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| diff --git a/doc/rfc/rfc8453.txt b/doc/rfc/rfc8453.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c429943 --- /dev/null +++ b/doc/rfc/rfc8453.txt @@ -0,0 +1,2355 @@ + + + + + + +Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                D. Ceccarelli, Ed. +Request for Comments: 8453                                      Ericsson +Category: Informational                                      Y. Lee, Ed. +ISSN: 2070-1721                                                   Huawei +                                                             August 2018 + + +      Framework for Abstraction and Control of TE Networks (ACTN) + +Abstract + +   Traffic Engineered (TE) networks have a variety of mechanisms to +   facilitate the separation of the data plane and control plane.  They +   also have a range of management and provisioning protocols to +   configure and activate network resources.  These mechanisms represent +   key technologies for enabling flexible and dynamic networking.  The +   term "Traffic Engineered network" refers to a network that uses any +   connection-oriented technology under the control of a distributed or +   centralized control plane to support dynamic provisioning of end-to- +   end connectivity. + +   Abstraction of network resources is a technique that can be applied +   to a single network domain or across multiple domains to create a +   single virtualized network that is under the control of a network +   operator or the customer of the operator that actually owns the +   network resources. + +   This document provides a framework for Abstraction and Control of TE +   Networks (ACTN) to support virtual network services and connectivity +   services. + +Status of This Memo + +   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is +   published for informational purposes. + +   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force +   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has +   received public review and has been approved for publication by the +   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents +   approved by the IESG are candidates for any level of Internet +   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 7841. + +   Information about the current status of this document, any errata, +   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at +   https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8453. + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 1] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +Copyright Notice + +   Copyright (c) 2018 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the +   document authors.  All rights reserved. + +   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal +   Provisions Relating to IETF Documents +   (https://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of +   publication of this document.  Please review these documents +   carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect +   to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must +   include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of +   the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as +   described in the Simplified BSD License. + +Table of Contents + +   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3 +   2.  Overview  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4 +     2.1.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5 +     2.2.  VNS Model of ACTN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   7 +       2.2.1.  Customers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9 +       2.2.2.  Service Providers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9 +       2.2.3.  Network Operators . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10 +   3.  ACTN Base Architecture  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  10 +     3.1.  Customer Network Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  12 +     3.2.  Multi-Domain Service Coordinator  . . . . . . . . . . . .  13 +     3.3.  Provisioning Network Controller . . . . . . . . . . . . .  13 +     3.4.  ACTN Interfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  14 +   4.  Advanced ACTN Architectures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15 +     4.1.  MDSC Hierarchy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  15 +     4.2.  Functional Split of MDSC Functions in Orchestrators . . .  16 +   5.  Topology Abstraction Methods  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18 +     5.1.  Abstraction Factors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  18 +     5.2.  Abstraction Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19 +       5.2.1.  Native/White Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19 +       5.2.2.  Black Topology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  19 +       5.2.3.  Grey Topology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  20 +     5.3.  Methods of Building Grey Topologies . . . . . . . . . . .  21 +       5.3.1.  Automatic Generation of Abstract Topology by +               Configuration . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22 +       5.3.2.  On-Demand Generation of Supplementary Topology via +               Path Compute Request/Reply  . . . . . . . . . . . . .  22 +     5.4.  Hierarchical Topology Abstraction Example . . . . . . . .  23 +     5.5.  VN Recursion with Network Layers  . . . . . . . . . . . .  25 +   6.  Access Points and Virtual Network Access Points . . . . . . .  28 +     6.1.  Dual-Homing Scenario  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  30 + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 2] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +7.  Advanced ACTN Application: Multi-Destination Service  . . . . .   31 +     7.1.  Preplanned Endpoint Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  32 +     7.2.  On-the-Fly Endpoint Migration . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33 +   8.  Manageability Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  33 +     8.1.  Policy  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  34 +     8.2.  Policy Applied to the Customer Network Controller . . . .  34 +     8.3.  Policy Applied to the Multi-Domain Service Coordinator  .  35 +     8.4.  Policy Applied to the Provisioning Network Controller . .  35 +   9.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  36 +     9.1.  CNC-MDSC Interface (CMI)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37 +     9.2.  MDSC-PNC Interface (MPI)  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37 +   10. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  37 +   11. Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  38 +   Appendix A.  Example of MDSC and PNC Functions Integrated in a +                Service/Network Orchestrator . . . . . . . . . . . .  40 +   Contributors  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  41 +   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  42 + +1.  Introduction + +   The term "Traffic Engineered network" refers to a network that uses +   any connection-oriented technology under the control of a distributed +   or centralized control plane to support dynamic provisioning of end- +   to-end connectivity.  TE networks have a variety of mechanisms to +   facilitate the separation of data planes and control planes including +   distributed signaling for path setup and protection, centralized path +   computation for planning and traffic engineering, and a range of +   management and provisioning protocols to configure and activate +   network resources.  These mechanisms represent key technologies for +   enabling flexible and dynamic networking.  Some examples of networks +   that are in scope of this definition are optical, MPLS Transport +   Profile (MPLS-TP) [RFC5654], and MPLS-TE networks [RFC2702]. + +   One of the main drivers for Software-Defined Networking (SDN) +   [RFC7149] is a decoupling of the network control plane from the data +   plane.  This separation has been achieved for TE networks with the +   development of MPLS/GMPLS [RFC3945] and the Path Computation Element +   (PCE) [RFC4655].  One of the advantages of SDN is its logically +   centralized control regime that allows a global view of the +   underlying networks.  Centralized control in SDN helps improve +   network resource utilization compared with distributed network +   control.  For TE-based networks, a PCE may serve as a logically +   centralized path computation function. + +   This document describes a set of management and control functions +   used to operate one or more TE networks to construct virtual networks +   that can be presented to customers and that are built from +   abstractions of the underlying TE networks.  For example, a link in + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 3] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   the customer's network is constructed from a path or collection of +   paths in the underlying networks.  We call this set of functions +   "Abstraction and Control of TE Networks" or "ACTN". + +2.  Overview + +   Three key aspects that need to be solved by SDN are: + +   o  Separation of service requests from service delivery so that the +      configuration and operation of a network is transparent from the +      point of view of the customer but it remains responsive to the +      customer's services and business needs. + +   o  Network abstraction: As described in [RFC7926], abstraction is the +      process of applying policy to a set of information about a TE +      network to produce selective information that represents the +      potential ability to connect across the network.  The process of +      abstraction presents the connectivity graph in a way that is +      independent of the underlying network technologies, capabilities, +      and topology so that the graph can be used to plan and deliver +      network services in a uniform way + +   o  Coordination of resources across multiple independent networks and +      multiple technology layers to provide end-to-end services +      regardless of whether or not the networks use SDN. + +   As networks evolve, the need to provide support for distinct +   services, separated service orchestration, and resource abstraction +   have emerged as key requirements for operators.  In order to support +   multiple customers each with its own view of and control of the +   server network, a network operator needs to partition (or "slice") or +   manage sharing of the network resources.  Network slices can be +   assigned to each customer for guaranteed usage, which is a step +   further than shared use of common network resources. + +   Furthermore, each network represented to a customer can be built from +   virtualization of the underlying networks so that, for example, a +   link in the customer's network is constructed from a path or +   collection of paths in the underlying network. + +   ACTN can facilitate virtual network operation via the creation of a +   single virtualized network or a seamless service.  