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diff --git a/doc/rfc/rfc1609.txt b/doc/rfc/rfc1609.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..df3718e --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/rfc/rfc1609.txt @@ -0,0 +1,843 @@ + + + + + + +Network Working Group G. Mansfield +Request for Comments: 1609 AIC Systems Laboratory +Category: Experimental T. Johannsen + Dresden University + M. Knopper + Merit Networks, Inc. + March 1994 + + + Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory + +Status of this Memo + + This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet + community. This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any + kind. Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested. + Distribution of this memo is unlimited. + +Abstract + + There is a need for a framework wherein the infrastructural and + service related information about communication networks can be made + accessible from all places and at all times in a reasonably efficient + manner and with reasonable accuracy. This document presents a model + in which a communication network with all its related details and + descriptions can be represented in the X.500 Directory. Schemas of + objects and their attributes which may be used for this purpose are + presented. The model envisages physical objects and several logical + abstractions of the physical objects. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 1] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + +Table of Contents + + 1. Introduction 2 + 2. Infrastructural information requirements 2 + 3. The Nature of the Network Map - The X.500 Solution 4 + 4. The hierarchical model of a network 5 + 4.1 Network maps 5 + 4.2 Representation in the X.500 Directory 6 + 5. Position in The Directory Information Tree(DIT) 7 + 6. Proposed Schemes 8 + 6.1 Communication Object Classes 9 + 6.2 Physical elements 10 + 6.2.1 Network 10 + 6.2.2 Node 11 + 6.2.3 NetworkInterface 12 + 6.3 Logical Elements 12 + 6.3.1 Network 13 + 6.3.2 Node 13 + 6.3.3 NetworkInterface 13 + 7. Security Considerations 14 + 8. Authors' Addresses 14 + 9. References 15 + +1. Introduction + + The rapid and widespread use of computer networking has highlighted + the importance of holding and servicing information about the + networking infrastructure itself. The growing and active interest in + network management, which has concentrated mainly in the areas of + fault and performance management on a local scale, is severely + constrained by the lack of any organized pool of information about + the network infrastructure itself. Some attempts have been made, on a + piecemeal basis, to provide a larger view of some particular aspect + of the network (WHOIS, DNS, .. in the case of the Internet; [1], + [2]). But to date, little or no effort has been made in setting up + the infrastructural framework, for such an information pool. In this + work we explore the possibility of setting up a framework to hold and + serve the infrastructural information of a network. + +2. Infrastructural information requirements + + Network operation and management requires information about the + structure of the network, the nodes, links and their properties. + Further, with current networks extending literally beyond bounds, the + scope of the information covers networks beyond the span of local + domain of authority or administration. When the Network was + relatively small and simple the map was already known to the + knowledgable network administrator. Based on this knowledge the + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 2] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + course of the packets to different destinations would be charted. But + presently the size of the Network is already beyond such usages. The + current growth of the Network is near explosive. This is giving rise + to the urgent necessity of having infrastructural and service related + information made accessible from all places and at all times in a + reasonably efficient manner and with reasonable accuracy. In the rest + of this work a network is the media for transmitting information. + Network elements are equipment with one or more network interfaces + whereby it is possible to exchange information with the network. + Network elements with multiple interfaces e.g., + gateways/routers/bridges/repeaters... may be used to connect + networks. Network related information, referred to as 'network map' + in the rest of this paper, should + + 1. Show the interconnection between the various network + elements. This will basically represent the Network as a graph + where vertices represent objects like gateways/workstations/ + subnetworks and edges indicate the connections. + + 2. Show properties and functions of the various network elements + and the interconnections. Attributes of vertices will represent + various properties of the objects e.g., speed, charge, protocol, OS, + etc. Functions include services offered by a network element. + + 3. Contain various name and address information of the networks + and network elements + + 4. Contain information about various administrative and management + details related to the networks and network elements. + + 5. Contain the policy related information, part of which