Subject: Failover Interim Meeting Feb 10/11 - overview agenda

From: Kim Kinnear <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 29 Jan 1999 18:01:43 -0500 (EST)

In case you are interested, here is a copy of the agenda for the
Failover meeting coming up in early February...

If you haven't received a longer version of this agenda from me
in email, then I don't know you are coming.  Please let
me know if you wish to come.  Thanks!

Cheers -- Kim

---------------------------------------------

Overview Agenda for Failover Interim Meeting,
February 10/11 1999.

Held at:
    Cisco Systems
    300 Apollo Dr.
    Chelmsford MA, 01824

=================

Day 1:  February 10, 1999
	Start time: 10:00 am

Introductions

Goals of the meeting -- 5 mins

	1.  Understand requirements that are not met or concerns
	people have with the current failover protocol (or
	draft), and attempt to modify the protocol and draft to
	meet these requirements or concerns.

	2.  Review the technical correctness of the failover
	protocol.  Revise the protocol as necessary to solve any
	problems found.

	3.  Promote better understanding of the failover protocol
	as currently defined.

Agenda Bashing and Gathering of New Issues -- 20 mins

History/Context - 5 mins

Protocol Basics -- 45 mins 

    A *very* rapid overview of the key points of the
    protocol:

	General protocol overview: 5 minutes
	Maximum client lead time (used to be MDLI): 10 minutes
	States: 5 min
	Examples of Common events: 10 mins 
	Hard cases: 5 mins
	Q&A about existing protocol: 10 mins

Discuss Issues -- rest of the day

    Protocol Goals:

	1.  What about more than two servers?  Isn't this
	important?

	2. What about load balancing?

    Protocol Model:

	1.  What is being synchronized among the DHCP servers?
	What data must flow from one to the other?

	2.  "Push" or "Pull" model:  Which is advocated, which is
	allowed?
	
	3.  Reliability model: just how far can servers get out
	of sync and for how long?  What is "correct" and what is
	good operational practice.

    Protocol Details:

	1.  How do the POOLREQ/POOLRESP messages work?  Why?

	2.  How do the state fields and the flag bits in the
	packet interrelate?  Shouldn't they all by states?

	3.  What does it mean to allow renews to come from both
	servers?  How might one use this to assist in load
	balancing.

	4.  What about giving a client less than the "configured"
	lease time -- is that really OK?  How often will it
	happen?

	5. Isn't the startup sequence complicated?  Can't we
	we simplify it?

    Packet Format:

	1.  Compatibility with DHCP/BOOTP packet formats.  Why be
	compatible at all?

	2.  Payload offset field -- why allow for "future
	expansion", since most such allowances don't ever really
	work out in practice.

    Protocol Embedding into Network Infrastructure:

	1.  In the "symmetric" situation, where two server's are
	both primary and secondary for part of the addresses, how
	do they keep the messages straight?  How do they identify
	the address pools about this this message applies?

	2.  TCP vs. UDP:  What are the pro's and con's for each
	approach, once we've agreed (more or less) on the overall
	approach for the protocol. [Volz]

	3.  Clock synchronization -- how much do clocks need to
	be synchronized?  Are we recreating NTP in this protocol?

=====================

Day 2:

    February 11, 1999.  Start time: 8:30 am.

    Agenda Bashing: 10 mins

	Suggest that we choose at most 3 issues -- the 3 most
	important remaining issues, and try to come to some
	sort of closure on those.

    Close out 3 most important issues: 3 hours, 1 hour (or so ) each

    What next: 30 mins