This supports +   operators in viewing and controlling different domains (at any +   dimension: applied technology, administrative zones, or vendor- +   specific technology islands) and presenting virtualized networks to +   their customers. + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 4] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   The ACTN framework described in this document facilitates: + +   o  Abstraction of the underlying network resources to higher-layer +      applications and customers [RFC7926]. + +   o  Virtualization of particular underlying resources, whose selection +      criterion is the allocation of those resources to a particular +      customer, application, or service [ONF-ARCH]. + +   o  TE Network slicing of infrastructure to meet specific customers' +      service requirements. + +   o  Creation of an abstract environment allowing operators to view and +      control multi-domain networks as a single abstract network. + +   o  The presentation to customers of networks as a virtual network via +      open and programmable interfaces. + +2.1.  Terminology + +   The following terms are used in this document.  Some of them are +   newly defined, some others reference existing definitions: + +   Domain:  A domain as defined by [RFC4655] is "any collection of +      network elements within a common sphere of address management or +      path computation responsibility".  Specifically, within this +      document we mean a part of an operator's network that is under +      common management (i.e., under shared operational management using +      the same instances of a tool and the same policies).  Network +      elements will often be grouped into domains based on technology +      types, vendor profiles, and geographic proximity. + +   Abstraction:  This process is defined in [RFC7926]. + +   TE Network Slicing:  In the context of ACTN, a TE network slice is a +      collection of resources that is used to establish a logically +      dedicated virtual network over one or more TE networks.  TE +      network slicing allows a network operator to provide dedicated +      virtual networks for applications/customers over a common network +      infrastructure.  The logically dedicated resources are a part of +      the larger common network infrastructures that are shared among +      various TE network slice instances, which are the end-to-end +      realization of TE network slicing, consisting of the combination +      of physically or logically dedicated resources. + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 5] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   Node:  A node is a vertex on the graph representation of a TE +      topology.  In a physical network topology, a node corresponds to a +      physical network element (NE) such as a router.  In an abstract +      network topology, a node (sometimes called an "abstract node") is +      a representation as a single vertex of one or more physical NEs +      and their connecting physical connections.  The concept of a node +      represents the ability to connect from any access to the node (a +      link end) to any other access to that node, although "limited +      cross-connect capabilities" may also be defined to restrict this +      functionality.  Network abstraction may be applied recursively, so +      a node in one topology may be created by applying abstraction to +      the nodes in the underlying topology. + +   Link:  A link is an edge on the graph representation of a TE +      topology.  Two nodes connected by a link are said to be "adjacent" +      in the TE topology.  In a physical network topology, a link +      corresponds to a physical connection.  In an abstract network +      topology, a link (sometimes called an "abstract link") is a +      representation of the potential to connect a pair of points with +      certain TE parameters (see [RFC7926] for details).  Network +      abstraction may be applied recursively, so a link in one topology +      may be created by applying abstraction to the links in the +      underlying topology. + +   Abstract Topology:  The topology of abstract nodes and abstract links +      presented through the process of abstraction by a lower-layer +      network for use by a higher-layer network. + +   Virtual Network (VN):  A VN is a network provided by a service +      provider to a customer for the customer to use in any way it wants +      as though it was a physical network.  There are two views of a VN +      as follows: + +      o  The VN can be abstracted as a set of edge-to-edge links (a Type +         1 VN).  Each link is referred as a "VN member" and is formed as +         an end-to-end tunnel across the underlying networks.  Such +         tunnels may be constructed by recursive slicing or abstraction +         of paths in the underlying networks and can encompass edge +         points of the customer's network, access links, intra-domain +         paths, and inter-domain links. + +      o  The VN can also be abstracted as a topology of virtual nodes +         and virtual links (a Type 2 VN).  The operator needs to map the +         VN to actual resource assignment, which is known as "virtual +         network embedding".  The nodes in this case include physical +         endpoints, border nodes, and internal nodes as well as + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 6] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +         abstracted nodes.  Similarly, the links include physical access +         links, inter-domain links, and intra-domain links as well as +         abstract links. + +      Clearly, a Type 1 VN is a special case of a Type 2 VN. + +   Access link:  A link between a customer node and an operator node. + +   Inter-domain link:  A link between domains under distinct management +      administration. + +   Access Point (AP):  An AP is a logical identifier shared between the +      customer and the operator used to identify an access link.  The AP +      is used by the customer when requesting a Virtual Network Service +      (VNS).  Note that the term "TE Link Termination Point" defined in +      [TE-TOPO] describes the endpoints of links, while an AP is a +      common identifier for the link itself. + +   VN Access Point (VNAP):  A VNAP is the binding between an AP and a +      given VN. + +   Server Network:  As defined in [RFC7926], a server network is a +      network that provides connectivity for another network (the Client +      Network) in a client-server relationship. + +2.2.  VNS Model of ACTN + +   A Virtual Network Service (VNS) is the service agreement between a +   customer and operator to provide a VN.  When a VN is a simple +   connectivity between two points, the difference between VNS and +   connectivity service becomes blurred.  There are three types of VNSs +   defined in this document. + +   o  Type 1 VNS refers to a VNS in which the customer is allowed to +      create and operate a Type 1 VN. + +   o  Type 2a and 2b VNS refer to VNSs in which the customer is allowed +      to create and operates a Type 2 VN.  With a Type 2a VNS, the VN is +      statically created at service configuration time, and the customer +      is not allowed to change the topology (e.g., by adding or deleting +      abstract nodes and links).  A Type 2b VNS is the same as a Type 2a +      VNS except that the customer is allowed to make dynamic changes to +      the initial topology created at service configuration time. + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 7] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   VN Operations are functions that a customer can exercise on a VN +   depending on the agreement between the customer and the operator. + +   o  VN Creation allows a customer to request the instantiation of a +      VN.  This could be through offline preconfiguration or through +      dynamic requests specifying attributes to a Service Level +      Agreement (SLA) to satisfy the customer's objectives. + +   o  Dynamic Operations allow a customer to modify or delete the VN. +      The customer can further act upon the virtual network to +      create/modify/delete virtual links and nodes.  These changes will +      result in subsequent tunnel management in the operator's networks. + +   There are three key entities in the ACTN VNS model: + +   o  Customers +   o  Service Providers +   o  Network Operators + +   These entities are related in a three tier model as shown in +   Figure 1. + +                           +----------------------+ +                           |       Customer       | +                           +----------------------+ +                                      | +                       VNS       ||   |   /\     VNS +                      Request    ||   |   ||    Reply +                                 \/   |   || +                           +----------------------+ +                           |  Service Provider    | +                           +----------------------+ +                           /          |           \ +                          /           |            \ +                         /            |             \ +                        /             |              \ +    +------------------+   +------------------+   +------------------+ +    |Network Operator 1|   |Network Operator 2|   |Network Operator 3| +    +------------------+   +------------------+   +------------------+ + +                      Figure 1: The Three-Tier Model + +   The commercial roles of these entities are described in the following +   sections. + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 8] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +2.2.1.  Customers + +   Basic customers include fixed residential users, mobile users, and +   small enterprises.  Each requires a small amount of resources and is +   characterized by steady requests (relatively time invariant).  Basic +   customers do not modify their services themselves: if a service +   change is needed, it is performed by the provider as a proxy. + +   Advanced customers include enterprises and governments.  Such +   customers ask for both point-to point and multipoint connectivity +   with high resource demands varying significantly in time.  This is +   one of the reasons why a bundled service offering is not enough, and +   it is desirable to provide each advanced customer with a customized +   VNS.  Advanced customers may also have the ability to modify their +   service parameters within the scope of their virtualized +   environments.  The primary focus of ACTN is Advanced Customers. + +   As customers are geographically spread over multiple network operator +   domains, they have to interface to multiple operators and may have to +   support multiple virtual network services with different underlying +   objectives set by the network operators.  To enable these customers +   to support flexible and dynamic applications, they need to control +   their allocated virtual network resources in a dynamic fashion; that +   means that they need a view of the topology that spans all of the +   network operators.  Customers of a given service provider can, in +   turn, offer a service to other customers in a recursive way. + +2.2.2.  