Internet DRAFT - draft-xue-dhc-dynamic-gre

draft-xue-dhc-dynamic-gre







Network Working Group                                             L. Xue
Internet-Draft                                                    D. Guo
Intended status: Standards Track                                  Huawei
Expires: April 27, 2015                                 October 24, 2014


                      Dynamic Stateless GRE Tunnel
                      draft-xue-dhc-dynamic-gre-03

Abstract

   Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE) is regarded as a popular
   encapsulation tunnel technology.  When a node tries to encapsulate
   the user traffic in GRE, it needs the IP address of the destination
   node which decapsulates the GRE packets.  In practice, the GRE tunnel
   destination IP address may be manually configured.  This
   configuration may introduce efficiency issues for operators.  This
   work proposes an approach to configure the GRE information
   dynamically.

Requirements Language

   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 [RFC2119]

Status of This Memo

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

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on April 27, 2015.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.




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   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   3.  GRE Use Case - WLAN Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
   4.  DHCP Options Definition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.1.  GRE Discovery DHCPv4 Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     4.2.  GRE Information DHCPv4 Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.3.  GRE Discovery DHCPv6 Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.4.  GRE Information DHCPv6 Option . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   5.  Dynamic GRE Tunnel  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   6
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   7.  References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     7.1.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
     7.2.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   8
   Authors' Addresses  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   9

1.  Introduction

   Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE, see [RFC1701] and [RFC2784]) is
   widely deployed in the operators' networks.  When a node tries to
   encapsulate the user traffic in a GRE tunnel, it needs the IP address
   of the destination node which can decapsulate the GRE packets.  In
   practice, the manual configuration happens on the nodes.  This may
   introduce efficiency issues for operators.  As an example, if GRE
   tunneling is used in the access network, there may a large amount of
   configuration needed at the access side.  This specification
   introduces a use case requiring the deployment of a large amount of
   GRE tunnels, which motivates a dynamic approach.  The specification
   proposes a solution to enable the dynamic discovery of the GRE
   decapsulation device through use of a Dynamic Host Configuration
   Protocol (DHCP) option.

2.  Terminology

   The following terms are used in this document:





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   Access Controller (AC):  The network entity that provides Wireless
      Termination Point (WTP) access to the network infrastructure in
      the data plane, control plane, management plane, or a combination
      therein.

   Customer Premises Equipment (CPE):  The box that a provider may
      distribute to the customers.  When CPE is using DHCP to obtain
      network address, CPE is acting as "DHCP Client".

   Wireless Termination Point (WTP):  The physical or logical network
      entity that contains an RF antenna and wireless physical layer
      (PHY) to transmit and receive station traffic for wireless access
      networks.

3.  GRE Use Case - WLAN Network

   Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) has emerged as an important access
   technology for service operators.  A typical WLAN network contains a
   large number of WTPs, centrally managed and controlled by the Access
   Controller (AC).  It is desirable to distribute customer data frames
   to an endpoint through an Access Router (AR) different from the AC.
   GRE encapsulation can be used between a WTP and an AR as one of the
   optional tunneling technologies shown in
   [I-D.ietf-opsawg-capwap-alt-tunnel].

   An illustration of a WLAN network is shown in Figure 1.  In order for
   a WTP to encapsulate the user traffic in a GRE tunnel, it needs to
   know the Access Router (AR) IP address.  This IP address is usually
   deployed on WTPs manually, which may introduce efficiency issues for
   operators.  An AC may dynamically configure the WTP with the AR
   address via extended CAPWAP message elements (see
   [I-D.ietf-opsawg-capwap-alt-tunnel]).  However, this approach does
   not apply to a WLAN network where the CAPWAP protocol is not
   deployed, as the network shown in Figure 2.  In fact, it is quite
   common for operators to have their own private control plane between
   the WTP and the AC rather than CAPWAP.  Moreover, there are also WLAN
   deployments without AC, as in the FAT WTPs scenario (see Figure 3).
   A general approach to resolve this problem is desirable.

