff ff ff 00 When the correct atmfSrvcRegParm1 values are located, the router may then establish an SVC to the selected server and perform the appropriate protocol operations. Redundant MARS servers are supported with multiple rows in the service registry table. This list of MARS servers is ordered with the primary MARS server having the lowest index value. The MARS client must attempt to utilize the primary MARS server before utilizing a secondary MARS server. Administrators must ensure that the listed MARS servers are synchronized. 5. MARS Server Behavior An MARS server shall be locally configured. The MARS server may retrieve the MARS service registry data to validate the results. If an incorrect row is retrieved the error may be flagged in a locally significant way. Davison Standards Track [Page 4]
RFC 2602 ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS June 1999 6. Relationship with PNNI Augmented Routing An augmented version PNNI ("PNNI Augmented Routing," or PAR) [3] has been developed by the ATM Forum. PAR can distribute data such as MARS server addresses. Further, the ATM Forum is developing a proxy mechanism for PAR (Proxy PAR) that would allow a UNI-attached host or router to access PAR data without a full PAR implementation. These mechanisms offer a promising way to manage the service registry tables maintained on each switch in an ATM network, yet would not require changes to the mechanism defined in this memo. Hosts and routers can continue to utilize ILMI-based or Proxy PAR-based server discovery and network administrators could manage the service registry data with local configuration or via PAR and Proxy PAR. 7. Security Considerations The server discovery mechanism is built on the ILMI managment framework and the security embodied in that framework. Access, to user- or network-side information is controlled by MIB design rather than protocol security mechanisms. The service registery MIB, the table containing information for server discovery, is defined in [2] with read-only access. This means that any user-side device may query the service registry, but may not modify the service registry via ILMI. Instead, the sevice registry table must be modified via local configuration on the ATM switch. References [1] Armitage, G., "Support for Multicast over UNI 3.0/3.1 based ATM Networks", RFC 2022, November 1996. [2] ATM Forum, "Integrated Local Management Interface (ILMI) Specification Version 4.0," af-ilmi-0065.000, September 1996. [3] ATM Forum, "PNNI Augmented Routing (PAR) Version 1.0," af-ra- 0104, January 1999. Author's Address Mike Davison Cisco Systems 170 West Tasman Drive San Jose, California 95134 Phone: (408) 526-4000 EMail: mike.davison@cisco.com Davison Standards Track [Page 5]
RFC 2602 ILMI-Based Server Discovery for MARS June 1999 Full Copyright Statement Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved. This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are included on all such copies and derivative works. However, this document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than English. The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns. This document and the information contained herein is provided on an "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. Acknowledgement Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the Internet Society. Davison Standards Track [Page 6]