Re: [RTG-DIR] Rtgdir early review of draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18

[[e-mail]]

Re-,

Please see inline.

Cheers,
Med

De : rtg-dir <[e-mail]> De la part de Ketan Talaulikar
Envoyé : lundi 25 juillet 2022 03:32
À : BOUCADAIR Mohamed INNOV/NET <[e-mail]>
Cc : [e-mail]; [e-mail]; idr@ietf. org <[e-mail]>
Objet : Re: [RTG-DIR] Rtgdir early review of draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18

Hi Med,

Thanks for your quick response and once again for your very detailed and helpful review.

Please check inline below for clarifications.


On Mon, Jul 25, 2022 at 3:24 AM <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
Hi Ketan,

Thanks for taking care for most of the comments. This version looks much more better. There are still some few pending points:


•       The description of some fields should be elaborated (e.g., “Preference: a 4-octet value.”, “Local IPv4 Address: a 4-octet IPv4 address.”, ...).
KT> If we take the example of Preference in sec 2.4.1. At the start of that section, there is a reference to sec 2.7 of the SR Policy arch (now RFC9256) which describes the field. In some of the recent reviews, I've got the comment to use references rather than repeating them unless necessary. In this case, there is no processing or validation of the preference value to be done by BGP and hence only the reference. For the segment types, the description of the fields is again covered by RFC9256 and we are just using the reference to them via the matching segment types.
[Med] I don’t see any references for the examples listed in the comments.


  *   I still don’t get how a meaning is associated with some field, but then ask the implem to ignore that meaning:


“Traffic Class (TC), S, and TTL (Total of
      12 bits) are RESERVED and MUST be set to zero and MUST be ignored.”

KT> This is the MPLS label encoding format.
[Med] :-)

It is used for both BSID TLV (from where you have quoted the above text) and the segment types where the values can actually be set. For BSID, these fields are "reserved" in this document and future documents can update this behavior.
[Med] Still don’t understand the rationale, but I’m not insisting on making any change.


  *   The IANA section should include a note asking IANA to update the I-ID (currently used for the early allocation, [draft-previdi-idr-segment-routing-te-policy]) with this document. Having clear instructions recorded in the document will save some cycles with IANA.

KT> In the IANA section, we use the "This document" convention as a reference pointer against each code point. My understanding (and this is what I've seen happen) is that as part of the IANA actions (e.g., after IESG evaluation is done or during the RFC editor process), the reference is updated as RFC-to-be... and then finally to RFCXXXX.

Med : IANA does not know if a new ref will be added or will replace the existing one. This is better handled by providing clear guidance.

So I believe it is clear enough for IANA as also RFC Editor, but I will be happy to update based on any guidance from the IANA team.

KT> However, if your point was that we need to trigger an IANA action to update the registries to reflect the WG draft name instead of the individual one against which the very initial allocations were made, then I agree. I can check on that. However, I don't believe that requires any change in the draft.

Thanks,
Ketan


  *

Cheers,
Med

De : rtg-dir <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> De la part de Ketan Talaulikar
Envoyé : dimanche 24 juillet 2022 02:26
À : BOUCADAIR Mohamed INNOV/NET <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>>
Cc : [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>; [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>; idr@ietf. org <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>>
Objet : Re: [RTG-DIR] Rtgdir early review of draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18

Hi Med,

The draft update has just been posted: https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-19

Please let us know if it addresses your comments and if you have any further feedback.

Thanks,
Ketan


On Wed, Jul 20, 2022 at 1:56 PM <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
Hi Ketan,

Thanks for the follow-up.

Will monitor when the new version is available and react if I have any further comments.

Cheers,
Med

De : rtg-dir <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> De la part de Ketan Talaulikar
Envoyé : mardi 19 juillet 2022 19:55
À : BOUCADAIR Mohamed INNOV/NET <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>>
Cc : [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>; [e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>; idr@ietf. org <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>>
Objet : Re: [RTG-DIR] Rtgdir early review of draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18

Hi Mohamed,

Thanks for your very detailed review and helpful suggestions. Please check inline below for responses.