                 CAPWAP   +--------+
                ++========+   AC   |
               //         +--------+
              //
      +-----+//   DATA Tunnel (GRE)     +--------------+
      | WTP |===========================| Access Router|
      +-----+                           +--------------+

                  Figure 1: GRE Use Case - WLAN Network 1



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        Private Control   +--------+
                ++========+   AC   |
               //         +--------+
              //
      +-----+//   DATA Tunnel (GRE)     +--------------+
      | WTP |===========================| Access Router|
      +-----+                           +--------------+

                  Figure 2: GRE Use Case - WLAN Network 2

      +-----+     DATA Tunnel (GRE)     +--------------+
      | WTP |===========================| Access Router|
      +-----+                           +--------------+

                  Figure 3: GRE Use Case - WLAN Network 3

4.  DHCP Options Definition

4.1.  GRE Discovery DHCPv4 Option

   The GRE Discovery DHCPv4 option provides to a GRE encapsulator a list
   of one or more IPv4 addresses of a GRE decapsulator.  According to
   [RFC2131], the GRE Discovery DHCPv4 Option is structured as shown in
   Figure 4.

     0                   1                   2                   3
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    | Option Code   | Option Len    |  AR IPv4 Address              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |  AR IPv4 Address              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


                   Figure 4: GRE Discovery DHCPv4 Option

   Code: TBD

   Len: 4

   AR IPv4 Address: AR IPv4 address, an endpoint of GRE tunnel.  More
   than one AR IPv4 addresses may be provided for redundancy reasons.
   The default priority of the listed AR IPv4 addresses may be from
   highest to lowest.







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4.2.  GRE Information DHCPv4 Option

   The GRE Information DHCPv4 option provides a list of the GRE
   information as defined in and [RFC2784][RFC2890].  The GRE
   information may include the key.

   According to [RFC2131], the GRE Information DHCPv4 Option is
   structured as shown in Figure 5.

     0                   1                   2                   3
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |  Option Code   | Option Len   |       GRE Key                 |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |     GRE Key (cont.)           |       Reserved                |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+

                  Figure 5: GRE Information DHCPv4 Option

   Code: TBD

   Len: 6

   GRE Key: The Key field contains a four octet number which is inserted
   by the GRE encapsulator according to [RFC2890].

   Reserved: This field is reserved for future use.  These bits MUST be
   sent as zero and MUST be ignored on receipt.

4.3.  GRE Discovery DHCPv6 Option

   The GRE Discovery DHCPv6 option provides to a GRE encapsulator a list
   of one or more IPv6 addresses of a GRE decapsulator.  According to
   [RFC7227], the GRE Discovery DHCPv6 Option is structured as shown in
   Figure 6.

     0                   1                   2                   3
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |    Option Code                |       Option Len              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    .                AR IPv6 Address                                .
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    .                AR IPv6 Address (Optional)                     .
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


                   Figure 6: DHCPv6 GRE Discovery Option



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   Code: TBD

   Len: >=16

   AR IPv6 Address: AR IPv6 address, an endpoint of GRE tunnel.  More
   than one AR IPv6 addresses may be provided for redundancy reasons.
   The default priority of the listed AR IPv6 addresses may be from
   highest to the lowest.

4.4.  GRE Information DHCPv6 Option

   The GRE Information DHCPv6 option provides a list of the GRE
   information as defined in and [RFC2784][RFC2890].  The GRE
   information may include the key.

   According to [RFC7227], the GRE Information DHCPv6 Option is
   structured as shown in Figure 7.

     0                   1                   2                   3
     0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |         Option Code           |       Option Len              |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |               GRE Key                                         |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
    |               Reserved                                        |
    +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+


                  Figure 7: GRE Information DHCPv6 Option

   Code: TBD

   Len: 8

   GRE Key: The Key field contains a four octet number which is inserted
   by the GRE encapsulator according to [RFC2890].

   Reserved: This field is reserved for future use.  These bits MUST be
   sent as zero and MUST be ignored on receipt.

5.  Dynamic GRE Tunnel

   The DHCP options defined in Section 4 enable an automated way to
   inform the GRE encapsulator with the GRE destination IP address.
   Additionally, some other GRE tunnel information may be provided.  In
   this way, a GRE tunnel can be setup dynamically.