may be + private while the other part may be made public. + + Using this map the following services may be provided + + 1. Configuration management: + + - Display the physical configuration of a network, + i.e., nodes and their physical interconnections + - Display the logical configuration of a network, + i.e., nodes and their logical interconnections. + + 2. Route management: + + - Find alternate routes by referring to the physical + and logical configurations. + - Generate routing tables considering local policy and + policy of transit domains + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 3] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + - Check routing tables for routing loops, + non-optimality, incorrect paths, etc. + + 3. Fault management: In case of network failures + alternatives may be found and used to bypass the + problem node or link. + + 4. Service management: Locate various services and + servers in the Network. + + 5. Optimization: The information available can be used + to carry out various optimizations, for example cost, + traffic, response-time, etc. + + 6. Provide mappings between the various names and + addresses of elements + + 7. Depict administrative/autonomous domains. + + 8. Network Administration and Management: References to + people responsible for administering and technically + maintaining a network will be useful. + + Examples of such usages are described in [3], [4]. + +3. The Nature of the Network Map - The X.500 solution + + Implementing and maintaining a detailed map of the network poses a + serious problem. The scope of the map is global and the network + itself is expanding. Some of the problems that are peculiar to the + network map are listed below. + + o The Network configuration is quasi-static. Nodes, + links and networks are being added,updated and deleted + someplace or the other. + + o The Network is huge and geographically distributed. + + o The network spans several political and administrative + areas. The related information is also controlled and + maintained in a distributed fashion. + + In short, global network configuration information is unwieldy and + growing continuously. It is impossible to service such information + in a centralized fashion. There is need for a distributed framework + which allows users and applications to access information about + users, services, networks, ... easily and globally. The OSI X.500 + Directory services [5] provides a rich framework to support a + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 4] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + globally distributed information service system. The X.500 Directory + is intended to be a very large and highly distributed database. It is + structured hierarchically with entries arranged in the form of a tree + in which each object corresponds to a node or an entry. Information + is stored about an object as a set of attributes. + +4. The hierarchical model of a network + + For representing networks in the Directory we use the following + hierarchical model. + + A network is the media for transmitting information with zero or more + network elements each having at least one network interface on the + media. The media may be any kind of a line (physical circuit/virtual + circuit), or a collection of interconnected networks. + + < The postscript version of this document > + < has a figure here. However, the figure > + <is too complex to be drawn in simple ASCII.> + + Figure 1: Simple and composite networks and their mapping to the DIT. + + The model allows hierarchy of subnetworks. Network elements with + multiple interfaces may act as external gateways to the attached + network and to networks higher up in the hierarchy. Thus, a gateway + may be the external gateway of several networks which are either + interconnected or have a hierarchical relationship. + + A network may be simple consisting of zero or more network elements + or composite consisting of several sub-networks. Examples of simple + networks are ethernets, optical fiber/copper cables, free space, .. . + +4.1 Network Maps + + Using the above model it is straight forward to draw the topological + graph of the network where the vertices represent the components of + the network and edges indicate the connections. For visual + representation the graph may be translated to a more "physical" + illustration (figure 1). + + Just as there are several maps of the same geographical domain + (political, natural...) one can envisage several views of the same + network and its components. A view (called "image" in the remainder) + could pertain to a particular protocol suite (IP/OSI/...), an + administrative domain or purpose. Using images, several abstractions + of the same object are possible. + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 5] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + +4.2 Representation in the X.500 Directory + + To represent the various images of networks and its components along + with the real-image relationship among the various objects we + introduce the following classes of objects: + + o Communication Object Class (CO): All objects defined + furtheron in this document belong to this class. + Common attributes for all communication objects are + defined in