We will post the update once the submission tool reopens.


On Fri, Jul 8, 2022 at 6:35 PM Mohamed Boucadair via Datatracker <[e-mail]<mailto:[e-mail]>> wrote:
Reviewer: Mohamed Boucadair
Review result: Has Issues

Document: draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18
Reviewer: Mohamed Boucadair
Review Date: 08/07/2022
IETF LC End Date: N/A
Intended Status: Standards Track

I appreciate the effort that was spent to progress this draft since more than 6
years!

Before reviewing the document, I started first by re-reading RFC8024/RFC9012
and reading draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-policy for establishing the
context. Overall, the approach documented in
draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy is sound and straightforward.

I didn’t find major concerns from a routing standpoint other than the need to
motivate some few claims (see the detailed review file about RRs, for example)
and the lack of considerations related to the handling of the various sub-TLVs
by intermediate routers (if any).

However, there are a number of generic issues that I would recommend to
consider (see the detailed review for the full list). All these are easy-to-fix
issues.

# General Comments (in no specific order)

## Consistency

### Single or multiple paths

There is an apparent inconsistency in the document about the handling of
multiple paths. For example, Section 1 says :"Selection of the best candidate
path for an SR Policy" while the same section says also “this will result in
one or more candidate paths being installed into ..”.

KT> The first is about the selection of the best candidate path for an SR Policy by the SRPM - this is what gets installed in the forwarding. The second is about the installation of the received candidate paths into the BGP table. There is no inconsistency.


If multipath is supported, then please add an explicit statement and make sure
the overall text is consistent.

KT> Only a single CP is selected for a given SR Policy. This is per the draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-policy and this document does not change that.


### Value 0 is marked as reserved for some registries, while that value is
associated with a meaning for other registries.

Is there any reason why a consistent approach isn’t followed here? what is the
issues if value 0 is open for assignment?

KT> It is normal routing protocol practice to not assign the TLV 0 values. Can you indicate where the TLV code point 0 is being assigned?


## Modifications to the format of the Color Extended Community

The text says that you are modifying the format the Color Extended Community,
while this is not true. What this draft does is just associating a meaning with
some bits. I would update the text accordingly.

KT> We are changing the format of only the Flags field and not of the entire EC. Flags are normally independent bits and here we are combining two bits to convey 4 values. Clarified this in the Introduction section.


## Normative language

The use of the normative language should be double-checked. The most apparent
concern is related the statement related to the handling of the reserved bits
(SHOULD) while this RFC9012 uses MUST (which is correct, IMO).

KT> Ack. I will fix it and change it to MUST.


I tagged many others in the full review, fwiw.

## Lack of description

Many fields are provided without acceptable description (e.g., “Local IPv4
Address: a 4-octet IPv4 address.” or “Preference: a 4-octet value” !!).

KT> These fields are in the context of a sub-TLV. There is text in the description of that sub-TLV that provides a reference (e.g., to the draft-ietf-spring-segment-routing-policy section or a segment type, etc.) There is no need to repeat a detailed description for each field IMO.


Also, some fields are provided with a structure but the text says also that
these are reserved (e.g., 2.4.2 says “TC, S and TTL (Total of 12 bits) are
RESERVED”).

KT> This is the MPLS label field. I am not sure that I follow your concern here.


I wonder whether you can add a statement to say that multiple flags can be set
simultaneously unless this is precluded by future flag assignments.

KT> Not sure that is necessary. In most cases, the bits/flags are independent. Where they are not, there is generally text explaining their relationship or dependency.


Last, the document does not include the expected behavior of intermediate
routers (e.g., whether it is allowed or not to alter some fields). I guess,
they must not touch the content of the attributes but it is better if this is
explicitly mentioned in the text.

KT> Yes, the contents must not be altered. Will clarify in sec 4.2.4.


## Reserved vs. Unassigned

Almost all the “reserved” bits in the spec can be assigned in the future. I
would use “Unassigned” as per RFC8126.

KT> Ack. Will change in a few places where this has been missed.


