2.4.16 Remote Network Monitoring (rmonmib)

NOTE: This charter is a snapshot of the 61st IETF Meeting in Washington, DC USA. It may now be out-of-date.

Last Modified: 2004-10-01

Chair(s):

Andy Bierman <abierman@cisco.com>

Operations and Management Area Director(s):

Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com>
David Kessens <david.kessens@nokia.com>

Operations and Management Area Advisor:

Bert Wijnen <bwijnen@lucent.com>

Technical Advisor(s):

Steven Waldbusser <waldbusser@nextbeacon.com>
Matthew Zekauskas <matt@internet2.edu>

Mailing Lists:

General Discussion: rmonmib@ietf.org
To Subscribe: http://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/rmonmib
Archive: http://www.ietf.org/mail-archive/web/rmonmib/index.html

Description of Working Group:

Steve Waldbusser is TA for SNMP/MIB related matters
  Matt Zekauskas is TA for Transport Retaled matters



The RMON MIB Working Group is chartered to define a set of managed
objects for remote monitoring of networks. These objects will be the
minimum necessary to provide the ability to monitor multiple network
layers of traffic in remote networks; providing fault, configuration,
and performance management, and will be consistent with the SNMP
framework and existing SNMP standards.

The following list of features for this RMON has been previously
discussed in relation to existing RMON functionality and is included
to focus these RMON activities. It is recognized that other issues
may be considered and that certain of the following issues may not
be part of the final specification(s):

  1. Application Performance Measurement

    Monitoring support for the measurement and characterization
    of network application protocols, striving to measure an
    application user's experience as closely as possible.
    The RMON-2 MIB (RFC 2021) contains a protocol directory
    that will be used to identify applications for monitoring
    purposes.

    While it is important to measure the performance of computing
    and network resources, these measurements don't give an insight
    to the actual service delivered to end-users. This end-user
    experience is best measured by the response-time and availability
    of application transactions because users interact directly
    with applications. This working group will create extensions
    to the RMON-2 MIB that will allow Application Performance
    Measurements to be retrieved with SNMP, no matter which
    technology is used to perform the measurements.

    The goal of the working group is to provide a common framework
    and set of MIB objects, within the current RMON framework,
    for the identification and characterization of application
    responsiveness and availability, and the reporting of
    test results produced by such mechanisms.  Common metrics and
    derived metrics will be characterized and reported in a manner
    consistent with the IP Performance Metrics Framework (RFC 2330).

    It is an explicit non-goal of the working group to select
    one or more mechanisms as the preferred or standard RMON
    application performance measurement mechanism. However, it is
    possible that one or more standard mechanisms will be
    developed in the future, after significant implementation
    experience has been gained by the working group.

  2. Differentiated Services Statistics Collection

    Monitoring support for Differentiated Services (DS) statistics
    collection, for the purpose of DS codepoint usage analysis
    and possibly other statistics related to DS deployment and
    performance tuning.

  3. Interface TopN Reporting

    It is often too slow or difficult to determine the
    busiest ports in devices such as high port-density switches,
    using existing RMON mechanisms.
    New monitoring support is needed for quickly determining
    the most congested (highest utilized) physical ports and
    links in an RMON-capable device with multiple interfaces.

  4. TR-RMON MIB Advancement

    The Token Ring RMON MIB (RFC 1513) is ready for standards
    track advancement. An interoperability and deployment survey
    has already been completed, but the MIB must be updated in
    SMIv2 format before it can be advanced on the standards track.


  5. Transport Performance Measurement

    There is a need for standardized means to collect and report
    selectable performance metrics and statistics derived from
    the monitoring of network packets and transport protocol states.
    The monitoring covers both passive and active traffic generation
    sources. Monitoring support for the these measurements can
    provide a drill-down capability to provide insight into the
    performance of the lower-level transactions which comprise the
    overall performance of a network application.

    The goal of the working group is to provide a common framework
    and set of MIB objects, within the current RMON framework,
    for the identification and characterization of transaction-level
    performance, and the reporting of test results produced by such
    mechanisms. Common metrics and derived statistics will be
    characterized and reported in a manner consistent with the
    IP Performance Metrics Framework (RFC 2330).

  6. SMON MIB Advancement

    The SMON MIB (RFC 2613) is ready for standards
    track advancement. An interoperability and deployment survey
    will be completed, and submitted to the IESG.
    It is possible that minor enhancements and corrections to
    RFC 2613 will be made, based on the survey findings and
    working group input.

