Subject: [Netconf] Comments on draft-kwatsen-netconf-server-01.txt

From: Alan Luchuk <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2014 13:34:14 -0400 (EDT)

Hello,

Here are comments on  draft-kwatsen-netconf-server-01.txt.  I did not find
serious technical issues with this draft.  The comments identify typos, 
wording, or clarifications.  I hope these comments are helpful; do what 
seems appropriate with them.

Regards,
--Alan

 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Alan Luchuk               SNMP Research, Inc.          Voice:  +1 865 573 1434
 Senior Software Engineer  3001 Kimberlin Heights Road  FAX:    +1 865 573 9197
 luchuk at snmp.com        Knoxville, TN  37920-9716    http://www.snmp.com/
 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Typos
-----

Line 218:

s/applications servers/application's servers/
             ^                    ^^

Line 295:

s/transmitted as transpired/transmitted has transpired/
                                        ^

Line 509:

s/I-D.ietf-netconf-rfc5539bis/I-D.ietf-netmod-snmp-cfg/

Line 691:

s/device iniates connections/device initiates connections/
           ^^                         ^^^^

Line 1138:

s/a YANG modules to configure/a YANG module to configure/
               ^

Section 2.5.1, Page 4, Paragraph 1:  (wording)
----------------------------------------------

The term "northbound" is not defined.

Section 2.5.3, Page 5, Paragraph 2:  (wording)
----------------------------------------------

Part of the last sentence reads:

   strategy guides the device how to get connected to another server.
                                     ^^^^^^^^^^^^^

I suggest the following is slightly more concise:

   strategy guides the device how to connect to another server.
                                     ^^^^^^^

Page 15, description under the "container periodic"  (wording)
--------------------------------------------------------------

Part of the last sentence reads:

                     server-to-application data, the data should be
                     sent immediately, connecting to application first
                     if not already.";

I suggest the following is clearer:

                     server-to-application data, the data should be
                     sent immediately, connecting to application first
                     if not already connected.";
                                   ^^^^^^^^^^

Page 15, type under the "leaf linger-secs":  (Technical)
--------------------------------------------------------

The linger-secs leaf is of type uint8.  This allows a maximum connection
hold time of 255 seconds, or a little over 4 minutes.  Is this long enough,
or should this be changed to a uint16?

Page 20, "leaf user-name" and "leaf key":  (Technical/Clarification)
--------------------------------------------------------------------

The user-name leaf and the key leaf have a "mandatory true" substatement.
Is this intended and correct?  Will there be any undesired side effects
of putting "mandatory true" in a grouping definition?

I studied the RFC 6020 description of the leaf's mandatory statement, in 
RFC 6020 Section 7.6.5, to understand and resolve these questions.  I was
unable to come to a satisfactory conclusion.

Page 25, Appendix B:  (Nit)
---------------------------

The same cert fingerprint is used in both <cert-to-name> entries in the
<cert-maps> list.  I suggest changing one or the other fingerprint.

Someone studying the current example to understand how the cert to name 
mapping works might be confused by the same fingerprint in two entries;
they might not understand which NETCONF username would be returned.