Internet DRAFT - draft-dunbar-sfc-legacy-l4-l7-chain-architecture

draft-dunbar-sfc-legacy-l4-l7-chain-architecture



Network working group                                         L. Dunbar
Internet Draft                                                   Huawei
Intended status: Informational                               Ron Parker
Expires: January 2015                                 Affirmed Networks
                                                     I. Smith; S. Majee
                                                            F5 Networks
                                                                  N. So
                                                          Vinci Systems
                                                        Donald Eastlake
                                                                 Huawei
                                                           July 4, 2014



       Architecture for Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Functions
          draft-dunbar-sfc-legacy-l4-l7-chain-architecture-05.txt


Status of this Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79. This document may not be modified,
   and derivative works of it may not be created, except to publish it
   as an RFC and to translate it into languages other than English.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.

   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six
   months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents
   at any time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as
   reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt

   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html

   This Internet-Draft will expire on November 4, 2014.






Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 1]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 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
   (http://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.

Abstract

   This draft describes the architecture for chaining existing Layer 4-
   7 service functions that are not aware of newly defined SFC header.
   The intent is to identify optimal architecture for flexibly chaining
   existing Layer 4-7 functions to meet various service needs.

Table of Contents


   1. Introduction...................................................3
   2. Conventions used in this document..............................3
   3. Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Functions and Chaining................4
      3.1. Layer 4-7 Service Functions...............................4
      3.2. Metadata to Layer 4-7 Service Functions...................4
         3.2.1. Metadata at different OSI Layers.....................5
         3.2.2. Framework of carrying the metadata...................5
   4. Architecture for Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Functions...6
      4.1. Service Function Forwarder for Layer 4-7 Service Functions7
      4.2. Layer 4-7 nodes connection to SFF Nodes...................9
      4.3. Traffic Steering at SFF Nodes............................10
   5. Control Plane for Layer 4-7 Service Function Chain............11
      5.1. Multiple Instances of a Service Function.................11
      5.2. Service Chain Re-Classification..........................13
      5.3. Layer 4-7 traffic Steering...............................14
   6. Service Chain from the Layer 7 Perspective....................16
   7. Conclusion and Recommendation.................................16
   8. Manageability Considerations..................................17
   9. Security Considerations.......................................17
   10. IANA Considerations..........................................17
   11. References...................................................17
      11.1. Normative References....................................17


Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 2]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


      11.2. Informative References..................................17
   12. Acknowledgments..............................................18

1. Introduction

   This draft describes the architecture for chaining existing Layer 4-
   7 service functions that are not aware of newly defined SFC header.
   The intent is to identify optimal architecture for flexibly chaining
   existing Layer 4-7 functions to meet various service needs.

2. Conventions used in this document

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in RFC-2119 [RFC2119].

   In this document, these words will appear with that interpretation
   only when in ALL CAPS. Lower case uses of these words are not to be
   interpreted as carrying RFC-2119 significance.

   Chain Classifier: A component that performs traffic classification
   and potentially encodes a unique identifier or the SF MAP Index
   introduced by [SFC-Framework] to the packets. The unique identifier
   in the packets can be used by other nodes to associate the packets
   to a specific service chain and/or steer the packets to the
   designated service functions.

   DPI:              Deep Packet Inspection

   FW:               Firewall

   Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Function: Same as the Service Functions
   defined in [SFC-Problem] except that they may not be aware of the
   new service function chain header encapsulations. Many of existing
   Layer 4-7 service functions fall into this category. Exemplary
   functional modules include Firewall, Deep Packet Inspection (DPI),
   Encryption, Packet De-duplication, Compression, TCP Acceleration,
   NAT, and etc

   Service Function Instance: One instantiation of a service function.

   One service function could have multiple identical instances. For a
   service function with different functional instantiations, e.g. one
   instantiation applies policy-set-A (NAT44-A) and other applies
   policy-set-B (NAT44-B), they are considered as two different service
   functions."



Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 3]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014



   Some Service Function Instances are visible to Service Chain Path.
   Sometimes a collection of service function instances can appear as
   one single entity to the Service Chain Path, leaving the instance
   selection to local nodes.



3. Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Functions and Chaining

   Legacy Layer 4-7 service functions are the existing service
   functions that may not be aware of any new service encapsulation
   layers being proposed in SFC WG.

3.1. Layer 4-7 Service Functions

   A Layer 4-7 service function performs certain action to the packets
   traversed through. By Layer 4-7, it means that those functions don't
   participate in network layer routing protocols. The implementation
   of such service function can be either Proxy based or Packet Based,
   or a hybrid of both when more than one function is performed to the
   same packet flow.  Multiple service functions can be instantiated on
   a single service node as defined by [SFC-ARCH], or embedded in a
   L2/L3 network node.

   o  Proxy based service functions: these service functions terminate
      original packets, may reassemble multiple packets, reopen a new
      connection, or formulate new packets based on the received
      packets.

   o  Packet based service functions: these service functions maintain
      original packets, i.e. they don't make changes to packets
      traversed through except possibly making changes to metadata
      attached to the packet or the packet's outer header fields.

   Some Layer 4-7 service functions might have intelligence to choose
   the subsequent service functions on a service chain and pass data
   packets directly to the selected service functions. However, most
   existing Layer 4-7 service functions don't have this capability.



3.2. Metadata to Layer 4-7 Service Functions

   Strictly speaking, everything carrying the information that is not
   in the payload data is metadata. IETF has standardized many types of



Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 4]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


   metadata exchanged among L2/L3 nodes, e.g. QoS bits, MPLS labels,
   etc. Those metadata are out of the scope of SFC.

   Metadata in the SFC sense must mean something more specific such as
   "the information added to the packet to be carried along with the
   packet for the consumption of the service function nodes along the
   chain".

   This section classifies the metadata that are meaningful to SFC.

3.2.1. Metadata at different OSI Layers

   o  Application Layer metadata:

     Some Layer 4-7 service functions, especially the proxy based
     service functions, exchange metadata among themselves by changing
     the payload of the data packets, e.g. attaching a cookie to the
     payload or initiating a new TCP session.

     Those metadata, especially the metadata among L7 Service
     Functions, are considered as part of payload. Most likely they are
     proprietary to application layer. Therefore, they should be out of
     the scope of SFC.

   o  Layer 4-7 Service Function Layer Metadata

     Some service functions exchange information among themselves.
     Today, most of those metadata exchanges between legacy Layer 4-7
     service functions are vendor specific.

   o  Network Layer metadata

     Some Layer 4-7 service functions exchange metadata with L2/L3
     nodes to achieve desired network forwarding behavior.



3.2.2. Framework of carrying the metadata

   o  Message based metadata:

     Some service functions receive metadata from external entities
     (e.g. policy engines, controller, etc).  In Mobile environment,
     some service functions receive metadata from PCRF via Diameter
     interfaces. Those metadata are normally flow based, e.g. applying


Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 5]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


     a specific QoS priority for data packets with specific
     Source/Destination Address(es), TCP port number, etc. Those
     metadata don't have to be attached to every data packet.

   o  Data Packet attached Metadata:

      Some metadata has to be attached to packets to facilitate proper
      treatment by service functions.

   o  Hybrid Method:

      Attaching extra metadata to every packet increases the likelihood
      of packet size exceeding MTU, which lead to packet fragmentation.
      Therefore, the metadata attached to packets have to be compact.

      To reduce the metadata size attached to data packets, it is worth
      considering combining the "messaged based metadata" and the
      "Packet attached Metadata".  I.e. attaching compact index to
      packets that can correlate to complete metadata passed down from
      separate messages from external systems.



4. Architecture for Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 Service Functions

   Chaining Layer 4-7 Service Functions not only needs the network that
   steers data flows to their designated service functions, but also
   needs an Service Chain Controller that can update the steering
   policies to the relevant forwarding nodes when changes occurs.