  7. RMON-2 MIB Advancement

    The RMON-2 MIB (RFC 2021) is ready for standards
    track advancement. An interoperability and deployment survey
    will be completed, and submitted to the IESG.
    It is possible that minor enhancements and corrections to
    RFC 2021 will be made, based on the survey findings and
    working group input.

  8. RMON PI Reference Advancement

    The RMON Protocol Identifiers Reference (RFC 2895) is ready
    for standards track advancement. An interoperability and
    deployment survey will be completed, and submitted to the
    IESG. It is possible that minor enhancements and corrections
    to RFC 2895 will be made, based on the survey findings and
    working group input.

  9. Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring

    Mechanisms are needed for the remote control of synthetic
    packet sources and destinations, for the purpose of
    enhancing remote performance monitoring capabilities within
    IP networks and services. These mechanisms must utilize
    the RMON protocol directory for protocol encapsulation
    identification. Any interactions with the
    RMON Framework or dependencies on specific RMON MIB objects
    (if any) will be specified as well.

  10. RMON Framework

    Documentation is needed which clarifies the remote network
    monitoring framework, and describes the inter-relationships and
    dependencies between the various RMON MIB modules. A conceptual
    model is needed to help administrators and developers better
    understand data sources, the protocol directory, and the existing
    RMON statistical collections. Undocumented 'RMON folklore', as
well
    as the limitations and appropriate application of various
    implementation techniques will also be addressed.

  11. Real-time Application QoS Monitoring MIB

    There is a need to extend the RMON framework to monitor end
devices
    such as IP Phones, pagers, Instant Message Clients, Cell Phones,
    and PDA devices. An end-to-end user experience of the quality of
    service (QoS) and performance for such an application is a
    combination of device performance and transport network
    performance. Monitoring should be performed at the application
    layer that reflects a specific end user experience on a particular
    IP end point, reflecting specific transport network performance

There is a need to extend the RMON framework to monitor end devices
such as IP Phones, pagers, Instant Message Clients, Cell Phones,
and PDA devices. An end-to-end user experience of the quality of
service (QoS) and performance for such an application is a combination
of device performance and transport network performance. Monitoring
should be performed at the application layer that reflects a specific
end user experience on a particular IP end point, reflecting specific
transport network performance.

This working group will extend the RMON Framework to allow Real-time
Application QoS information of these types of end devices to be
retrieved with SNMP, independent of the technology used to
perform the measurements.

The WG will define a common framework and set of MIB objects,
within the current RMON framework, for the identification and
characterization of application QoS parameters, and the reporting
of the on-going measurement reports produced by these mechanisms.
Common metrics and derived metrics will be characterized and reported
in a manner consistent with the IP Performance Metrics Framework
(RFC 2330).

The WG will also define a set of RAQMON Application level QoS PDUs
to have common formats of reporting statistics between a RAQMON
Data Source and a RAQMON Report Collector. These Common
RAQMON PDUs will be transported over existing protocols, such as
RTCP or SNMP.

The measurement methodology is out of the scope of the RAQMON work
and will be in conformance with the IPPM WG recommendations, and
also may take into account considerations from application-specific
(IM and telephony) WGs as needed. This WG will consider the
cases for transport of RAQMON PDUs, including how RTCP might be
used and still meet security/privacy goals.

Security aspects related to RAQMON reports will be cognizant of
privacy and anonymity issues while being responsive to the needs
of measurement applications.

Goals and Milestones:

