Re: [netmod] AD review of draft-ietf-netmod-nmda-diff-07

["Rob Wilton (rwilton)" <[e-mail]>]

Hi Alex,

Thanks for the updates.

I missed that the IANA Considerations (sec 8), the reference should be to RFC 6020 because that defines the YANG module registry, so please can you fix those two references from 7950 to 6020, and also add 6020 to the normative references.

A couple of minor nits on the latest version:

s/statistics/statistics./ (second paragraph in the intro)
s/incure/incur/

If you can please update these and ping me, I'll kick off the IETF LC.

Regards,
Rob


> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alexander L Clemm <[e-mail]>
> Sent: 24 May 2021 20:09
> To: joel jaeggli <[e-mail]>; Rob Wilton (rwilton)
> <[e-mail]>
> Cc: NetMod WG Chairs <[e-mail]>; draft-ietf-netmod-nmda-
> [e-mail]; [e-mail]
> Subject: Re: AD review of draft-ietf-netmod-nmda-diff-07
> 
> Hi all,
> 
> Rob, thank you very much for your AD review!  We have just posted a new
> revision -08 taking your comments into account.  Please find attached
> and below my reponses to your comments (inline, delimited <AC>;
> apologies for having taken so long).
> 
> Thanks
> 
> --- Alex
> 
> 
> 
> Hi,
> 
> Here is my AD review for draft-ietf-netmod-nmda-diff-07.  Apologies for
> the delay.
> 
> Thank you for writing this document, I think that it is useful, and
> looks like it is in good shape.
> 
> 
> Main comments:
> 
> 1. Should there be any text about how to find out what datastores are
> supported by a device?  E.g., pointing them to either YANG library, or
> protocol specific mechanisms in the case of RESTCONF.
> 
> <AC> Reply: Note sure this is needed, and where we would even say it in
> the text.  Perhaps in the Introduction, where we introduce NMDA, a
> sentence of the sort: "To identify which datastores are supported by a
> given device, ...".
> If we wanted to this, one question is, how is this actually done? RFC
> 8342 makes no statement about this; it defines identities and typedefs
> but no capabilities or data model that would indicate the capabilities.
> </AC>
> 
> 2. It might be helpful to add a comment about potential issues that
> could arise by comparing <running> to <operational>, i.e., additional
> differences could be reported due to inactive configuration and template
> processing between <running> and <operational>.
> 
> <AC> Reply: I modified the last sentence in the fourth paragraph in the
> Introduction as follows:
> "This can be the case due to certain conditions not being met, certain
> parts of the configuration not propagating because considered inactive,
> resource dependencies not being resolved, or even implementation errors
> in corner conditions."
> I am not sure I understand the template processing issue; can you please
> elaborate?
> </AC>
> 
> 3. I would prefer if 'exclude=origin' was in the reverse sense and
> perhaps called 'report-origin' instead.  With the reverse sense it seems
> to be safer if new datastores are defined, where otherwise the behaviour
> could end being under specified.
> 
> <AC> Reply: Updated it per discussion in the mail thread.
> </AC>
> 
> 
> 4. Should there be an option to filter on origin metadata?  E.g., only
> include values that come from intended.  Otherwise, things like IP
> addresses learned from DHCP may always turn up as differences.
> 
> <AC> Reply: accepting proposed change per the email discussion
> Changed "exclude-origin" to "report-origin", with new description as
> follows:
>       leaf report-origin {
>         type empty;
>         description
>           "When this leaf is provided, origin metadata is
>            included as part of RPC output. When this leaf is
>            omitted, origin metadata in comparisons that involve
>            <operational> is by default omitted.";
>       }
> 
> Analogous change in the data model overview:
> "report-origin: When set, this parameter indicates that origin metadata
> should be included as part of RPC output. When this parameter is
> omitted, origin metadata in comparisons that involve <operational> is by
> default omitted."
> 
> Updated also the output parameter description of "differences" accordingly:
> 
> Previous:
> When the target datastore is <operational>, "origin" metadata is
> included as part of the patch.
> New:
> When the target datastore is <operational> and the input parameter
> "report-origin" is set, "origin" metadata is included as part of the patch.
> 
> Also updated the examples:
> 
> New RPC request (NETCONF):
> 
> <rpc message-id="101"
>     xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:netconf:base:1.0">
>   <compare xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-nmda-compare"
>       xmlns:ds="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-datastores">
>     <source>ds:operational</source>
>     <target>ds:intended</target>
>     <report-origin/>
>     <xpath-filter
>         xmlns:if="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-interfaces">
>       /if:interfaces
>     </xpath-filter>
>   </compare>
> </rpc>
> 
> (RPC reply remains the same)
> 
> New RPC request (RESTCONF):
> 
> POST /restconf/operations/ietf-nmda-compare:compare HTTP/1.1
> Host: example.com
> Content-Type: application/yang-data+json
> Accept: application/yang-d
> { "ietf-nmda-compare:input" {
>    "source" : "ietf-datastores:operational",
>    "target" : "ietf-datastores:intended",
>    "report-origin" : null,
>    "xpath-filter" : "/ietf-interfaces:interfaces"
>    }
> }
> 
> (again, RPC reply remains the same)
> 
> </AC>
> 
> 
> 5. I'm not that keen on the "Possible Future Extensions" section of an
> RFC.  Personally, I would prefer that this section is deleted, but if