Service Providers + +   In the scope of ACTN, service providers deliver VNSs to their +   customers.  Service providers may or may not own physical network +   resources (i.e., may or may not be network operators as described in +   Section 2.2.3).  When a service provider is the same as the network +   operator, the case is similar to existing VPN models applied to a +   single operator (although it may be hard to use this approach when +   the customer spans multiple independent network operator domains). + +   When network operators supply only infrastructure, while distinct +   service providers interface with the customers, the service providers +   are themselves customers of the network infrastructure operators. +   One service provider may need to keep multiple independent network +   operators because its end users span geographically across multiple +   network operator domains.  In some cases, a service provider is also +   a network operator when it owns network infrastructure on which +   service is provided. + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                     [Page 9] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +2.2.3.  Network Operators + +   Network operators are the infrastructure operators that provision the +   network resources and provide network resources to their customers. +   The layered model described in this architecture separates the +   concerns of network operators and customers, with service providers +   acting as aggregators of customer requests. + +3.  ACTN Base Architecture + +   This section provides a high-level model of ACTN, showing the +   interfaces and the flow of control between components. + +   The ACTN architecture is based on a three-tier reference model and +   allows for hierarchy and recursion.  The main functionalities within +   an ACTN system are: + +   o  Multi-domain coordination: This function oversees the specific +      aspects of different domains and builds a single abstracted end- +      to-end network topology in order to coordinate end-to-end path +      computation and path/service provisioning.  Domain sequence path +      calculation/determination is also a part of this function. + +   o  Abstraction: This function provides an abstracted view of the +      underlying network resources for use by the customer -- a customer +      may be the client or a higher-level controller entity.  This +      function includes network path computation based on customer- +      service-connectivity request constraints, path computation based +      on the global network-wide abstracted topology, and the creation +      of an abstracted view of network resources allocated to each +      customer.  These operations depend on customer-specific network +      objective functions and customer traffic profiles. + +   o  Customer mapping/translation: This function is to map customer +      requests/commands into network provisioning requests that can be +      sent from the Multi-Domain Service Coordinator (MDSC) to the +      Provisioning Network Controller (PNC) according to business +      policies provisioned statically or dynamically at the Operations +      Support System (OSS) / Network Management System (NMS). +      Specifically, it provides mapping and translation of a customer's +      service request into a set of parameters that are specific to a +      network type and technology such that network configuration +      process is made possible. + +   o  Virtual service coordination: This function translates information +      that is customer service related into virtual network service +      operations in order to seamlessly operate virtual networks while +      meeting a customer's service requirements.  In the context of + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 10] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +      ACTN, service/virtual service coordination includes a number of +      service orchestration functions such as multi-destination load- +      balancing and guarantees of service quality.  It also includes +      notifications for service fault and performance degradation and so +      forth. + +   The base ACTN architecture defines three controller types and the +   corresponding interfaces between these controllers.  The following +   types of controller are shown in Figure 2: + +   o  CNC - Customer Network Controller +   o  MDSC - Multi-Domain Service Coordinator +   o  PNC - Provisioning Network Controller + +   Figure 2 also shows the following interfaces + +   o  CMI - CNC-MDSC Interface +   o  MPI - MDSC-PNC Interface +   o  SBI - Southbound Interface + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 11] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +             +---------+           +---------+             +---------+ +             |   CNC   |           |   CNC   |             |   CNC   | +             +---------+           +---------+             +---------+ +                   \                    |                       / +                    \                   |                      / +   Boundary  ========\==================|=====================/======= +   between            \                 |                    / +   Customer &          -----------      | CMI  -------------- +   Network Operator               \     |     / +                                +---------------+ +                                |     MDSC      | +                                +---------------+ +                                  /     |     \ +                      ------------      | MPI  ------------- +                     /                  |                   \ +                +-------+          +-------+            +-------+ +                |  PNC  |          |  PNC  |            |  PNC  | +                +-------+          +-------+            +-------+ +                    | SBI            /   |                  /  \ +                    |               /    | SBI         SBI /    \ +                ---------        -----   |                /      \ +               (         )      (     )  |               /        \ +               - Control -     ( Phys. ) |              /      ----- +              (  Plane    )     ( Net )  |             /      (     ) +             (  Physical   )     -----   |            /      ( Phys. ) +              (  Network  )            -----        -----     ( Net ) +               -         -            (     )      (     )     ----- +               (         )           ( Phys. )    ( Phys. ) +                ---------             ( Net )      ( Net ) +                                       -----        ----- + +                     Figure 2: ACTN Base Architecture + +   Note that this is a functional architecture: an implementation and +   deployment might collocate one or more of the functional components. +   Figure 2 shows a case where the service provider is also a network +   operator. + +3.1.  Customer Network Controller + +   A Customer Network Controller (CNC) is responsible for communicating +   a customer's VNS requirements to the network operator over the CNC- +   MDSC Interface (CMI).  It has knowledge of the endpoints associated +   with the VNS (expressed as APs), the service policy, and other QoS +   information related to the service. + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 12] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   As the CNC directly interfaces with the applications, it understands +   multiple application requirements and their service needs.  The +   capability of a CNC beyond its CMI role is outside the scope of ACTN +   and may be implemented in different ways.  For example, the CNC may, +   in fact, be a controller or part of a controller in the customer's +   domain, or the CNC functionality could also be implemented as part of +   a service provider's portal. + +3.2.  Multi-Domain Service Coordinator + +   A Multi-Domain Service Coordinator (MDSC) is a functional block that +   implements all of the ACTN functions listed in Section 3 and +   described further in Section 4.2.  Two functions of the MDSC, namely, +   multi-domain coordination and virtualization/abstraction are referred +   to as network-related functions; whereas the other two functions, +   namely, customer mapping/translation and virtual service +   coordination, are referred to as service-related functions.  The MDSC +   sits at the center of the ACTN model between the CNC that issues +   connectivity requests and the Provisioning Network Controllers (PNCs) +   that manage the network resources.  The key point of the MDSC (and of +   the whole ACTN framework) is detaching the network and service +   control from underlying technology to help the customer express the +   network as desired by business needs.  The MDSC envelopes the +   instantiation of the right technology and network control to meet +   business criteria.  In essence, it controls and manages the +   primitives to achieve functionalities as desired by the CNC. + +   In order to allow for multi-domain coordination, a 1:N relationship +   must be allowed between MDSCs and PNCs. + +   In addition to that, it could also be possible to have an M:1 +   relationship between MDSCs and PNCs to allow for network-resource +   partitioning/sharing among different customers that are not +   necessarily connected to the same MDSC (e.g., different service +   providers) but that are all using the resources of a common network +   infrastructure operator. + +3.3.  Provisioning Network Controller + +   The Provisioning Network Controller (PNC) oversees configuring the +   network elements, monitoring the topology (physical or virtual) of +   the network, and collecting information about the topology (either +   raw or abstracted). + +   The PNC functions can be implemented as part of an SDN domain +   controller, a Network Management System (NMS), an Element Management +   System (EMS), an active PCE-based controller [RFC8283], or any other +   means to dynamically control a set of nodes that implements a + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 13] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   northbound interface from the standpoint of the nodes (which is out +   of the scope of this document).  A PNC domain includes all the +   resources under the control of a single PNC.  It can be composed of +   different routing domains and administrative domains, and the +   resources may come from different layers.  The interconnection +   between PNC domains is illustrated in Figure 3. + +                     _______                        _______ +                   _(       )_                    _(       )_ +                 _(           )_                _(           )_ +                (               )     Border   (               ) +               (     PNC     ------   Link   ------     PNC     ) +              (   Domain X  |Border|========|Border|  Domain Y   ) +              (             | Node |        | Node |             ) +               (             ------          ------             ) +                (_             _)              (_             _) +                  (_         _)                  (_         _) +                    (_______)                      (_______) + +                       Figure 3: PNC Domain Borders + +3.4.  