section 6. + + o Physical Communication Object Class (PCO): A subclass + of CO-class, this class defines common properties for + all objects representing physical communication objects. + + o Image Communication Object Class (ICO): A subclass of + CO-class, this class defines common properties for all + objects representing images of communication objects. + + The above classes sort communication objects into physical or image + object. As is implied in the nomenclature a physical object will + have several attributes describing it physical properties - location, + weight, size, .... etc. An image object will have an Image-of + attribute. The Image-of attribute will point to a physical object or + to another image object. + + Using this schema it is possible to represent the case of several + logical network systems (running different protocol stacks - IP, XNS, + SNA, OSI, ...) which coexist on the same physical network. + Information related to different types of networks, no matter what + the underlying communication protocol is, will reside in the + Directory in harmony. Also, their interrelation will be represented + and accessed in a fashion independent of the source/destination + network, namely, using the OSI X.500 protocol. + + Schemes for physical networks and logical images of physical networks + are defined in section 6. + + All objects are defined in section 6. + + + + + + + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 6] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + ............... + : : + : IP OSI : + : +-+ +-+ : + : |A| |B| : + NetWork -----> : +-+ +-+ : + / \ : | | : + / \ : ============ : + / \ : | : + / \ : +-+ : + / \ : |C| : + / \ : +-+ : + OSI-image IP-image : IP + OSI : + | | +..............+ + V V + ........ ........ + : : : : + IP : OSI : : IP : OSI + +-+ : +-+ : : +-+ : +-+ + |A| : |B| : : |A| : |B| + +-+ : +-+ : : +-+ : +-+ + ....|...: | : : | :..|... + : ============ : : ============ : + : | : : | : + : +-+ : : +-+ : + : |C| : : |C| : + : +-+ : : +-+ : + : IP + OSI : : IP + OSI : + +..............+ +..............+ + + + Figure 2: Several logical views of the same physical network + +5. Position in the Directory Information Tree (DIT) + + Information about networks usually will be contained in the DIT as + subordinate of the organization maintaining the network. The network + model gets mapped into a tree structure for network elements. There + is one network object giving general descriptions of the network. + Subordinates of this network object are node objects for each node + element present in the network. Node objects hold networkInterface + objects as subordinates. A network can be physically or logically + subdivided into several (sub)networks. In this case, a network entry + will have network objects as subordinates which again build the same + structure. These entries may be kept as subordinates of + organizationalUnit entries as well, with pointers from the "root" + network. + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 7] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + This structure holds for physical and logical elements. Physical + elements are named network, node and networkInterface, and logical + elements are named networkImage, nodeImage and networkInterfaceImage. + + _root_ + / \ + / \ + / \ + country \ + / \ + / organization + / / | \ + / / | \ + / / | \ + / / | \ + / organizationalUnit* | \ + / / \ \ | \ + / / \ \__|_________ \ + / / \ | \ \ + Person Network*<====>NetworkImage* + | | + | | + Node NodeImage + | | + | | + NetworkInterface NetworkInterfaceImage + + Legends: * the object may recursively contain objects of + same class as children + + Figure 3: Part of the Directory Information Tree, + showing relations of White Pages and network objects + +6. Proposed Schemes + + A physical network comprises of wires and machines. The physical map + of the network will show the interconnections of these nodes by these + circuits. + + For each physical network element, one or more images may exist. + Similarly, an image may be attached to one or more physical objects. + The types of images can grow along with the requirements. + Relationship between elements (physical or logical) are expressed by + attributes or the position in the Directory tree. + + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 8] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + Problems that are addressed in the schema: + + 1. Avoiding data duplication + 2. Preserving administrative boundaries/controls. + 3. Simple representation (minimal number of pointers) + 4. Security: Though no special emphasis has been placed + in this work we believe the X.500 access control policies + policies will provide a reasonable secure framework for security + and privacy. + + Problems that are not addressed: + + 1. Caching policies, etc.: to be decided locally + +6.1 Communication Object Classes + + The object classes introduced in section 4 are defined as follows: + + CommunicationObject OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of top + MAY CONTAIN { + description :: CaseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* can contain any information about the object, + however, wherever an appropriate attribute + exists, this should be used first to hold + information */ + adminContact :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* points to the person which is responsible for + the administration of the instance this object + describes; + This refers to the instance only in the context + of the concrete object class */ + technContact :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* points to the person which is responsible for + the technical maintenance of the instance this + object describes; + This refers to the instance only in the context + of the concrete object class; + Availability (e.g. hours of service) is not + covered by this attribute. */ + } + + PhysicalCommunicationObject OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of CommunicationObject + MAY CONTAIN{ + owner :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* refers to organization or person owning the + physical element; + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 9] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + Note that more detailed information (like lease, + rental, etc.) can be covered in a specific image + (ownerImage) of this element */ + localityName :: CaseIgnoreStringSyntax + /* where the object is located; + can be used freely to "spot" a network element, + e.g. state/city/street/building/floor/room/ + desk/... */ + ICO :: distinguishedNameSyntax + /* points to image object the physical object + is related to; + might have several values if physical object is + used for several applications at the same time */ + } + + ImageCommunicationObject OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of CommunicationObject + MAY CONTAIN{ + type :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* expresses the view this object refers to, e.g. + view of provider/user/IP/OSI/...; + Note that this information can be covered by + the object class in some cases + (e.g. ipNetworkImage gives the IP view) */ + imageOf :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* points to physical/image object the image + is related to; + might have several values if view applies to + several physical objects at the same time */ + } + +6.2 Physical elements + + The following objects describe network elements without saying + anything about their usage. All objects inherit properties of the + PhysicalCommunicationObject class. + +6.2.1 Network + + The network object supplies general descriptions which are common for + a set of nodes and circuits comprising one network. This includes + information about the type of circuits (medium, broadcast or point- + to- point, etc.) and properties (speed etc.). + + network OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of PhysicalCommunicationObject + MUST CONTAIN { + networkName :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax } + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 10] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + MAY CONTAIN { + externalGateway :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* points to one or more nodes that connect + this network to neighbor networks; + whether a node actually is used as gateway + for one or the other protocol, is defined + in a related networkImageObject */ + nwType :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* type of this network; + either "composite" (if consisting of subnetworks) + or type of a line: + bus, ring, star, mesh, point-to-point */ + media :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* if network is not composite, + describes physical media: + copper, fiber optic, etc. */ + speed :: numericStringSyntax, + /* nominal bandwidth, e.g. 64 kbps */ + traffic :: numericStringSyntax + /* (average) use in percent of nominal bandwidth + [ this needs more specification later ] */ + configurationDate :: uTCTimeSyntax, + /* date when network was configured in current + shape */ + configurationHistory :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax + /* list of configuration changes, like: + added/removed nodes, lines */ + } + +6.2.2 Node + + The node object describes any kind of device that is part of the + network, such as simple nodes, printer, bridges. + + node OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of PhysicalCommunicationObject + MUST CONTAIN{ + nodeName :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax } + MAY CONTAIN { + machineType :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* e.g. main frame, work station, PC, printer; + might include manufacturer */ + OS :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* e.g. VM, UNIX, DOS; might include release */ + } + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 11] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + +6.2.3 NetworkInterface + + Each node object will have one or more networkInterface objects as + subordinates. NetworkInterface objects provide information about + interfaces of the node and connectivity. + + networkInterface OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of PhysicalCommunicationObject + MUST CONTAIN { + networkInterfaceName :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax + /* It is suggested that the networkInterface + name is derived from the name of the logical + device this networkInterface represents for + the operating system, e.g. le0, COM1 */ + } + MAY