                          |
                 +---+------+                +---+---+   +--+-----+
                 |controller|                |Service|   |Service |
                 |          |                |Func-1 |   |Func- m |
                 +---+------+                +----+--+   +--+--+--+
                    /    \   \                       \         /
                 Interface A  +------------------+   Interface C
                  /        \                      \    \      /
                 /          \                      \  +---------+
                /            \                      \ |Proxy    |
           +-----------+     +--------+             +---------+-+
       -- >|Classifier | --> |SFF     |------>      | SFF     | ------>
           |   node    |     |Node-1  | Interface B | Node-2  |
           +-----------+     +--------+             +---------+

         Figure 1 Interfaces needed for Chaining Service Functions



Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 6]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014




   There are 3 types of interfaces to be addressed by the architecture:

   o  Interface A: this is the interface between the Service Chain
      controller and the relevant classifier/steering nodes to exchange
      the steering policies or/and other information for the service
      chains.

   o  Interface B: this is the network layer that transports the
      packets among SFF nodes. Proper tunnels might be needed among SFF
      nodes so that traffic can traverse the legacy network segments.

   o  Interface C: this is the interconnection between SFF function and
      Service Functions. Since some legacy SFs can't recognize the SFC
      header, a proxy entity is needed to convert the information
      extracted from SFC header to existing header or tags (e.g. VLANs)
      recognizable by the SFs for packets traversed on this interface.


4.1. Service Function Forwarder for Layer 4-7 Service Functions

   For chaining together legacy Layer 4-7 service functions, the
   Service Function Forwarder (SFF) defined by [SFC-Arch] may need to
   terminate the service layer encapsulation on behalf of service
   functions/nodes that are not aware of the SFC header. There can be
   multiple SFF nodes in the Service Chain domains [SFC-Framework].

   Even though Layer 4-7 Service functions can be instantiated
   anywhere, it is not uncommon to have multiple service functions
   instantiated on nodes in close vicinity to a Service Function
   Forwarder node. The following figure depicts the architecture for
   chaining those Layer 4-7 service nodes that are not aware of service
   layer encapsulation. Each SFF is responsible for steering the
   traffic to their designated local service functions and for
   forwarding the traffic to the next hop SFF after the local service
   functions treatment.












Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 7]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


                        |1  -----   |n        |21   ---- |2m
                    +---+---+   +---+---+   +-+---+   +--+-----+
                    | SF#1  |   |SF#n   |   |SF#i1|   |SF#im   |
                    |       |   |       |   |     |   |        |
                    +---+---+   +---+---+   +--+--+   +--+--+--+
                        :           :          :         :  :
                        :           :          :         :  :
                         \         /            \       /
                          +--------+             +---------+
                          |proxy   |             |proxy    |
       +--------------+   +--------+             +---------+
   -- >| Chain        |   | SFF    |   ------    | SFF     | ---->
       |classifier    |   |Node-1  |             | Node-i  |
       +--------------+   +----+---+             +----+--+-+
                     \         |                     /
                      \        | SFC Encapsulation  /
                       \       |                   /
                ,. ......................................._
              ,-'                                        `-.
             /                                              `.
            |                      Network                   |
             `.                                             /
                `.__.................................. _,-'

            Figure 2 Chaining existing Layer 4-7 service nodes

   The "Chain Classifier" node in the figure is to classify the
   incoming packets/frames into different service flows based on their
   service characteristics or policies from service chain orchestration
   or controller. Different service flows can be differentiated by some
   fields in the packets or can be encapsulated with the corresponding
   SFC header.

   The steering policies for flows arriving at SFF Nodes can be carried
   by the SFC header in the data packets, separate out-of-band messages
   from Chain Classier or external controllers, or combination of both.

   The SFF nodes can be standalone devices, or can be embedded within
   network forwarding nodes. Overlay tunnels are expected to connect
   the "SFF nodes" together.









Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 8]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


4.2. Layer 4-7 nodes connection to SFF Nodes

   Since the legacy SFs can't terminate the newly defined SFC header,
   there has to be a proxy entity either attached to or embedded in a
   SFF node. Here are the major responsibilities of the proxy entity:

   - SFF-> SF direction:

     The proxy entity is needed to decapsulate the SFC header from the
     packets if the SFC header is not recognizable by the SF, extract
     the service chain identifier from the SFC header, map the service
     chain identifier to a locally significant tag or header that is
     recognizable by the legacy SF, and encapsulate the tag or the
     header to the data packets before sending the packets to the SF.