ACTN Interfaces + +   Direct customer control of transport network elements and virtualized +   services is not a viable proposition for network operators due to +   security and policy concerns.  Therefore, the network has to provide +   open, programmable interfaces, through which customer applications +   can create, replace, and modify virtual network resources and +   services in an interactive, flexible, and dynamic fashion. + +   Three interfaces exist in the ACTN architecture as shown in Figure 2. + +   o  CMI: The CNC-MDSC Interface (CMI) is an interface between a CNC +      and an MDSC.  The CMI is a business boundary between customer and +      network operator.  It is used to request a VNS for an application. +      All service-related information is conveyed over this interface +      (such as the VNS type, topology, bandwidth, and service +      constraints).  Most of the information over this interface is +      agnostic of the technology used by network operators, but there +      are some cases (e.g., access link configuration) where it is +      necessary to specify technology-specific details. + +   o  MPI: The MDSC-PNC Interface (MPI) is an interface between an MDSC +      and a PNC.  It communicates requests for new connectivity or for +      bandwidth changes in the physical network.  In multi-domain +      environments, the MDSC needs to communicate with multiple PNCs, + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 14] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +      each responsible for control of a domain.  The MPI presents an +      abstracted topology to the MDSC hiding technology-specific aspects +      of the network and hiding topology according to policy. + +   o  SBI: The Southbound Interface (SBI) is out of scope of ACTN.  Many +      different SBIs have been defined for different environments, +      technologies, standards organizations, and vendors.  It is shown +      in Figure 3 for reference reason only. + +4.  Advanced ACTN Architectures + +   This section describes advanced configurations of the ACTN +   architecture. + +4.1.  MDSC Hierarchy + +   A hierarchy of MDSCs can be foreseen for many reasons, among which +   are scalability, administrative choices, or putting together +   different layers and technologies in the network.  In the case where +   there is a hierarchy of MDSCs, we introduce the terms "higher-level +   MDSC" (MDSC-H) and "lower-level MDSC" (MDSC-L).  The interface +   between them is a recursion of the MPI.  An implementation of an +   MDSC-H makes provisioning requests as normal using the MPI, but an +   MDSC-L must be able to receive requests as normal at the CMI and also +   at the MPI.  The hierarchy of MDSCs can be seen in Figure 4. + +   Another implementation choice could foresee the usage of an MDSC-L +   for all the PNCs related to a given technology (e.g., Internet +   Protocol (IP) / Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS)) and a different +   MDSC-L for the PNCs related to another technology (e.g., Optical +   Transport Network (OTN) / Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM)) and +   an MDSC-H to coordinate them. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 15] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                                  +--------+ +                                  |   CNC  | +                                  +--------+ +                                       |          +-----+ +                                       | CMI      | CNC | +                                 +----------+     +-----+ +                          -------|  MDSC-H  |----    | +                         |       +----------+    |   | CMI +                     MPI |                   MPI |   | +                         |                       |   | +                    +---------+               +---------+ +                    |  MDSC-L |               |  MDSC-L | +                    +---------+               +---------+ +                  MPI |     |                   |     | +                      |     |                   |     | +                   -----   -----             -----   ----- +                  | PNC | | PNC |           | PNC | | PNC | +                   -----   -----             -----   ----- + +                         Figure 4: MDSC Hierarchy + +   The hierarchy of MDSC can be recursive, where an MDSC-H is, in turn, +   an MDSC-L to a higher-level MDSC-H. + +4.2.  Functional Split of MDSC Functions in Orchestrators + +   An implementation choice could separate the MDSC functions into two +   groups: one group for service-related functions and the other for +   network-related functions.  This enables the implementation of a +   service orchestrator that provides the service-related functions of +   the MDSC and a network orchestrator that provides the network-related +   functions of the MDSC.  This split is consistent with the YANG +   service model architecture described in [RFC8309].  Figure 5 depicts +   this and shows how the ACTN interfaces may map to YANG data models. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 16] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                                +--------------------+ +                                |           Customer | +                                |   +-----+          | +                                |   | CNC |          | +                                |   +-----+          | +                                +--------------------+ +                                         CMI |  Customer Service Model +                                             | +                        +---------------------------------------+ +                        |                          Service      | +                ********|***********************   Orchestrator | +                * MDSC  |  +-----------------+ *                | +                *       |  | Service-related | *                | +                *       |  |    Functions    | *                | +                *       |  +-----------------+ *                | +                *       +----------------------*----------------+ +                *                              *  |  Service Delivery +                *                              *  |  Model +                *       +----------------------*----------------+ +                *       |                      *   Network      | +                *       |  +-----------------+ *   Orchestrator | +                *       |  | Network-related | *                | +                *       |  |    Functions    | *                | +                *       |  +-----------------+ *                | +                ********|***********************                | +                        +---------------------------------------+ +                                         MPI |  Network Configuration +                                             |  Model +                               +------------------------+ +                               |            Domain      | +                               |  +------+  Controller  | +                               |  | PNC  |              | +                               |  +------+              | +                               +------------------------+ +                                         SBI |  Device Configuration +                                             |  Model +                                         +--------+ +                                         | Device | +                                         +--------+ + +   Figure 5: ACTN Architecture in the Context of the YANG Service Models + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 17] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +5.  Topology Abstraction Methods + +   Topology abstraction is described in [RFC7926].  This section +   discusses topology abstraction factors, types, and their context in +   the ACTN architecture. + +   Abstraction in ACTN is performed by the PNC when presenting available +   topology to the MDSC, or by an MDSC-L when presenting topology to an +   MDSC-H.  This function is different from the creation of a VN (and +   particularly a Type 2 VN) that is not abstraction but construction of +   virtual resources. + +5.1.  Abstraction Factors + +   As discussed in [RFC7926], abstraction is tied with the policy of the +   networks.  For instance, per an operational policy, the PNC would not +   provide any technology-specific details (e.g., optical parameters for +   Wavelength Switched Optical Network (WSON) in the abstract topology +   it provides to the MDSC.  Similarly, the policy of the networks may +   determine the abstraction type as described in Section 5.2. + +   There are many factors that may impact the choice of abstraction: + +   o  Abstraction depends on the nature of the underlying domain +      networks.  For instance, packet networks may be abstracted with +      fine granularity while abstraction of optical networks depends on +      the switching units (such as wavelengths) and the end-to-end +      continuity and cross-connect limitations within the network. + +   o  Abstraction also depends on the capability of the PNCs.  As +      abstraction requires hiding details of the underlying network +      resources, the PNC's capability to run algorithms impacts the +      feasibility of abstraction.  Some PNCs may not have the ability to +      abstract native topology while other PNCs may have the ability to +      use sophisticated algorithms. + +   o  Abstraction is a tool that can improve scalability.  Where the +      native network resource information is of a large size, there is a +      specific scaling benefit to abstraction. + +   o  The proper abstraction level may depend on the frequency of +      topology updates and vice versa. + +   o  The nature of the MDSC's support for technology-specific +      parameters impacts the degree/level of abstraction.  If the MDSC +      is not capable of handling such parameters, then a higher level of +      abstraction is needed. + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 18] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   o  In some cases, the PNC is required to hide key internal +      topological data from the MDSC.  Such confidentiality can be +      achieved through abstraction. + +5.2.  Abstraction Types + +   This section defines the following three types of topology +   abstraction: + +   o  Native/White Topology (Section 5.2.1) +   o  Black Topology (Section 5.2.2) +   o  Grey Topology (Section 5.2.3) + +5.2.1.  Native/White Topology + +   This is a case where the PNC provides the actual network topology to +   the MDSC without any hiding or filtering of information, i.e., no +   abstraction is performed.  In this case, the MDSC has the full +   knowledge of the underlying network topology and can operate on it +   directly. + +5.2.2.  Black Topology + +   A black topology replaces a full network with a minimal +   representation of the edge-to-edge topology without disclosing any +   node internal connectivity information.  