CONTAIN { + networkInterfaceAddress :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* this should contain a protocol-independent + interface address, e.g. Ethernet board number */ + connectedNetwork :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* pointer to object of network which this networkInterface is + connected to */ + } + +6.3 Logical Elements + + An abstract view of a physical element is called image in this + document. The word image gets appended to the object type, leading + to the new objects networkImage, nodeImage and networkInterfaceImage. + Images will either build Directory trees of themselves or be stored + as part of the physical network tree (see section 5). + + Image objects inherit properties of the ImageCommunicationObject + class. + + Each image object has specific attributes which vary depending on the + point of view (IP, OSI, ...). Also, the user and provider of an image + will view an object differently; further a user of an object may also + be providing the services of the same object to another user. + + Therefore, in the following a complete and general list of attributes + cannot be given. We recommend to define subclasses of Image classes + for each logical view. These subclasses inherit all attributes + defined with the object classes below and add more specific + attributes. Examples for an IP-view are given in [1]. + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 12] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + +6.3.1 Network + + There may be several network images for one and the same physical + network: one for each protocol, application, etc. + + networkImage OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of ImageCommunicationObject + MAY CONTAIN { + externalGateway :: distinguishedNameSyntax, + /* points to one or more nodes that act + as gateway for the protocol application + this images refers to */ + speed :: numericStringSyntax, + /* nominal bandwidth for the channel dedicated + to this protocol or application , + e.g. 64 kbps */ + traffic :: numericStringSyntax, + /* (average) use in percent of nominal bandwidth + [this needs more specification later ] */ + charge :: numericStringSyntax + /* amount of money that has to be paid to + service provider for usage; + [it is felt that this needs further definition: + e.g. monetary unit / time unit, monetary unit / + data unit ] */ + } + +6.3.2 Node + + Name and functionality within the network might vary for a node from + protocol to protocol considered. In particular, a node might act as + gateway for one protocol but not for the other. Routing policy is + stored in the case of policy gateways. + + nodeImage OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of ImageCommunicationObject + /* no attributes common for all nodeImages have been + defined yet */ + +6.3.3 NetworkInterface + + As with physical nodes, nodeImages have networkInterfaces + (networkInterfaceImages) which describe connectivity to other network + elements. NetworkInterfaceImages are only given if the protocol is + establishing connections via this networkInterface. + + networkInterfaceImage OBJECT CLASS + SUBCLASS of ImageCommunicationObject + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 13] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + + MAY CONTAIN { + networkInterfaceAddress :: caseIgnoreStringSyntax, + /* the networkInterface address in the image + context, e.g. IP number, NSAP */ + connectedNetwork :: distinguishedNameSyntax + /* pointer to networkImageObject that describes + the network this networkInterface is attached + to in terms of the protocol or application the + image indicates */ + } + +7. Security Considerations + + Security issues are not discussed in this memo. + +8. Authors' Addresses + + Glenn Mansfield + AIC Systems Laboratory + 6-6-3 Minami Yoshinari + Aoba-ku, Sendai 989-32 + Japan + + Phone: +81 22 279-3310 + EMail: glenn@aic.co.jp + + + Thomas Johannsen + Dresden University of Technology + Institute of + Communication Technology + D-01062 Dresden + Germany + + Phone: +49 351 463-4621 + EMail: Thomas.Johannsen@ifn.et.tu-dresden.de + + + Mark Knopper + Merit Network, Inc. + 1071 Beal Avenue + Ann Arbor, MI 48109 + + EMail: mak@merit.edu + + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 14] + +RFC 1609 Charting Networks in the X.500 Directory March 1994 + + +9. References + + [1] Harrenstein, K., Stahl, M., and E. Feinler, "NICNAME/WHOIS", RFC + 954, SRI, October 1985. + + [2] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names - Implementation and + Specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, USC/Information Sciences + Institute, November 1987. + + [3] Johannsen, T., Mansfield, G., Kosters, M., and S. Sataluri, + "Representing IP information in the X.500 Directory", RFC 1609, + Dresden University, AIC Systems Laboratory, Network + Solutions,Inc., AT&T Bell Laboratories, March 1994. + + [4] Johannsen, T., and G. Mansfield, "The Soft Pages Project", OSI-DS + WG document, OSI-DS-39, Dresden University, AIC Systems + Laboratory, February 1993. + + [5] CCITT Blue Book, "Data Communication Networks: Directory", + Recommendations X.500-X.521, December 1988. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Mansfield, Johannsen & Knopper [Page 15] + |