Done  Activation of working group, call for suggested MIB modules.
Done  Reach agreement on the functional scope of the charter, and finalize the document deliverables.
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for Differentiated Services Monitoring
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for Interface TopN Reporting
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for TR-RMON MIB in SMIv2 Format
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for TR-RMON MIB in SMIv2 Format
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for Application Performance Metrics
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for Differentiated Services Monitoring
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for Interface TopN Reporting
Done  Submit Final Draft of Differentiated Services Monitoring to IESG for standards track action
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for Application Performance Metrics
Done  Submit Final Draft of Application Performance Metrics to IESG for standards track action
Done  Submit Final Draft of Interface TopN Reporting to IESG for standards track action
Done  Call for MIB Modules for Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring
Done  Call for RMON-2 Implementation reports
Done  Call for RMON-PI Implementation reports
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring
Done  Submit initial Internet-Draft for the RMON Framework
Done  Submit Final Draft of TR-RMON MIB in SMIv2 Format
Done  Complete RMON-PI Implementation Report
Done  Begin WG Last Call for Transport Performance Measurement
Done  Begin WG Last Call for Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring
Done  Submit Final RMON-2 Implementation Report to IESG
Done  Submit Final SMON Implementation Report to IESG
Done  Complete RMON-2 Implementation Report
Done  Submit Final RMON-PI Implementation Report to IESG
Done  Complete SMON Implementation Report
Done  Begin WG Last Call for RMON Framework
Done  Publish initial Internet-Draft for the Extensions to RMON Framework for RAQMON
Done  Publish initial Internet-Draft for the RAQMON PDU Types
Done  Submit Final Draft of Transport Performance Measurement to IESG for standards track action
Done  Submit Final Draft of Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring to IESG for standards track action
Done  Publish initial Internet-Draft for the RAQMON MIB
Done  Submit Final Draft of RMON Framework to IESG for standards track action
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for the Extensions to RMON Framework for RAQMON document
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for the RAQMON PDU Types document
Done  Begin Working Group Last Call for the RAQMON MIB document
Done  Submit initial draft for RMON Protocol Macros for IPv6
Dec 03  Submit the RAQMON PDU Types document to the IESG for publication consideration as a Proposed Standard
Dec 03  Submit the RAQMON MIB document to the IESG for publication consideration as a Proposed Standard
Done  Begin WG Last Call for RMON Protocol Macros for IPv6
Dec 03  Submit the Extensions to RMON Framework for RAQMON document to the IESG for publication consideration as an Informational RFC
Done  Submit final draft of RMON Protocol Macros for IPv6 to the IESG

Internet-Drafts:

  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-tpm-mib-14.txt
  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-sspm-mib-12.txt
  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-mib-05.txt
  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-framework-07.txt
  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-pdu-07.txt
  • draft-ietf-rmonmib-rmon2-v2-02.txt

    Request For Comments:

    RFCStatusTitle
    RFC1271 PS Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base
    RFC1757 DS Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base
    RFC2021 PS Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base Version 2 using SMIv2
    RFC2074 PS Remote Network Monitoring MIB Protocol Identifiers
    RFC2613 PS Remote Network Monitoring MIB Extensions for Switch Networks Version 1.0
    RFC2819 Standard Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base
    RFC2895 PS Remote Network Monitoring MIB Protocol Identifier Reference
    RFC2896 I Remote Network Monitoring MIB Protocol Identifier Macros
    RFC3144 PS Remote Monitoring MIB Extensions for Interface Parameters Monitoring
    RFC3273 PS Remote Network Monitoring Management Information Base for High Capacity Networks
    RFC3287 PS Remote Monitoring MIB Extensions for Differentiated Services
    RFC3395 PS Remote Network Monitoring MIB Protocol Identifier Reference Extensions
    RFC3434 PS Remote Monitoring MIB Extensions for High Capacity Alarms
    RFC3577 I Introduction to the Remote Monitoring (RMON) Family of MIB Modules
    RFC3729 Standard Application Performance Measurement MIB
    RFC3737 Standard IANA guidelines for the registry of rmon MIB modules
    RFC3919 I Remote Network Monitoring (RMON) Protocol Identifiers for IPv6 and Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS)

    Current Meeting Report

    OPS Area
    RMONMIB WG Meeting Minutes
    IETF #61
    November 11, 2004
    Minutes by Andy Bierman

    Review Material
    ---------------

    (A) draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-framework-07.txt
    (B) draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-pdu-07.txt
    (C) draft-ietf-rmonmib-raqmon-mib-05.txt
    (D) draft-ietf-rmonmib-tpm-mib-14.txt
    (E) draft-ietf-rmonmib-sspm-mib-12.txt
    (F) draft-ietf-rmonmib-rmon2-v2-02.txt

    Agenda
    ------

    1) WG Document Status
    2) Real-time Application Quality of Service Monitoring

    Minutes
    -------

    1) Working Group Document Status

    The following work items have been completed by the WG, but not yet published as RFCs.

    1.1) Advancement of RFC 2613 (SMON) to DS

    The WG is currently waiting for IESG action for advancement to Draft Standard. This action is on hold because RFC 2613 has a normative reference to RFC 2021 (RMON-2). It cannot advance until RMON-2 advances to Draft Standard.

