Re: [multipathtcp] q about off-path proxy (explicit mode)

[Olivier Bonaventure <[e-mail]>]

Yoshifumi,

> Now, I am trying to understand off-path (explicit mode) scenarios.
> In explicit mode, we need to tell the final destination to the proxy
> through MP_Convert Information Element. But, this requires mptcp
> connections. In order to clarify which cases can use this mode, I have
> drawn the following 7 cases.
> I am wondering if we can support case 3) 4) 5) with explicit mode or
> not. Also, supporting case 6), 7) seems to be a bit unclear.
> It would be great if some folks could clarify this.
>
> -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>      C ... client,   S ... Server,  P ... Proxy,  MCIE ... MP_Convert
> Information Element
>    ====   ... mptcp connection
>    ----   ... tcp connection
>

I think that you forgot case 0

  0)   C ---------- P -------- S

This is a classical SOCKS proxy, except that the SOCKS proxy requires 
additional rtts

> single proxy cases
>
> 1)   C ========== P -------- S         : C tells S's addr to P by MCIE
> 2)   C ========== P ======== S         : C tells S's addr to P by MCIE
> 3)   C ---------- P ======== S         : How C tell S's address to P?
>

Today, the thrid case is often a load balancer in front of a real 
server. In this case, the client is not aware of the existence of S and 
only knows P. If we want to support this scenario, we need to extend TCP 
itself.

> double proxy cases
> 4)   C -------- P1 ======== P2 ------- S  : How C tell S's address to P1?
> 5)   C -------- P1 ======== P2 ======= S  : How C tell S's address to P1?

Same as case 3 above. C could use the MCIE to add information about the 
final destination.

> 6)   C ======== P1 ======== P2 ------- S  : C tells S's addr to P1 by
> MCIE and P1 forwards it to P2?
> 7)   C ======== P1 ======== P2 ======= S  : C tells S's addr to P1 by
> MCIE and P1 forwards it to P2?

Here also, case 8 could be relevant in some scenarios


  8)   C ---------- P -------- S


This would create a generic explicit TCP proxy function, that would 
apply beyond MPTCP.

Olivier