     By locally significant, it means that the tag or the header is
     only local to the link/path between the SFF Proxy entity and the
     SF, and is capable of differentiating packets from different
     service chains that traverse the link/path.

     Examples of locally significant tags include VLANs, GRE key, etc.
     Examples of locally significant header include encapsulating
     additional IP, MAC, or GRE header, etc.

     If there are metadata carried by the SFC header that are needed by
     the SF, the proxy entity is responsible for extracting the
     metadata from the SFC header and passing them to the Service
     Functions via a method that is supported by the Service Function.

   - SF -> SFF direction:
     The proxy entity is responsible for constructing the SFC header
     expected by next SFF nodes from the locally significant tag/header
     when packets come back from the SF, encapsulating the SFC header
     back to the data packets before passing to the next SFF nodes.

   Layer 4-7 Service nodes can be connected to SFF nodes in various
   ways. The topology could be bump in a wire or one armed topology.

   o  A service function can be embedded in a SFF node (i.e. embedded
      in a router or a switch). In this case, the combined entity forms
      the SF node described in the [SFC-ARCH].

   o  A service node can be one hop away from a SFF node


Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                 [Page 9]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


      The one hop between the SFF node and the service node can be a
      physical link (e.g. Ethernet link). Under this scenario, there
      would be a Link Header, i.e. an outer MAC header, added to the
      data packets that meet the steering criteria.

      The one hop link can be a transparent link, i.e. no link address
      is added to the data packets on the link between the SFF node and
      Service node. I.e. the service nodes can apply treatment to data
      frames arrived at the ingress port regardless of the Link
      Destination address.

   o  A service node can be multiple hops away, such as when a service
      function is deployed in an on-net or private *aaS offering. Under
      this scenario, a tunnel is needed between the service node and
      the SFF node.

4.3. Traffic Steering at SFF Nodes

   The forwarding (or steering) policies for data packets received by
   the SFF Nodes can be carried by the SFC header in the data packets
   or combined with separate out-of-band messages from external
   controller(s) or the Chain Classifier. When using the out-of-band
   messages to carry the steering policies to SFF nodes, the steering
   policies have to be correlated with some fields in the data packets.
   Those fields of the data packets play the role of differentiating
   packets belong to different service chains.

   It worth noting that when one SFF node have multiple Service
   Functions (SF) attached, there could be two different Chains going
   through one common SF#1, but the Chain #1 needs to go to SF#4 after
   SF#1, and the Chain #2 needs to go to another SFF node after the
   SF#1. The SFF node has to re-classify traffic coming back from a
   port connected to a SF if the Chain identifier is not carried by the
   data packets.

   The policies to steer traffic to their corresponding service
   functions or service function instances can change. Those steering
   policies can be dynamically updated by SFC Header or the out-of-band
   messages.

   There are many types of policies for SFF to steer data packets to
   their designated service functions, for example:

   o  Fixed header based forwarding: traffic steering based on header
      fields that have fixed position in the data packets:




Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 10]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


       o  Forwarding based on Layer 2-3 header fields, such as MAC or
          IP Destination Address, Source Addresses, MPLS label, VLAN
          ID, or combination of multiple Layer 2-3 header fields.

       o  Forwarding based on Layer 4 header (TCP or UDP).

       o  QoS header based forwarding.

   o  Layer 7 based forwarding: traffic steering (or forwarding) based
      on the payload (L7) of data packets.

      Multiple data packets may carry some meaningful data, like one
      HTTP message. Under this scenario, multiple data packets have to
      be examined before meaningful data can be extracted for making
      Layer 7 based forwarding decision.

   o  Metadata based steering:  traffic steering (or forwarding) based
      on the identity of the initiating user, the UE model or type, the
      site name or FQDN, or network conditions (congestion,
      utilization, etc.).

      However those metadata might not necessarily be carried by each
      data packet due to extended bits required that can cause high
      probability of packet fragmentation. Those metadata can be
      dynamically passed down to steering nodes in some forms of
      steering policies from network controller(s).