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   Figure 8 illustrates the procedure to set up a dynamic GRE tunnel in
   the network.

    /    \      IPv4-x.x.x.x                   IPv4-y.y.y.y     /    \
   /      \      +-------+       +-------+      +-------+      /      \
   |       |     |       |       |       |      |       |      |       |
   | Host  +-----+  CPE  +-------+  DHCP +------+  AR   +------+Internet
   \       /     |       |       | Server|      |       |      \       /
    \     /      +-------+       +-------+      +-------+       \     /
                 DHCP Client     DHCP Server
      |              |               |               |
      |              |DHCPv4 Request |               |
      |        (1)   + ------------->|               |
      |              |               |               |
      |              | DHCPv4 Reply  |               |
      |              + <-------------|               |
      |              | with y.y.y.y and information  |
                     |                   (optional)  |
      |              |                               |
      |              *-------------------------------*
      |--------------+----User Packet-in-GRE-Encap.->|
      |        (2)   *----with  x.x.x.x -------------*
      |              |                       /               \
      |              |                       | Tunnel Client |
      |              |                       \ List Config.  /
      |              |                               |
      |             *-------------------------------*
      |        (3)   |<-------Keepalive Packet------>|
      |              *-------------------------------*


                       Figure 8: Dynamic GRE Tunnel

   The steps to set up a GRE tunnel between the CPE and the AR are as
   follows:

   1.  The CPE, as one endpoint of GRE tunnel, sends the DHCP request
       message to the DHCP server to acquire the AR access.  The GRE
       Discovery DHCP Option should be included, with AR IPv4 address
       set to zero.  When the DHCP server receives this request, it
       replies to the CPE the DHCP Reply message, containing the AR
       address and the tunnel information if needed.

   2.  The CPE can encapsulate the upstream packets from the hosts
       within GRE packets.  Generally, upstream packets are either data
       packets or control packets.  When the AR gets an encapsulated GRE
       packet, the AR checks whether there is an existing GRE tunnel




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       with the CPE.  If this is a new endpoint without GRE record, the
       AR should add this CPE into the tunnel client list.

   3.  A keepalive mechanism may be required for a GRE tunnel between
       the CPE and the AR.  If there is neither keepalive packet nor
       data packet, when a keepalive timer expires, the AR or the CPE
       will tear down the tunnel and release resources.

6.  IANA Considerations

   TBD

7.  References

7.1.  Normative References

   [RFC1701]  Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D., and P. Traina, "Generic
              Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 1701, October 1994.

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

   [RFC2131]  Droms, R., "Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol", RFC
              2131, March 1997.

   [RFC2784]  Farinacci, D., Li, T., Hanks, S., Meyer, D., and P.
              Traina, "Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 2784,
              March 2000.

   [RFC2890]  Dommety, G., "Key and Sequence Number Extensions to GRE",
              RFC 2890, September 2000.

   [RFC7227]  Hankins, D., Mrugalski, T., Siodelski, M., Jiang, S., and
              S. Krishnan, "Guidelines for Creating New DHCPv6 Options",
              BCP 187, RFC 7227, May 2014.

7.2.  Informative References

   [I-D.ietf-opsawg-capwap-alt-tunnel]
              Zhang, R., Cao, Z., Deng, H., Pazhyannur, R., Gundavelli,
              S., and L. Xue, "Alternate Tunnel Encapsulation for Data
              Frames in CAPWAP", draft-ietf-opsawg-capwap-alt-tunnel-03
              (work in progress), September 2014.








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Authors' Addresses

   Li Xue
   Huawei
   No. 156 Beiqing Rd. Z-park, Shi-Chuang-Ke-Ji-Shi-Fan-Yuan
   Beijing, Haidian District  100095
   China

   Email: xueli@huawei.com


   Dayong Guo
   Huawei
   No. 156 Beiqing Rd. Z-park, Shi-Chuang-Ke-Ji-Shi-Fan-Yuan
   Beijing, Haidian District  100095
   China

   Email: guoseu@huawei.com

































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