Re: Evaluation: draft-ietf-ipv6-flow-label - IPv6 FlowLabel Specification

[hardie@qualcomm.com]

Ted Hardie           [   ]     [   ]     [ x ]     [   ]

This is very mild, and I could be talked out of it on the call,
but I do find it odd that the key motivational text is in
section 5.1, in the security requirements.  This is the
text I mean:


   The goal of the Flow Label is to allow different levels of service to
   be provided for traffic streams on a common network infrastructure. A
   variety of techniques may be used to achieve this, but the end result
   will be that some packets receive different (e.g., better or worse)
   service than others. The mapping of network traffic to the flow-
   specific treatment is triggered by the IP addresses and Flow Label
   value of the IPv6 header,

This looks to me like it belongs in the introduction, so that the reader
can understand the impetus to the work.

As a side note, I have some concerns about whether any protocol can
meet the explicit requirements in Section 4 and the implicit requirement
of "do some good" without running into the maw of some well-known
dragons, but the statement of requirements looks fair to me.


At 9:41 AM -0400 8/1/03, IESG Secretary wrote:
> Last Call to expire on: 2003-07-08
>
>         Please return the full line with your position.
>
>                       Yes  No-Objection  Discuss  Abstain
> Harald Alvestrand    [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Steve Bellovin       [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Randy Bush           [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Bill Fenner          [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Ned Freed            [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Ted Hardie           [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Russ Housley         [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Allison Mankin       [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Thomas Narten        [ X ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Erik Nordmark        [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Jon Peterson         [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Margaret Wasserman   [ X ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Bert Wijnen          [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
> Alex Zinin           [   ]     [   ]     [   ]     [   ]
>
> 2/3 (9) Yes or No-Objection opinions needed to pass.
>
> DISCUSSES AND COMMENTS:
> ======================
>
>
>
> ^L
> ---- following is a DRAFT of message to be sent AFTER approval ---
> From: The IESG <iesg-secretary@ietf.org>
> To: IETF-Announce:;
> Cc: Internet Architecture Board <iab@iab.org>,
>     RFC Editor <rfc-editor@isi.edu>, <ipng@sunroof.eng.sun.com>
> Subject: Protocol Action: 'IPv6 Flow Label Specification' to
>          Proposed Standard
>
> The IESG has approved the Internet-Draft 'IPv6 Flow Label Specification'
> <draft-ietf-ipv6-flow-label-07.txt> as a Proposed Standard. This document is
> the product of the IP Version 6 Working Group Working Group. The IESG
> contact persons are Thomas Narten and Margaret Wasserman.
>
> Technical Summary
>
> The details of the IPv6 Flow Label are not defined in detail in the
> base IPv6 documents (i.e., RFC 2460). Although an appendix in 2460
> provides some background and a possible usage, they are not considered
> part of the specification itself. This document specifies the IPv6
> Flow Label field, the requirements for IPv6 source nodes labeling
> flows, the requirements for IPv6 nodes forwarding labeled packets, and
> the requirements for flow state establishment methods.
>
> Working Group Summary
>
> There was consensus in the WG for the current definitions. Indeed,
> there has been a desire for sometime to define the Flow Label, as its
> considered a part of IPv6, and its lack of a clear definition
> contributed to an appearance of lack of completeness.
>
> Protocol Quality
>
> This document has been reviewed for the IESG by Thomas Narten.