5. Control Plane for Layer 4-7 Service Function Chain

5.1. Multiple Instances of a Service Function

   One service function could have multiple identical instances,
   potentially attached to different SFF nodes. It is also possible to
   have multiple identical service function instances attached to one
   Service Function Forwarder (SFF) node, especially in an environment
   where service function instances are running on virtual machines
   with each having limited capacity.

   At functional level, the order of service functions, e.g. Chain#1
   {s1, s4, s6}, Chain#2{s4, s7}, is important, but very often which
   instance of the Service Function "s1" is selected for the Chain #1
   is not. It is also possible that multiple instances of one service
   function can be reached by different network nodes. The actual
   instance selected for a service chain is called "Service Chain
   Instance Path".




Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 11]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


   There are various policies that could be employed to select
   instances for service chain instance path. Some Service Function
   Instances are visible to Service Chain Path. Sometimes a collection
   of service function instances can appear as one single entity to the
   Service Chain Path, leaving the instance selection to local nodes.

   When there is change to the instances selected for a Service Chain
   Instance Path, either in-band or out-of-band messages can be sent to
   the SFF nodes to update the steering policies dynamically.

   The downside with out-of-band messages is synchronization and race
   conditions. For a newly recognized flow, it is not scalable to
   expect the classifier node to queue the packets until the out-of-
   band notification is acknowledged by every Service Function
   Forwarder node. On the other hand, it is reasonable to use out-of-
   band messages to inform steering policies on SFF nodes if the
   steering policies can be pre-established before traffic arrives at
   the Classifier nodes, e.g. subscriber profile basis service chain
   instance path.





                          |
                 +---+------+                +---+---+   +--+-----+
                 |controller|                |Service|   |Service |
                 |          |                |Func-1 |   |Func- m |
                 +---+------+                +----+--+   +--+--+--+
                    /    \   \                    :         /
                   /      \   +---------------+   :        /
                  /        \                   \  :       /
           +-----------+     +--------+         +---------+
       -- >|Classifier | --> |SFF     |------>  | SFF     | ------>
           |   node    |     |Node-1  |         | Node-2  |
           +-----------+     +--------+         +---------+

            Figure 3 Controller for Service Chain Instance Path

   Some service functions make changes to data packets, such as NAT
   changing the address fields. If any of those fields are used in
   traffic steering along the service chain, the criteria can be
   different before and after those the service functions.






Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 12]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


5.2. Service Chain Re-Classification

   The policy for associating flows with their service chains can be
   complicated and could be dynamic due to different behavior
   associated with chains.

   For a chain of {FW, Header_enrichment, smart_node, Video_opt,
   Parental Control}, the video optimizer really needs to work on the
   response path. It may also use completely different encapsulation
   e.g. ICAP for example. There could be Smart-Node to further classify
   a particular part of the flow and bypass something, say the
   "video_opt". Therefore, the classification done by the service chain
   classification nodes at the network entrance can't completely
   dictate the exact sequence of service functions.

   Basically, some service functions, especially Layer 7 service
   functions, can re-classify the service chain. So a chain could be
   constructed explicitly like below:

   Classifier -> (SF-A) -> (SF-B) -> (SF-L7 Classifier) -- Chain -X
                                         |
                                         +--   Chain Y
   Essentially SF-L7 is more like deep classification engine that might
   analyze individual http transaction and classify them differently.
   In reality SF-L7 can be a reverse proxy that is then capable of
   handling individual http transaction and select appropriate chain.

   For Chain Re-classification, it is necessary to have message level
   coordination among those SFs and Service Chain Orchestration or/and
   Controller entities, as shown in the following figure:


















Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 13]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


               +-------------------+
               |Chain Orchestration|
               |                   |
               |                   |
               |                   |             +------------+
               |        <----------|-------------|Chain Adjust|
               +--------|----------+             |   Entity   |
                   |    |                        +------------+
                   |    |                          /      \
                   |    V                         /        \
                 +---+------+                +---+---+   +--+-----+
                 |controller|                |Service|   |Service |
                 |          |                |Func-1 |   |Func- m |
                 +---+------+                +----+--+   +--+--+--+
                    /    \   \                    :         /
                   /      \   +---------------+   :        /
                  /        \                   \  :       /
           +-----------+     +--------+         +---------+
       -- >|Classifier | --> |SFF     |------>  | SFF     | ------>
           |   node    |     |Node-1  |         | Node-2  |
           +-----------+     +--------+         +---------+

                 Figure 4 Service Chain Re-classification



   The Service Chain Classification node can encounter flows that don't
   match with any policies. There should be a default policy that
   applies all statutorily required policies to the unknown flows.