The entire domain network +   may be abstracted as a single abstract node with the network's +   access/egress links appearing as the ports to the abstract node and +   the implication that any port can be "cross-connected" to any other. +   Figure 6 depicts a native topology with the corresponding black +   topology with one virtual node and inter-domain links.  In this case, +   the MDSC has to make a provisioning request to the PNCs to establish +   the port-to-port connection.  If there is a large number of +   interconnected domains, this abstraction method may impose a heavy +   coordination load at the MDSC level in order to find an optimal end- +   to-end path since the abstraction hides so much information that it +   is not possible to determine whether an end-to-end path is feasible +   without asking each PNC to set up each path fragment.  For this +   reason, the MPI might need to be enhanced to allow the PNCs to be +   queried for the practicality and characteristics of paths across the +   abstract node. + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 19] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                   ..................................... +                   : PNC Domain                        : +                   :  +--+     +--+     +--+     +--+  : +                ------+  +-----+  +-----+  +-----+  +------ +                   :  ++-+     ++-+     +-++     +-++  : +                   :   |        |         |        |   : +                   :   |        |         |        |   : +                   :   |        |         |        |   : +                   :   |        |         |        |   : +                   :  ++-+     ++-+     +-++     +-++  : +                ------+  +-----+  +-----+  +-----+  +------ +                   :  +--+     +--+     +--+     +--+  : +                   :.................................... + +                                +----------+ +                             ---+          +--- +                                | Abstract | +                                |   Node   | +                             ---+          +--- +                                +----------+ + +               Figure 6: Native Topology with Corresponding +               Black Topology Expressed as an Abstract Node + +5.2.3.  Grey Topology + +   A grey topology represents a compromise between black and white +   topologies from a granularity point of view.  In this case, the PNC +   exposes an abstract topology containing all PNC domain border nodes +   and an abstraction of the connectivity between those border nodes. +   This abstraction may contain either physical or abstract nodes/links. + +   Two types of grey topology are identified: + +   o  In a type A grey topology, border nodes are connected by a full +      mesh of TE links (see Figure 7). + +   o  In a type B grey topology, border nodes are connected over a more- +      detailed network comprising internal abstract nodes and abstracted +      links.  This mode of abstraction supplies the MDSC with more +      information about the internals of the PNC domain and allows it to +      make more informed choices about how to route connectivity over +      the underlying network. + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 20] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                  ..................................... +                  : PNC Domain                        : +                  :  +--+     +--+     +--+     +--+  : +               ------+  +-----+  +-----+  +-----+  +------ +                  :  ++-+     ++-+     +-++     +-++  : +                  :   |        |         |        |   : +                  :   |        |         |        |   : +                  :   |        |         |        |   : +                  :   |        |         |        |   : +                  :  ++-+     ++-+     +-++     +-++  : +               ------+  +-----+  +-----+  +-----+  +------ +                  :  +--+     +--+     +--+     +--+  : +                  :.................................... + +                           .................... +                           : Abstract Network : +                           :                  : +                           :   +--+    +--+   : +                        -------+  +----+  +------- +                           :   ++-+    +-++   : +                           :    |  \  /  |    : +                           :    |   \/   |    : +                           :    |   /\   |    : + +                           :    |  /  \  |    : +                           :   ++-+    +-++   : +                        -------+  +----+  +------- +                           :   +--+    +--+   : +                           :..................: + +        Figure 7: Native Topology with Corresponding Grey Topology + +5.3.  Methods of Building Grey Topologies + +   This section discusses two different methods of building a grey +   topology: + +   o  Automatic generation of abstract topology by configuration +      (Section 5.3.1) + +   o  On-demand generation of supplementary topology via path +      computation request/reply (Section 5.3.2) + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 21] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +5.3.1.  Automatic Generation of Abstract Topology by Configuration + +   Automatic generation is based on the abstraction/summarization of the +   whole domain by the PNC and its advertisement on the MPI.  The level +   of abstraction can be decided based on PNC configuration parameters +   (e.g., "provide the potential connectivity between any PE and any +   ASBR in an MPLS-TE network"). + +   Note that the configuration parameters for this abstract topology can +   include available bandwidth, latency, or any combination of defined +   parameters.  How to generate such information is beyond the scope of +   this document. + +   This abstract topology may need to be periodically or incrementally +   updated when there is a change in the underlying network or the use +   of the network resources that make connectivity more or less +   available. + +5.3.2.  On-Demand Generation of Supplementary Topology via Path Compute +        Request/Reply + +   While abstract topology is generated and updated automatically by +   configuration as explained in Section 5.3.1, additional supplementary +   topology may be obtained by the MDSC via a path compute request/reply +   mechanism. + +   The abstract topology advertisements from PNCs give the MDSC the +   border node/link information for each domain.  Under this scenario, +   when the MDSC needs to create a new VN, the MDSC can issue path +   computation requests to PNCs with constraints matching the VN request +   as described in [ACTN-YANG].  An example is provided in Figure 8, +   where the MDSC is creating a P2P VN between AP1 and AP2.  The MDSC +   could use two different inter-domain links to get from domain X to +   domain Y, but in order to choose the best end-to-end path, it needs +   to know what domain X and Y can offer in terms of connectivity and +   constraints between the PE nodes and the border nodes. + +                        -------                 -------- +                       (       )               (        ) +                      -      BrdrX.1------- BrdrY.1      - +                     (+---+       )          (       +---+) +               -+---( |PE1| Dom.X  )        (  Dom.Y |PE2| )---+- +                |    (+---+       )          (       +---+)    | +               AP1    -      BrdrX.2------- BrdrY.2      -    AP2 +                       (       )               (        ) +                        -------                 -------- + +                     Figure 8: A Multi-Domain Example + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 22] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   The MDSC issues a path computation request to PNC.X asking for +   potential connectivity between PE1 and border node BrdrX.1 and +   between PE1 and BrdrX.2 with related objective functions and TE +   metric constraints.  A similar request for connectivity from the +   border nodes in domain Y to PE2 will be issued to PNC.Y.  The MDSC +   merges the results to compute the optimal end-to-end path including +   the inter-domain links.  The MDSC can use the result of this +   computation to request the PNCs to provision the underlying networks, +   and the MDSC can then use the end-to-end path as a virtual link in +   the VN it delivers to the customer. + +5.4.  Hierarchical Topology Abstraction Example + +   This section illustrates how topology abstraction operates in +   different levels of a hierarchy of MDSCs as shown in Figure 9. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 23] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                             +-----+ +                             | CNC |  CNC wants to create a VN +                             +-----+  between CE A and CE B +                                | +                                | +                    +-----------------------+ +                    |         MDSC-H        | +                    +-----------------------+ +                          /           \ +                         /             \ +                 +---------+         +---------+ +                 | MDSC-L1 |         | MDSC-L2 | +                 +---------+         +---------+ +                   /    \               /    \ +                  /      \             /      \ +               +----+  +----+       +----+  +----+ +     CE A o----|PNC1|  |PNC2|       |PNC3|  |PNC4|----o CE B +               +----+  +----+       +----+  +----+ + +                   Virtual Network Delivered to CNC + +                     CE A o==============o CE B + +                   Topology operated on by MDSC-H + +                  CE A o----o==o==o===o----o CE B + +     Topology operated on by MDSC-L1     Topology operated on by MDSC-L2 +                  _        _                       _        _ +                 ( )      ( )                     ( )      ( ) +                (   )    (   )                   (   )    (   ) +       CE A o--(o---o)==(o---o)==Dom.3   Dom.2==(o---o)==(o---o)--o CE B +                (   )    (   )                   (   )    (   ) +                 (_)      (_)                     (_)      (_) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 24] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                              Actual Topology +                ___          ___          ___          ___ +               (   )        (   )        (   )        (   ) +              (  o  )      (  o  )      ( o--o)      (  o  ) +             (  / \  )    (   |\  )    (  |  | )    (  / \  ) +   CE A o---(o-o---o-o)==(o-o-o-o-o)==(o--o--o-o)==(o-o-o-o-o)---o CE B +             (  \ /  )    ( | |/  )    (  |  | )    (  \ /  ) +              (  o  )      (o-o  )      ( o--o)      (  o  ) +               (___)        (___)        (___)        (___) + +              Domain 1     Domain 2     Domain 3     Domain 4 + +   Where +        o   is a node +        --- is a link +        === is a border link + +        Figure 9: Illustration of Hierarchical Topology Abstraction + +   In the example depicted in Figure 9, there are four domains under +   control of PNCs: PNC1, PNC2, PNC3, and PNC4.  