Subject: [ippm] IPPM-MIB reporting mode

From: STEPHAN Emile FTRD/DAC/LAN <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 16 Jan 2002 15:09:48 +0100

Hi Merike and Matt,

The minute says "[The IPPM chairs interpreted this as that the control and
data portions should be separated. A email exchange after the meeting
clarified that one reason for splitting control and data is that usually the
optimal indexing is never the same for both and it leads to simpler access
control and better modularity.]"

There is no doubt that the first version of the IPPM-MIB
(draft-stephan-ippm-mib-00.txt) was not mature. The current release of the
IPPM-MIB separates the control and the reporting as requested by the IPPM
WG. 

Regarding the indexation, it is important to notice that measures involving
2 points have considerations which are differents from measures involving
one point. The 2 modes need a key to identify the subset of results which
will be produced. In a RMON-MIB probe the key is chosen by the probe when
creating the 'measure'. That is not suitable for one way measure, especially
in reporting mode: The key has to be shared by the points of measure to
provide a shared measure identifier to the control protocol softwares. The
key (owner,index) is chosen by the software of the control protocol which is
in charge of the measure setup. The control protocol (or the test protocol,
see "see draft-stephan-ippm-mib-01.txt, 8.5.2.  on the fly setup" )
propagates this key from the first point to the other to provide a common
index in the 2 points. 

The reporting mode described in the draft-stephan-ippm-mib-00.txt splits the
measure control and the reporting mode: It permits the control protocol to
setup measures from one point of measure and to have the result to be
reported in the IPPM-MIB history of the other. the ippmMeasureTable is read
only.

The IPPM-MIB has been modify according to the IPPM WG and RMON WG
recommendations. The current release is ready to become a WG draft. That
will permit to create the metric registry and to continue the effort to
specify the integration of the IPPM-MIB with to control and test protocols.

regards
Emile