   Multiple flows can share one service chain. The criteria to select
   flows to be associated with their service chain could be different.
   For example, for one service chain "A" shared by Flow X, Y, Z:

   o  Criteria for Flow X to the Service Chain "A" are TCP port

   o  Criteria for Flow Y to the Service Chain "A" are Destination
      Address

   o  Criteria for Flow Z to the Service Chain "A" are MPLS label.



5.3. Layer 4-7 traffic Steering

   Very often the criteria for steering flows to service functions are
   based on higher layer headers, such as TCP header, HTTP header, etc.


Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 14]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


   Most of deployed switches/routers are very efficient in forwarding
   packets based on Layer 2 or Layer 3 headers, such as MAC/IP
   destination addresses, or VLAN/MPLS labels but have limited capacity
   for forwarding data packets based on higher layer header. As of
   today, differentiating data packets based on higher layer headers
   depends on ACLs (Access Control List field matching) or DPI, both of
   which are relatively expensive and extensive use of such facilities
   may limit the bandwidth of switches/routers.

   The Service Chain classification node introduced by [Boucadair-
   framework] and [SFC-ARCH] can alleviate the workload on large number
   of nodes in the network, including SFF nodes, from steering traffic
   based on higher layer fields.

                         |1  -----   |n        |21   ---- |2m
                   +---+---+   +---+---+   +-+---+   +--+-----+
                   | Ad    |   |Content|   |Video|   |Security|
                   |Insert |   | Opt   |   | Opt |   | App    |
                   +---+---+   +---+---+   +--+--+   +--+--+--+
                       :           :          :         :  :
                       :           :          :         :  :
                        \         /            \       /
      +--------------+   +--------+             +---------+
   - >| Chain        | ->| SFF    |-------->    | SFF     | --->
      |classification|   |Node-1  |             | Node-2  |
      +--------------+   +--------+             +---------+

                 Figure 5 Service Chain Marking At Ingress

   A Service Chain Classification node can associate a unique Service
   Chain Label (e.g. Layer 2 or 3 Label) or SF MAP Index to the packets
   in the flow. Such a Layer 2 or 3 Label makes it easier for
   subsequent nodes along the flow path to steer the flow to the
   service functions specified by the flow's service chain.

   The Service Chain Classification Function usually resides on the
   ingress edge nodes of the service chain domain, such as Wireless
   Packet Gateway, Broadband Network Gateways, Cell Site Gateways, etc.

   In some situations, like service chain for wireless subscribers,
   many flows (i.e. subscribers) have common service chain
   requirements. Under those situations, the Service Chain
   classification Functional can mark multiple flows with the same
   service chain requirement using the same Layer 2 or 3 Label, which
   effectively aggregates those flows into one service chain.




Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 15]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


   For service chains that are shared by a great number of flows, they
   can be pre-provisioned. For example, if VLAN ID=10 is the service
   chain that need to traverse "Service-1" at SFF Node #1 and "Service-
   3" at SFF Node #2, the steering policy for VLAN ID=10 can be
   dynamically changed by controllers.

6. Service Chain from the Layer 7 Perspective

   From the Layer 7 perspective, the service chain can be much more
   complex. As shown in the figure below, the service functions to be
   chained can depend on the HTTP message request and reply. The
   service chain classification nodes may have to examine the whole
   HTTP message to determine the specific sequence of service functions
   for the flows. The HTTP message might have to be extracted from
   multiple data packets. Sometimes, the logic to steer traffic to
   chain of service functions might depend on the data retrieved from a
   database based on messages constructed from packets. The decision
   may depend on the HTTP response rather than the request, or it may
   depend on a particular sequence of request-response messages. The
   message handler may also alter the Layer 7 service chain based on
   hints or modification done by previous service function. HTTP based
   service function may insert HTTP header to add further criterion for
   service selection in the next round of classification.