> you wish to retain it, then please can you move it to an appendix.
> 
> <AC> Moved section 8 to an appendix. If there are objections to that, we
> can also delete it entirely, but my preference would be for it to remain
> as I think the discussion is useful as it also outlines some practical
> considerations.
> </AC>
> 
> I've also included some minor comments inline below, and some nits at
> the end:
> 
>     Abstract
> 
>        This document defines an RPC operation to compare management
>        datastores that comply with the NMDA architecture.
> 
> The abstract is perhaps somewhat terse.  Perhaps:
> 
>     This document defines a YANG RPC operation to compare the
>     contents of network management datastores that comply with
>     the NMDA architecture and return the differences in the
>     YANG-Patch format.
> 
> 
>     1.  Introduction
> 
>        The revised Network Management Datastore Architecture (NMDA)
>        [RFC8342] introduces a set of new datastores that each hold YANG-
>        defined data [RFC7950] and represent a different "viewpoint" on the
>        data that is maintained by a server.  New YANG datastores that are
>        introduced include <intended>, which contains validated configuration
>        data that a client application intends to be in effect, and
>        <operational>, which contains at least conceptually operational state
>        data (such as statistics) as well as configuration data that is
>        actually in effect.
> 
> I would suggest deleting "at least conceptually", since the <operational>
> datastore does contain all operational state, but it may be implemented
> as a virtual construct that spans multiple nodes (e.g., linecards) and
> processes.
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        NMDA introduces in effect a concept of "lifecycle" for management
>        data, allowing to clearly distinguish between data that is part of a
>        configuration that was supplied by a user, configuration data that
>        has actually been successfully applied and that is part of the
>        operational state, and overall operational state that includes both
>        applied configuration data as well as status and statistics.
> 
> "allowing to clearly distinguish" => distinguishing"
> "status and statistics" => "status information and statistics"
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        As a result, data from the same management model can be reflected in
>        multiple datastores.  Clients need to specify the target datastore to
>        be specific about which viewpoint of the data they want to access.
>        This way, an application can differentiate whether they are (for
>        example) interested in the configuration that has been applied and is
>        actually in effect, or in the configuration that was supplied by a
>        client and that is supposed to be in effect.
> 
> Perhaps reword the last sentence to match the logical data flow in the
> server:
> 
>    For example, a client application can differentiate whether they are
>    interested in the configuration supplied to a server and that is
>    supposed to be in effect, or the configuration that has been applied
> and is
>    actually in effect on the server.
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        When configuration that is in effect is different from configuration
>        that was applied, many issues can result.  It becomes more difficult
>        to operate the network properly due to limited visibility of actual
>        status which makes it more difficult to analyze and understand what
>        is going on in the network.  Services may be negatively affected (for
>        example, breaking a service instance resulting in service is not
>        properly delivered to a customer) and network resources be
>        misallocated.
> 
> Perhaps change "actual status" to "actual operational status".
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
> I also suggest changing the last sentence to:
> 
>     Services may be negatively affected (e.g., degrading or breaking a
> customer service) or network resources may be misallocated.
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
> 
>         3. Definitions:
> 
> It should probably define that <intended>, <operational>, (and perhaps
> <running>) are used to indicate names of datastores.
> 
> It should also explain that <compare> is used as the name of a YANG RPC.
> 
> <AC> I am not sure we need to define the datastores, as they have
> already been defined in RFC 8342.  Also, the fact that <compare> is used
> as the name of the YANG RPC is evident from the data model and would
> feel redundant.  Unless you feel strongly it should be added, I would
> prefer to keep this as-is.
> </AC>
> 
>     4.  Data Model Overview
> 
>        At the core of the solution is a new management operation, <compare>,
>        that allows to compare two datastores for the same data.
> 
> Suggest rewording this first sentence to:
> 
>   The core of the solution is a new management operation, <compare>,
>   that compares the data tree contents of two datastores.
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        o  target: The target identifies the datastore to compare against the
>           source.
> 
> Suggest adding an example ", e.g., <operational>."
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        o  filter-spec: This is a choice between different filter constructs
>           to identify the portions of the datastore to be retrieved.  It
>           acts as a node selector that specifies which data nodes are within