FWIW, 8126 says the following:

      Unassigned:  Not currently assigned, and available for assignment
            via documented procedures.

      Reserved:  Not assigned and not available for assignment.
            Reserved values are held for special uses, such as to extend
            the namespace when it becomes exhausted.

## Deprecated values

The document includes notes about some “deprecated” codepoints. I’m not sure
there is a value in having such notes in the final RFC.

KT> Yes, there is a need. One is to avoid them being used for any other sub-TLV in the future. Two is that there are early implementations out there that have some degree of support - even if they are just doing some parsing/showing.


## IANA considerations

### The document uses a mix of TBD statements (e.g., Section 2.4.3) and
hard-coded values (early assignments). Not sure what’s was the rationale
especially that code 20 was assigned but not listed as such.

KT> Fixed.


### The IANA actions should be more explicit and ask IANA to update existing
entries. For example, the current registry for code 73 points to
[draft-previdi-idr-segment-routing-te-policy]. Need to update that entry and
similar ones.

KT> Have fixed the text. IANA will update "This document" to the RFC number before publication. There is no need to keep changing the draft name through its lifecycle.


### The document lists (under IANA section) some values that are deprecated.
The document should be clear whether these codes are available for future
assignment or not.

KT> Deprecated means they are not available for assignment by IANA unless the IETF changes that via an RFC.


### Many sub-TLVs have flag bits but not all of them have a registry to track
future flag bit assignments.

KT> The registries would be added by future documents that start using those flags.


## Manageability considerations

No such considerations are included in the document.

KT> Will add.


# Detailed review

FWIW, you can find my full review at:

* pdf:
https://github.com/boucadair/IETF-Drafts-Reviews/raw/master/draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18-rev%20Med.pdf
* doc:
https://github.com/boucadair/IETF-Drafts-Reviews/raw/master/draft-ietf-idr-segment-routing-te-policy-18-rev%20Med.doc

KT> This was helpful and have incorporated most of those suggestions.

Thanks,
Ketan


_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Ce message et ses pieces jointes peuvent contenir des informations confidentielles ou privilegiees et ne doivent donc

pas etre diffuses, exploites ou copies sans autorisation. Si vous avez recu ce message par erreur, veuillez le signaler

a l'expediteur et le detruire ainsi que les pieces jointes. Les messages electroniques etant susceptibles d'alteration,

Orange decline toute responsabilite si ce message a ete altere, deforme ou falsifie. Merci.



This message and its attachments may contain confidential or privileged information that may be protected by law;

they should not be distributed, used or copied without authorisation.

If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this message and its attachments.

As emails may be altered, Orange is not liable for messages that have been modified, changed or falsified.

Thank you.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________



Ce message et ses pieces jointes peuvent contenir des informations confidentielles ou privilegiees et ne doivent donc

pas etre diffuses, exploites ou copies sans autorisation. Si vous avez recu ce message par erreur, veuillez le signaler

a l'expediteur et le detruire ainsi que les pieces jointes. Les messages electroniques etant susceptibles d'alteration,

Orange decline toute responsabilite si ce message a ete altere, deforme ou falsifie. Merci.



This message and its attachments may contain confidential or privileged information that may be protected by law;

they should not be distributed, used or copied without authorisation.

If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this message and its attachments.

As emails may be altered, Orange is not liable for messages that have been modified, changed or falsified.

Thank you.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Ce message et ses pieces jointes peuvent contenir des informations confidentielles ou privilegiees et ne doivent donc
pas etre diffuses, exploites ou copies sans autorisation. Si vous avez recu ce message par erreur, veuillez le signaler
a l'expediteur et le detruire ainsi que les pieces jointes. Les messages electroniques etant susceptibles d'alteration,
Orange decline toute responsabilite si ce message a ete altere, deforme ou falsifie. Merci.

This message and its attachments may contain confidential or privileged information that may be protected by law;
they should not be distributed, used or copied without authorisation.
If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete this message and its attachments.
As emails may be altered, Orange is not liable for messages that have been modified, changed or falsified.
Thank you.