Subject: [IPFIX] WG last call on draft-ietf-ipfix-mediators-framework-06

From: "Juergen Quittek" <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 17 May 2010 11:55:49 +0200

Dear all,

This is the working group last call on
draft-ietf-ipfix-mediators-framework-06.

The call starts today and will last until Tuesday June 1.

A URL for this Internet-Draft is:
http://www.ietf.org/id/draft-ietf-ipfix-mediators-framework-06.txt

Please read the draft.
Please send your comments to this mailing list.
Please also send a message if you are fine with the draft as it is.

Thank you,

    Juergen

---

From: Christoph Sommer <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 28 May 2010 12:12:51 -0400

Dear all,

Atsushi Kobayashi wrote:
> Could you please read the framework draft and put your feedbacks in ipfix mailing list.

I really like how the current draft spells out very clearly what IPFIX 
Mediation is (the manipulation of a record stream) and how this is 
achieved (via Intermediate Processes)!

What worries me a bit, however, is that after reading the draft I don't 
have a solid grasp on just what an IPFIX Mediator is and where 
Intermediate Processes can be used.

Is an IPFIX Mediator a device that *does* IPFIX Mediation?

Is an IPFIX Mediator a device that *can do* IPFIX Mediation?

More generally, is an IPFIX Mediator *required* to host:
- a Collecting Process?
- an Intermediate Process?
- an Exporting Process?

What is the relationship of an IPFIX Mediator and an IPFIX 
Collector/Exporter?

Or, even more generally -- with "C", "I", and "E" being one or more 
(active) Collecting, Intermediate, and Exporting Processes, respectively 
-- which of the following are IPFIX Mediators, IPFIX Collectors and/or 
IPFIX Exporters:

||

|C|

|I|

|E|

|CI|

|IE|

|CIE|

Lastly, here are some random thoughts I had while reading the draft:

- Figure A and Figure I are conflicting. It seems like most of the 
document outright forbids running an Intermediate Process on anything 
other than a Mediator or Exporter, yet Figure I shows a device that does 
just that.

- Figure A labels the devices "Collector 1 .. N", "Exporter 1 .. N", and 
"Source 1 .. N". However, Mediators are labeled "Mediator 1 .. N and M 
.. Z".

- Figure B does not seem to allow the Intermediate Process to receive 
data from sources other than the Collecting Process.

- I didn't understand what Section 7, Paragraph "Sequence Number" means.

- Section 9, Paragraph "Certification" states that all Mediators are 
*recommended* to export an additional x.509 certificate, but in certain 
cases do not *need* to. Also, I think it might be worthwhile to state 
the reason for this recommendation and the exception more clearly.

All in all, I'm very happy with the draft and excited to see how, after 
five years, it now smoothly integrates all of our different ideas on 
correlation, aggregation, and anonymization. Thanks for all your hard work!

Best regards,

   Christoph

-- 
Christoph Sommer
Dept. of Electrical and Computer Eng.
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA
Phone: +1 412 268-4212 / Fax: +1 412 268-2860
http://www.andrew.cmu.edu/~csommer/