>           the scope of the comparison and which nodes are outside the scope.
>           This allows a comparison operation to be applied only to a
>           specific portion of the datastore that is of interest, such as a
>           particular subtree.  (The filter dow not contain expressions that
>           would match values data nodes, as this is not required by most use
>           cases and would complicate the scheme, from implementation to
>           dealing with race conditions.)
> 
> Perhaps "parts/part" rather than "portions/portion".
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
> Suggest rewording the last sentence to:
> 
>     Note, the filter does not allow expressions that match against data
> node values since that may incur implementation difficulties and is not
> required for normal use cases.
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>        o  ...  When the target datastore is <operational>, "origin"
>           metadata is included as part of the patch.  Including origin
>           metadata can help in some cases explain the cause of a difference,
>           for example when a data node is part of <intended> but the origin
>           of the same data node in <operational> is reported as "system".
> 
> I think that this test needs to refer back to the 'exclude-origin' or
> 'report-origin' options since the origin metadata isn't always included.
> 
> <AC> Yes, this is updated, per earlier comment.
> </AC>
> 
> 
>     5.  YANG Data Model
> 
>         The key words 'MUST', 'MUST NOT', 'REQUIRED', 'SHALL', 'SHALL
>         NOT', 'SHOULD', 'SHOULD NOT', 'RECOMMENDED', 'NOT
> RECOMMENDED',
>         'MAY', and 'OPTIONAL' in this document are to be interpreted as
>         described in BCP 14 (RFC 2119) (RFC 8174) when, and only when,
>         they appear in all capitals, as shown here.
> 
> I couldn't see that RFC 2119 language is actually used in the YANG
> module, so perhaps this can be deleted?
> 
> <AC> I thought this was boilerplate, but I will be happy to delete it -
> removed
> </AC>
> 
>          rpc compare {
>            description
>              "NMDA compare operation.";
> 
> Perhaps "NMDA datastore compare operation."
> 
> <AC> Changed
> </AC>
> 
>                  anydata source-value {
>                    when "../operation = 'delete'"
>                      + "or ../operation = 'merge'"
>                      + "or ../operation = 'move'"
>                      + "or ../operation = 'replace'"
>                      + "or ../operation = 'remove'";
>                    description
>                      "The anydata 'value' is only used for 'delete',
>                       'move', 'merge', 'replace', and 'remove'
>                       operations.";
> 
> I'm not convinced how useful the when statement really is in this case,
> since 'source-value' isn't marked as mandatory, a server is allowed to
> omit it when it doesn't apply anyway.
> 
> <AC> No change made.  The reason why this is specified is that in case
> of a "create" operation, it would not make sense to include a source
> value.  Sure, this is supplied by the server, but still I do think there
> is value to retain the statement - there is a client application
> somewhere that would be very surprised if a server were to provide a
> source value here...
> </AC>
> 
>     6.  Example
> 
>        <operational> does not contain object "description" that is contained
>        in <intended>.  Another object, "enabled", has differences in values,
>        being "true" in <operational> and "false" in <intended>.  A third
>        object, "name", is the same in both cases.  The origin of the objects
>        in <operational> is "learned", which may help explain the
>        discrepancies.
> 
> I think that we should probably refrain from calling them objects,
> perhaps "leaf instance" would be better?  Rather than "differences in
> values", perhaps "different values".
> 
> E.g.,
> 
>        <operational> does not contain an instance for leaf "description"
> that
>        is contained in <intended>.  Another leaf, "enabled", has different
>        values in the two datastores, being "true" in <operational> and
>        "false" in <intended>.  A third leaf, "name", has the same instance
>        value in both datastores.  The origin of the leaf instances in
>        <operational> is "learned", which may help explain the discrepancies.
> 
> <AC> Changed.  Although I think it would be fair to call them objects
> also; RFC 8342 talks about objects too. </AC>
> 
>    //OPERATIONAL
>    <interfaces
>        xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-interfaces"
>        xmlns:or="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-origin">
>      <interface or:origin="or:learned">
>        <name>eth0</name>
>        <enabled>true</enabled>
> 
>        </interface>
>    </interfaces>
> 
> There is an extra line, and dodgy indentation for "</interface>".
> 
> <AC> Changed, formatted now as follows:
> //OPERATIONAL
> <interfaces
>     xmlns="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-interfaces"
>     xmlns:or="urn:ietf:params:xml:ns:yang:ietf-origin">
>   <interface or:origin="or:learned">
>     <name>eth0</name>
>     <enabled>true</enabled>
>   </interface>
> </interfaces>
> </AC>
> 
> Nits:
> 
> "possibly for" => "possible for"
> "reference for the" => "the reference data tree for the"
> "is basis" => "is the basis"
> 
> <AC> Changed, except "as reference for the" => "as the reference for
> the" (I think data tree would sound a bit odd in the context; also
> datastore would perhaps be more appropriate than data tree here).
> </AC>
> 
> 
> Thanks,
> Rob