MDSC-L1 controls PNC1 +   and PNC2, while MDSC-L2 controls PNC3 and PNC4.  Each of the PNCs +   provides a grey topology abstraction that presents only border nodes +   and links across and outside the domain.  The abstract topology +   MDSC-L1 that operates is a combination of the two topologies from +   PNC1 and PNC2.  Likewise, the abstract topology that MDSC-L2 operates +   is shown in Figure 9.  Both MDSC-L1 and MDSC-L2 provide a black +   topology abstraction to MDSC-H in which each PNC domain is presented +   as a single virtual node.  MDSC-H combines these two topologies to +   create the abstraction topology on which it operates.  MDSC-H sees +   the whole four domain networks as four virtual nodes connected via +   virtual links. + +5.5.  VN Recursion with Network Layers + +   In some cases, the VN supplied to a customer may be built using +   resources from different technology layers operated by different +   operators.  For example, one operator may run a packet TE network and +   use optical connectivity provided by another operator. + +   As shown in Figure 10, a customer asks for end-to-end connectivity +   between CE A and CE B, a virtual network.  The customer's CNC makes a +   request to Operator 1's MDSC.  The MDSC works out which network +   resources need to be configured and sends instructions to the +   appropriate PNCs.  However, the link between Q and R is a virtual +   link supplied by Operator 2: Operator 1 is a customer of Operator 2. + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 25] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   To support this, Operator 1 has a CNC that communicates with Operator +   2's MDSC.  Note that Operator 1's CNC in Figure 10 is a functional +   component that does not dictate implementation: it may be embedded in +   a PNC. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 26] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +      Virtual     CE A o===============================o CE B +      Network + +                                    -----    CNC wants to create a VN +      Customer                     | CNC |   between CE A and CE B +                                    ----- +                                      : +               *********************************************** +                                      : +      Operator 1         --------------------------- +                        |           MDSC            | +                         --------------------------- +                          :           :           : +                          :           :           : +                        -----   -------------   ----- +                       | PNC | |     PNC     | | PNC | +                        -----   -------------   ----- +                          :     :     :     :     : +      Higher              v     v     :     v     v +      Layer      CE A o---P-----Q===========R-----S---o CE B +      Network                   |     :     | +                                |     :     | +                                |   -----   | +                                |  | CNC |  | +                                |   -----   | +                                |     :     | +               *********************************************** +                                |     :     | +      Operator 2                |  ------   | +                                | | MDSC |  | +                                |  ------   | +                                |     :     | +                                |  -------  | +                                | |  PNC  | | +                                |  -------  | +                                 \ :  :  : / +      Lower                       \v  v  v/ +      Layer                        X--Y--Z +      Network + +      Where + +      --- is a link +      === is a virtual link + +                Figure 10: VN Recursion with Network Layers + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 27] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +6.  Access Points and Virtual Network Access Points + +   In order to map identification of connections between the customer's +   sites and the TE networks and to scope the connectivity requested in +   the VNS, the CNC and the MDSC refer to the connections using the +   Access Point (AP) construct as shown in Figure 11. + +                                ------------- +                               (             ) +                              -               - +               +---+ X       (                 )      Z +---+ +               |CE1|---+----(                   )---+---|CE2| +               +---+   |     (                 )    |   +---+ +                      AP1     -               -    AP2 +                               (             ) +                                ------------- + +                      Figure 11: Customer View of APs + +   Let's take as an example a scenario shown in Figure 11.  CE1 is +   connected to the network via a 10 Gbps link and CE2 via a 40 Gbps +   link.  Before the creation of any VN between AP1 and AP2, the +   customer view can be summarized as shown in Figure 12. + +                            +----------+------------------------+ +                            | Endpoint | Access Link Bandwidth  | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      |AP id| CE,port  | MaxResBw | AvailableBw | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      | AP1 |CE1,portX |  10 Gbps |   10 Gbps   | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      | AP2 |CE2,portZ |  40 Gbps |   40 Gbps   | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ + +                       Figure 12: AP - Customer View + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 28] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   On the other hand, what the operator sees is shown in Figure 13 + +                          -------            ------- +                         (       )          (       ) +                        -         -        -         - +                   W  (+---+       )      (       +---+)  Y +                -+---( |PE1| Dom.X  )----(  Dom.Y |PE2| )---+- +                 |    (+---+       )      (       +---+)    | +                 AP1    -         -        -         -     AP2 +                         (       )          (       ) +                          -------            ------- + +                    Figure 13: Operator View of the AP + +   which results in a summarization as shown in Figure 14. + +                            +----------+------------------------+ +                            | Endpoint | Access Link Bandwidth  | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      |AP id| PE,port  | MaxResBw | AvailableBw | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      | AP1 |PE1,portW |  10 Gbps |   10 Gbps   | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ +                      | AP2 |PE2,portY |  40 Gbps |   40 Gbps   | +                      +-----+----------+----------+-------------+ + +                       Figure 14: AP - Operator View + +   A Virtual Network Access Point (VNAP) needs to be defined as binding +   between an AP and a VN.  It is used to allow different VNs to start +   from the same AP.  It also allows for traffic engineering on the +   access and/or inter-domain links (e.g., keeping track of bandwidth +   allocation).  A different VNAP is created on an AP for each VN. + +   In this simple scenario, we suppose we want to create two virtual +   networks: the first with VN identifier 9 between AP1 and AP2 with +   bandwidth of 1 Gbps and the second with VN identifier 5, again +   between AP1 and AP2 and with bandwidth 2 Gbps. + +   The operator view would evolve as shown in Figure 15. + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 29] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                           +----------+------------------------+ +                           | Endpoint |  Access Link/VNAP Bw   | +                 +---------+----------+----------+-------------+ +                 |AP/VNAPid| PE,port  | MaxResBw | AvailableBw | +                 +---------+----------+----------+-------------+ +                 |AP1      |PE1,portW | 10 Gbps  |   7 Gbps    | +                 | -VNAP1.9|          |  1 Gbps  |     N.A.    | +                 | -VNAP1.5|          |  2 Gbps  |     N.A     | +                 +---------+----------+----------+-------------+ +                 |AP2      |PE2,portY | 4 0Gbps  |   37 Gbps   | +                 | -VNAP2.9|          |  1 Gbps  |     N.A.    | +                 | -VNAP2.5|          |  2 Gbps  |     N.A     | +                 +---------+----------+----------+-------------+ + +         Figure 15: AP and VNAP - Operator View after VNS Creation + +6.1.  Dual-Homing Scenario + +   Often there is a dual-homing relationship between a CE and a pair of +   PEs.  This case needs to be supported by the definition of VN, APs, +   and VNAPs.  Suppose CE1 connected to two different PEs in the +   operator domain via AP1 and AP2 and that the customer needs 5 Gbps of +   bandwidth between CE1 and CE2.  This is shown in Figure 16. + +                                      ____________ +                              AP1    (            )    AP3 +                             -------(PE1)      (PE3)------- +                          W /      (                )      \ X +                      +---+/      (                  )      \+---+ +                      |CE1|      (                    )      |CE2| +                      +---+\      (                  )      /+---+ +                          Y \      (                )      / Z +                             -------(PE2)      (PE4)------- +                              AP2    (____________) + +                      Figure 16: Dual-Homing Scenario + +   In this case, the customer will request a VN between AP1, AP2, and +   AP3 specifying a dual-homing relationship between AP1 and AP2.  As a +   consequence, no traffic will flow between AP1 and AP2.  The dual- +   homing relationship would then be mapped against the VNAPs (since +   other independent VNs might have AP1 and AP2 as endpoints). + +   The customer view would be shown in Figure 17. + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 30] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                      +----------+------------------------+ +                      | Endpoint |  Access Link/VNAP Bw   | +            +---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+ +            |AP/VNAPid| CE,port  | MaxResBw | AvailableBw |Dual Homing| +            +---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+ +            |AP1      |CE1,portW | 10 Gbps  |   5 Gbps    |           | +            | -VNAP1.9|          |  5 Gbps  |     N.A.    | VNAP2.9   | +            +---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+ +            |AP2      |CE1,portY | 40 Gbps  |   35 Gbps   |           | +            | -VNAP2.9|          |  5 Gbps  |     N.A.    | VNAP1.9   | +            +---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+ +            |AP3      |CE2,portX | 50 Gbps  |  45 Gbps    |           | +            | -VNAP3.9|          |  5 Gbps  |     N.A.    |   NONE    | +            +---------+----------+----------+-------------+-----------+ + +         Figure 17: Dual-Homing -- Customer View after VN Creation + +7.  Advanced ACTN Application: Multi-Destination Service + +   A more-advanced application of ACTN is the case of data center (DC) +   selection, where the customer requires the DC selection to be based +   on the network status; this is referred to as "Multi-Destination +   Service" in [ACTN-REQ].  In terms of ACTN, a CNC could request a VNS +   between a set of source APs and destination APs and leave it up to +   the network (MDSC) to decide which source and destination APs to be +   used to set up the VNS.  The candidate list of source and destination +   APs is decided by a CNC (or an entity outside of ACTN) based on +   certain factors that are outside the scope of ACTN. + +   Based on the AP selection as determined and returned by the network +   (MDSC), the CNC (or an entity outside of ACTN) should further take +   care of any subsequent actions such as orchestration or service setup +   requirements.  These further actions are outside the scope of ACTN. + +   Consider a case as shown in Figure 18, where three DCs are available, +   but the customer requires the DC selection to be based on the network +   status and the connectivity service setup between the AP1 (CE1) and +   one of the destination APs (AP2 (DC-A), AP3 (DC-B), and AP4 (DC-C)). +   The MDSC (in coordination with PNCs) would select the best +   destination AP based on the constraints, optimization criteria, +   policies, etc., and set up the connectivity service (virtual +   network). + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 31] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +                          -------            ------- +                         (       )          (       ) +                        -         -        -         - +          +---+        (           )      (           )        +----+ +          |CE1|---+---(  Domain X   )----(  Domain Y   )---+---|DC-A| +          +---+   |    (           )      (           )    |   +----+ +                   AP1  -         -        -         -    AP2 +                         (       )          (       ) +                          ---+---            ---+--- +                             |                  | +                         AP3-+              AP4-+ +                             |                  | +                          +----+              +----+ +                          |DC-B|              |DC-C| +                          +----+              +----+ + +           Figure 18: Endpoint Selection Based on Network Status + +7.1.  Preplanned Endpoint Migration + +   Furthermore, in the case of DC selection, a customer could request a +   backup DC to be selected, such that in case of failure, another DC +   site could provide hot stand-by protection.  As shown in Figure 19, +   DC-C is selected as a backup for DC-A.  Thus, the VN should be set up +   by the MDSC to include primary connectivity between AP1 (CE1) and AP2 +   (DC-A) as well as protection connectivity between AP1 (CE1) and AP4 +   (DC-C). + +                    -------            ------- +                   (       )          (       ) +                  -         -    __  -         - +   +---+         (           )      (           )        +----+ +   |CE1|---+----(  Domain X   )----(  Domain Y   )---+---|DC-A| +   +---+   |     (           )      (           )    |   +----+ +           AP1    -         -        -         -    AP2    | +                   (       )          (       )            | +                    ---+---            ---+---             | +                       |                  |                | +                   AP3-|              AP4-|         HOT STANDBY +                       |                  |                | +                    +----+             +----+              | +                    |DC-D|             |DC-C|<------------- +                    +----+             +----+ + +                 Figure 19: Preplanned Endpoint Migration + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 32] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +7.2.  On-the-Fly Endpoint Migration + +   Compared to preplanned endpoint migration, on-the-fly endpoint +   selection is dynamic in that the migration is not preplanned but +   decided based on network condition.  Under this scenario, the MDSC +   would monitor the network (based on the VN SLA) and notify the CNC in +   the case where some other destination AP would be a better choice +   based on the network parameters.  The CNC should instruct the MDSC +   when it is suitable to update the VN with the new AP if it is +   required. + +8.  Manageability Considerations + +   The objective of ACTN is to manage traffic engineered resources and +   provide a set of mechanisms to allow customers to request virtual +   connectivity across server-network resources.  ACTN supports multiple +   customers, each with its own view of and control of a virtual network +   built on the server network; the network operator will need to +   partition (or "slice") their network resources, and manage the +   resources accordingly. + +   The ACTN platform will, itself, need to support the request, +   response, and reservations of client- and network-layer connectivity. +   It will also need to provide performance monitoring and control of TE +   resources.  The management requirements may be categorized as +   follows: + +   o  Management of external ACTN protocols +   o  Management of internal ACTN interfaces/protocols +   o  Management and monitoring of ACTN components +   o  Configuration of policy to be applied across the ACTN system + +   The ACTN framework and interfaces are defined to enable traffic +   engineering for virtual network services and connectivity services. +   Network operators may have other Operations, Administration, and +   Maintenance (OAM) tasks for service fulfillment, optimization, and +   assurance beyond traffic engineering.  The realization of OAM beyond +   abstraction and control of TE networks is not discussed in this +   document. + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 33] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +8.1.  Policy + +   Policy is an important aspect of ACTN control and management. +   Policies are used via the components and interfaces, during +   deployment of the service, to ensure that the service is compliant +   with agreed-upon policy factors and variations (often described in +   SLAs); these include, but are not limited to connectivity, bandwidth, +   geographical transit, technology selection, security, resilience, and +   economic cost. + +   Depending on the deployment of the ACTN architecture, some policies +   may have local or global significance.  That is, certain policies may +   be ACTN component specific in scope, while others may have broader +   scope and interact with multiple ACTN components.  Two examples are +   provided below: + +   o  A local policy might limit the number, type, size, and scheduling +      of virtual network services a customer may request via its CNC. +      This type of policy would be implemented locally on the MDSC. + +   o  A global policy might constrain certain customer types (or +      specific customer applications) only to use certain MDSCs and be +      restricted to physical network types managed by the PNCs.  A +      global policy agent would govern these types of policies. + +   The objective of this section is to discuss the applicability of ACTN +   policy: requirements, components, interfaces, and examples.  This +   section provides an analysis and does not mandate a specific method +   for enforcing policy, or the type of policy agent that would be +   responsible for propagating policies across the ACTN components.  It +   does highlight examples of how policy may be applied in the context +   of ACTN, but it is expected further discussion in an applicability or +   solution-specific document, will be required. + +8.2.  Policy Applied to the Customer Network Controller + +   A virtual network service for a customer application will be +   requested by the CNC.  The request will reflect the application +   requirements and specific service needs, including bandwidth, traffic +   type and survivability.  Furthermore, application access and type of +   virtual network service requested by the CNC, will be need adhere to +   specific access control policies. + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 34] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +8.3.  Policy Applied to the Multi-Domain Service Coordinator + +   A key objective of the MDSC is to support the customer's expression +   of the application connectivity request via its CNC as a set of +   desired business needs; therefore, policy will play an important +   role. + +   Once authorized, the virtual network service will be instantiated via +   the CNC-MDSC Interface (CMI); it will reflect the customer +   application and connectivity requirements and specific service- +   transport needs.  The CNC and the MDSC components will have agreed- +   upon connectivity endpoints; use of these endpoints should be defined +   as a policy expression when setting up or augmenting virtual network +   services.  Ensuring that permissible endpoints are defined for CNCs +   and applications will require the MDSC to maintain a registry of +   permissible connection points for CNCs and application types. + +   Conflicts may occur when virtual network service optimization +   criteria are in competition.  For example, to meet objectives for +   service reachability, a request may require an interconnection point +   between multiple physical networks; however, this might break a +   confidentially policy requirement of a specific type of end-to-end +   service.  Thus, an MDSC may have to balance a number of the +   constraints on a service request and between different requested +   services.  It may also have to balance requested services with +   operational norms for the underlying physical networks.  This +   balancing may be resolved using configured policy and using hard and +   soft policy constraints. + +8.4.  Policy Applied to the Provisioning Network Controller + +   The PNC is responsible for configuring the network elements, +   monitoring physical network resources, and exposing connectivity +   (direct or abstracted) to the MDSC.  Therefore, it is expected that +   policy will dictate what connectivity information will be exchanged +   on the MPI. + +   Policy interactions may arise when a PNC determines that it cannot +   compute a requested path from the MDSC, or notices that (per a +   locally configured policy) the network is low on resources (for +   example, the capacity on key links became exhausted).  