                        +----------+
       Client --------->(  Layer 7 )--------->  Internet
              <---------(  Message )<---------
                        (  Handler )
                --------(          )--------________
               /        +----------+        \
              /           /       \          \
             |1          |2        |3         |4
         +---+---+   +---+---+   +-+---+   +--+-----+
         | Ad    |   |Content|   |Video|   |Security|
         |Insert |   | Opt   |   | Opt |   | App    |
         +---+---+   +---+---+   +--+--+   +--+--+--+
             :           :          :         :  :
             :           :          :         :  :

                 Figure 6 Layer 7 Service Chain Complexity

7. Conclusion and Recommendation

   There are many Layer 4-7 service functions being deployed in the
   network. Many of them are not capable to adapt to new service chain
   encapsulation layer.



Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 16]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


   This document provides architecture framework for chaining those
   Layer 4-7 service functions that are not aware of new service layer
   encapsulation.

8. Manageability Considerations

   There currently exists no single management methodology to control
   the L2-4 packet-based forwarding device, the L4-7 service delivery
   device, and the L7+ application server.  Such unified management of
   configuration state is required for service function chaining to be
   a practical solution.

9. Security Considerations

   TBD

10. IANA Considerations

   This document requires no IANA actions. RFC Editor: Please remove
   this section before publication.

11. References

11.1. Normative References

   [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
             Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

11.2. Informative References

   [Boucadair-framework] M. Boucadair, et al, "Differentiated Service
             Function Chaining Framework", < draft-boucadair-service-
             chaining-framework-00>; Aug 2013

   [SFC-Problem]  P. Quinn, et al, "Service Function Chaining Problem
             statement", <draft-quinn-sfc-problem-statement-02>, Dec 9,
             2013

   [SFC-Framework] M. Boucadair, et al, "Service Function Chaining:
             Framework & Architecture", < draft-boucadair-sfc-
             framework-00>; Oct 2013

   [SFC-Arch]  J. Halpern, et al, "Service Function Chaining (SFC)
             Architecture", < draft-merged-sfc-architecture-00>, July
             2014.




Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 17]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


    [NSH-Header]  P. Quinn, et al, "Network Service Header", < draft-
             quinn-nsh-01>, July 12, 2013

   [SC-MobileNetwork] W. Haeffner, N. Leymann, "Network Based Services
             in Mobile Network", IETF87 Berlin, July 29 2013

   [Application-SDN] J. Giacomonni, "Application Layer SDN", Layer 123
             ONF Presentation, Singapore, June 2013

   [SC-Use-Case]  Liu, et, al., "Service Chaining Use Cases", < draft-
             liu-service-chaining-use-cases-00>, Sept, 2013

12. Acknowledgments

   This draft has merged some sections from
   http://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-parker-sfc-chain-to-path/.

   This draft has taken input from "Application Layer SDN" presentation
   given by John Giacomoni of F5 at Layer 123 conference. Thanks to
   Huang Shi Bi and Li Hong Yu for the valuable comments and
   suggestions.

   This document was prepared using 2-Word-v2.0.template.dot.


























Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 18]

Internet-Draft       Chaining Legacy Layer 4-7 SF             July 2014


Authors' Addresses

   Linda Dunbar
   Huawei Technologies
   5340 Legacy Drive, Suite 175
   Plano, TX 75024, USA
   Phone: (469) 277 5840
   Email: ldunbar@huawei.com

   Ron Parker
   Affirmed Networks
   Acton, MA 01720
   USA
   Email: ron_parker@affirmednetworks.com

   Ian Smith
   F5 Networks
   Email: I.Smith@F5.com

   Sumandra Majee
   F5 Networks
   Email: S.Majee@F5.com

   Ning So
   Vinci Systems
   Email: ning.so@vinci-systems.com


   Donald Eastlake
   Huawei Technologies
   155 Beaver Street
   Milford, MA 01757 USA
   Phone: 1-508-333-2270
   Email: d3e3e3@gmail.com















Dunbar, et al.         Expires January 4, 2015                [Page 19]