    1.2) Advancement of RFC 2021 (RMON-2) to DS

    The current draft of the RMON-2 MIB (F) has been updated
    to address the AD Review comments. The current state is 'AD Followup'.
    There were no comments on the draft except for the TimeFilter TC.
    There is text in this TC that needs correction and clarification.
    The most significant changes are:
    - correct: mangled text related to agent response
    - clarify: timestamp applies to entire row, not a timestamp per column or counter
    - remove text: deleted rows cannot be detected with TimeFilter

    Replacement text will be sent to the WG mailing list. After any corrections, the MIB will be updated. No new WG Last Call will be held for this minor clarification.

    1.3) TPM-MIB

    The TPM-MIB is approved and currently in the RFC Editor queue.

    1.4) SSPM-MIB

    The SSPM-MIB was approved in August and still in the RFC Editor queue. It is probably held up because of an unpublished reference.

    1.5) Protocol Identifier Macros for IPv6

    This document has been recently published as RFC 3919.

    2) Real-time Application Quality of Service Monitoring

    The RAQMON Framework (A), RAQMON PDU (B), and RAQMON MIB (C) documents were discussed together. A presentation on these drafts was given, explaining the changes from the last versions, and open issues with each draft. Refer to the slides for details on this presentation. The following issues were discussed:

    2.1) Wrong PDU draft

    The RAQMON PDU draft (B) was updated to include support for TCP as the transport protocol, as the WG agreed at the last IETF. Unfortunately, an obsolete version was used as base, so many corrections were reintroduced into the draft. A new version will correct this problem.

    2.2) Session start time

    A clarification is needed. This should be the session start time, not the time the PDU is sent.

    2.3) Duplicate parameters

    There is some clarification needed regarding which parameters MUST, SHOULD, or MAY be included in the first or subsequent RAQMON PDUs. This is more of an issue for RAQMON over SNMP Notification, since UDP is not a reliable transport. It was suggested that separate profiles for the first and "2 through N" PDUs be documented.

    2.4) Timestamp terminology

    There is confusing text about walltime vs. NTP time. References to "wall clock" time will be removed.

    2.5) Determining end to end delay

    The current text does not specify how round-trip delay is determined. Are actual application packets, packets of the same type as the application, or some other application type used to measure this metric? (e.g., application is RTP but ICMP Echo used to measure).

    The NMS needs to know what was measured for this metric. The group agreed that conformance for this metric requires that actual application packets or packets of the same application type must be used.

    2.6) Determining one way delay

    This metric may not be supported by dividing the round trip metric by two. The RDS must only report metrics it can actually collect in a conformant manner.

    2.7) Packet discards vs. lost packets

    There is some clarification needed regarding the avoidance of double-counting in this area. If the RDS cannot tell the difference between discards and lost packets, then it must report only lost packets, and the discards metric must not be present.

    2.8) Use of SNMP in a data source

    It is not mandatory for an RDS to implement the SNMP Notification transport. It is mandatory for a collector to support both types of RAQMON PDUs. This may need to be emphasized in the PDU draft.

    2.9) Octet counters

    The current draft specifies the octet metric as counting only the application portion of each packet, instead of all the octets in the packet. This is inconsistent with RMON-2, which counts all the octets in each packet (e.g., 100 octet SNMP packet causes all these protocol octet counters to be incremented by 100: ether2.ip, ether2.ip.udp, ether2.ip.udp.snmp). This needs to be changed in RAQMON to align with RMON-2.

    2.10) Packet loss in fraction

    The group discussed removal of this metric as redundant, but decided to keep it, and add clarifying text regarding its purpose and encoding (units of 256ths?)

    2.11) IANA Considerations

    The PDU draft needs a "non-empty" IANA section to request a new TCP well-known port number for RAQMON PDUs. All other RAQMON drafts should have a "no IANA actions" form for this section.

    2.12) Padding octets

    Clarifying text is needed (maybe bugs to fix) regarding every place that padding octets can occur. The document includes text regarding padding after individual fields and after the entire PDU. The PDU diagram and text need to be clear on location of all padding octets.

    2.13) MIB clarifications

    Some clarifications are needed, such as "-1" to indicate missing data and a comment regarding the pre-assignment of { rmon 31 } (as per the RFC 3737).

    Slides

    Agenda
    WG RAQMON Internet-Drafts