In either +   case, the PNC will be required to notify the MDSC, which may (again +   per policy) act to construct a virtual network service across another +   physical network topology. + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 35] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   Furthermore, additional forms of policy-based resource management +   will be required to provide VNS performance, security, and resilience +   guarantees.  This will likely be implemented via a local policy agent +   and additional protocol methods. + +9.  Security Considerations + +   The ACTN framework described in this document defines key components +   and interfaces for managed TE networks.  Securing the request and +   control of resources, confidentiality of the information, and +   availability of function should all be critical security +   considerations when deploying and operating ACTN platforms. + +   Several distributed ACTN functional components are required, and +   implementations should consider encrypting data that flows between +   components, especially when they are implemented at remote nodes, +   regardless of whether these data flows are on external or internal +   network interfaces. + +   The ACTN security discussion is further split into two specific +   categories described in the following subsections: + +   o  Interface between the Customer Network Controller and Multi-Domain +      Service Coordinator (MDSC), CNC-MDSC Interface (CMI) + +   o  Interface between the Multi-Domain Service Coordinator and +      Provisioning Network Controller (PNC), MDSC-PNC Interface (MPI) + +   From a security and reliability perspective, ACTN may encounter many +   risks such as malicious attack and rogue elements attempting to +   connect to various ACTN components.  Furthermore, some ACTN +   components represent a single point of failure and threat vector and +   must also manage policy conflicts and eavesdropping of communication +   between different ACTN components. + +   The conclusion is that all protocols used to realize the ACTN +   framework should have rich security features, and customer, +   application and network data should be stored in encrypted data +   stores.  Additional security risks may still exist.  Therefore, +   discussion and applicability of specific security functions and +   protocols will be better described in documents that are use case and +   environment specific. + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 36] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +9.1.  CNC-MDSC Interface (CMI) + +   Data stored by the MDSC will reveal details of the virtual network +   services and which CNC and customer/application is consuming the +   resource.  Therefore, the data stored must be considered a candidate +   for encryption. + +   CNC Access rights to an MDSC must be managed.  The MDSC must allocate +   resources properly, and methods to prevent policy conflicts, resource +   waste, and denial-of-service attacks on the MDSC by rogue CNCs should +   also be considered. + +   The CMI will likely be an external protocol interface.  Suitable +   authentication and authorization of each CNC connecting to the MDSC +   will be required; especially, as these are likely to be implemented +   by different organizations and on separate functional nodes.  Use of +   the AAA-based mechanisms would also provide role-based authorization +   methods so that only authorized CNC's may access the different +   functions of the MDSC. + +9.2.  MDSC-PNC Interface (MPI) + +   Where the MDSC must interact with multiple (distributed) PNCs, a PKI- +   based mechanism is suggested, such as building a TLS or HTTPS +   connection between the MDSC and PNCs, to ensure trust between the +   physical network layer control components and the MDSC.  Trust +   anchors for the PKI can be configured to use a smaller (and +   potentially non-intersecting) set of trusted Certificate Authorities +   (CAs) than in the Web PKI. + +   Which MDSC the PNC exports topology information to, and the level of +   detail (full or abstracted), should also be authenticated, and +   specific access restrictions and topology views should be +   configurable and/or policy based. + +10.  IANA Considerations + +   This document has no IANA actions. + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 37] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +11.  Informative References + +   [ACTN-REQ] +              Lee, Y., Ceccarelli, D., Miyasaka, T., Shin, J., and K. +              Lee, "Requirements for Abstraction and Control of TE +              Networks", Work in Progress, +              draft-ietf-teas-actn-requirements-09, March 2018. + +   [ACTN-YANG] +              Lee, Y., Dhody, D., Ceccarelli, D., Bryskin, I., Yoon, B., +              Wu, Q., and P. Park, "A Yang Data Model for ACTN VN +              Operation", Work in Progress, +              draft-ietf-teas-actn-vn-yang-01, June 2018. + +   [ONF-ARCH] +              Open Networking Foundation, "SDN Architecture", Issue +              1.1, ONF TR-521, June 2016. + +   [RFC2702]  Awduche, D., Malcolm, J., Agogbua, J., O'Dell, M., and J. +              McManus, "Requirements for Traffic Engineering Over MPLS", +              RFC 2702, DOI 10.17487/RFC2702, September 1999, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc2702>. + +   [RFC3945]  Mannie, E., Ed., "Generalized Multi-Protocol Label +              Switching (GMPLS) Architecture", RFC 3945, +              DOI 10.17487/RFC3945, October 2004, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc3945>. + +   [RFC4655]  Farrel, A., Vasseur, J., and J. Ash, "A Path Computation +              Element (PCE)-Based Architecture", RFC 4655, +              DOI 10.17487/RFC4655, August 2006, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc4655>. + +   [RFC5654]  Niven-Jenkins, B., Ed., Brungard, D., Ed., Betts, M., Ed., +              Sprecher, N., and S. Ueno, "Requirements of an MPLS +              Transport Profile", RFC 5654, DOI 10.17487/RFC5654, +              September 2009, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5654>. + +   [RFC7149]  Boucadair, M. and C. Jacquenet, "Software-Defined +              Networking: A Perspective from within a Service Provider +              Environment", RFC 7149, DOI 10.17487/RFC7149, March 2014, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7149>. + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 38] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   [RFC7926]  Farrel, A., Ed., Drake, J., Bitar, N., Swallow, G., +              Ceccarelli, D., and X. Zhang, "Problem Statement and +              Architecture for Information Exchange between +              Interconnected Traffic-Engineered Networks", BCP 206, +              RFC 7926, DOI 10.17487/RFC7926, July 2016, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc7926>. + +   [RFC8283]  Farrel, A., Ed., Zhao, Q., Ed., Li, Z., and C. Zhou, "An +              Architecture for Use of PCE and the PCE Communication +              Protocol (PCEP) in a Network with Central Control", +              RFC 8283, DOI 10.17487/RFC8283, December 2017, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8283>. + +   [RFC8309]  Wu, Q., Liu, W., and A. Farrel, "Service Models +              Explained", RFC 8309, DOI 10.17487/RFC8309, January 2018, +              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc8309>. + +   [TE-TOPO]  Liu, X., Bryskin, I., Beeram, V., Saad, T., Shah, H., and +              O. Dios, "YANG Data Model for Traffic Engineering (TE) +              Topologies", Work in Progress, +              draft-ietf-teas-yang-te-topo-18, June 2018. + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 39] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +Appendix A.  Example of MDSC and PNC Functions Integrated in a Service/ +             Network Orchestrator + +   This section provides an example of a possible deployment scenario, +   in which Service/Network Orchestrator can include the PNC +   functionalities for domain 2 and the MDSC functionalities. + +              Customer +                          +-------------------------------+ +                          |    +-----+                    | +                          |    | CNC |                    | +                          |    +-----+                    | +                          +-------|-----------------------+ +                                  | +              Service/Network     | CMI +              Orchestrator        | +                          +-------|------------------------+ +                          |    +------+   MPI   +------+   | +                          |    | MDSC |---------| PNC2 |   | +                          |    +------+         +------+   | +                          +-------|------------------|-----+ +                                  | MPI              | +              Domain Controller   |                  | +                          +-------|-----+            | +                          |   +-----+   |            | SBI +                          |   |PNC1 |   |            | +                          |   +-----+   |            | +                          +-------|-----+            | +                                  v SBI              v +                               -------            ------- +                              (       )          (       ) +                             -         -        -         - +                            (           )      (           ) +                           (  Domain 1   )----(  Domain 2   ) +                            (           )      (           ) +                             -         -        -         - +                              (       )          (       ) +                               -------            ------- + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 40] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +Contributors + +   Adrian Farrel +   Old Dog Consulting +   Email: adrian@olddog.co.uk + +   Italo Busi +   Huawei +   Email: Italo.Busi@huawei.com + +   Khuzema Pithewan +   Peloton Technology +   Email: khuzemap@gmail.com + +   Michael Scharf +   Nokia +   Email: michael.scharf@nokia.com + +   Luyuan Fang +   eBay +   Email: luyuanf@gmail.com + +   Diego Lopez +   Telefonica I+D +   Don Ramon de la Cruz, 82 +   28006 Madrid +   Spain +   Email: diego@tid.es + +   Sergio Belotti +   Nokia +   Via Trento, 30 +   Vimercate +   Italy +   Email: sergio.belotti@nokia.com + +   Daniel King +   Lancaster University +   Email: d.king@lancaster.ac.uk + +   Dhruv Dhody +   Huawei Technologies +   Divyashree Techno Park, Whitefield +   Bangalore, Karnataka  560066 +   India +   Email: dhruv.ietf@gmail.com + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 41] + +RFC 8453                     ACTN Framework                  August 2018 + + +   Gert Grammel +   Juniper Networks +   Email: ggrammel@juniper.net + +Authors' Addresses + +   Daniele Ceccarelli (editor) +   Ericsson +   Torshamnsgatan, 48 +   Stockholm +   Sweden + +   Email: daniele.ceccarelli@ericsson.com + + +   Young Lee (editor) +   Huawei Technologies +   5340 Legacy Drive +   Plano, TX 75023 +   United States of America + +   Email: leeyoung@huawei.com + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +Ceccarelli & Lee              Informational                    [Page 42] + |