Subject: [IPFIX] IPFIX re-chartering request

From: Juergen Quittek <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 24 Oct 2011 18:06:35 +0000

Dear Dan,

As discussed at the last IPFIX session and on the mailing
list, here is a proposal from the IPFIX WG for an update
of the IPFIX WG charter.

Please find the revised version below. It describes eight
new drafts to produce.  For each of them we have already
a quite mature version that is ready for immediate adoption
as WG draft and that is expected to resolve remaining open
issues soon.

>From our old charter we have only a single milestone left:

Dec 2010   Submit flow selection I-D to IESG for publication as
           Standards Track RFC

This draft still needs a few changes based on comments from
the last WGLC and will then be ready for submission.

Proposal for IPFIX charter update
###########################

IP Flow Information Export (ipfix)

Description of Working Group

The IPFIX working group has specified the information model (to describe
IP flows) and the IPFIX protocol (to transfer IP flow data from IPFIX
exporters to collectors). Several implementers have already built
applications using the IPFIX protocol. As a result of a series of IPFIX
interoperability testing events the WG has produced guidelines for IPFIX
implementation and testing as well as recommendations for handling
special cases such as bidirectional flow reporting and reducing
redundancy in flow records.

The IPFIX WG has developed a mediation framework, that defines IPFIX
mediators for processing flow records for various purposes including
aggregation, anonymization, etc. For configuring IPFIX devices, a YANG
module has been developed.

1. Having a solid standardized base for IPFIX deployment and operation
and several existing implementations, the IPFIX WG will revisit the
IPFIX protocol specifications (RFC 5101) and the IPFIX information
element specification (RFC 5102) in order to in order to advance them
to the next stage on the standards track.

All following items 2.-7. will be in line with the revised versions
of the IPFIX protocol specifications and the IPFIX information model.

2. In order to provide guidelines to developers of new IPFIX information
elements and for better defining the process of registering new
information elements at IANA the IPFIX WG will create an information
element developers guideline document.

3. The export of IPFIX flow records from IPFIX mediators introduces a
set of potential issues at the protocol level, such as the loss of
information on the original exporter, loss of base time information,
loss of original options template information, etc. The IPFIX WG will
define a set of specifications for applying the IPFIX protocol at
mediators, including new specifications for protocol issues not
envisioned by the IPFIX protocol itself.

4.In order to support the aggregation of flow records at IPFIX mediators
the IPFIX WG will define how to export aggregated flow information using
IPFIX. An aggregated flow is essentially an IPFIX flow representing
packets from multiple original Flows sharing some set of common properties.

5. The IPFIX WG will investigate the use of the IPFIX protocol for
exporting MIB objects, avoiding the need to define new IPFIX information
elements for existing management information base objects that are
already fully specified. This method requires the specification of new
template set and options template sets to allow the export of MIB objects
along with IPFIX information elements.

6. The IPFIX MIB module (RFC 5815) defined a way to register packet
selector functions at IANA. The WG agreed that another method would
be preferable that requires a minor change of RFC 5815. The IPFIX WG
will produce a new version of RFC 5815 with small modifications of
the IANA actions and DESCRIPTION clauses in the MIB modules.

7. Operational experiences showed that it would be useful to define
several new information elements for data link monitoring covering
frame size, type, sections of frames, and VLAN information. The IPFIX
WG will create a document defining these new information elements.

Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on guidelines for IE doctors
Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on IPFIX use at mediators
Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on intermediate aggregation
Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on exporting MIB objects
Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on data link IEs
Nov 2011   Publish Internet-Draft on revised IPFIX MIB
Dec 2011   Publish Internet-Draft revising RFC 5101
Dec 2011   Publish Internet-Draft revising RFC 5102

Dec 2011   Submit flow selection I-D to IESG for publication as
           Standards Track RFC

Apr 2012   Submit guidelines for IE doctors for publication as
           Informational BCP RFC
Apr 2012   Submit IPFIX use at mediators for publication as
           Standards track RFC
Apr 2012   Submit intermediate aggregation for publication as
           Standards track RFC
Apr 2012   Submit data link IEs for publication as
           Standards track RFC
Apr 2012   Submit revised RFC 5101 for publication as
           Standards track RFC
Apr 2012   Submit revised IPFIX MIB for publications as
           Standards track RFC
Apr 2012   Submit revised RFC 5102 for publication as
           Standards track RFC
Sep 2012   Submit export of MIB objects for publication as
           Standards track RFC