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rfc:rfc5978

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) J. Manner Request for Comments: 5978 Aalto University Category: Informational R. Bless ISSN: 2070-1721 KIT

                                                           J. Loughney
                                                                 Nokia
                                                        E. Davies, Ed.
                                                      Folly Consulting
                                                          October 2010
            Using and Extending the NSIS Protocol Family

Abstract

 This document gives an overview of the Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS)
 framework and protocol suite created by the NSIS Working Group during
 the period of 2001-2010.  It also includes suggestions on how the
 industry can make use of the new protocols and how the community can
 exploit the extensibility of both the framework and existing
 protocols to address future signaling needs.

Status of This Memo

 This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
 published for informational purposes.
 This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
 (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
 received public review and has been approved for publication by the
 Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
 approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
 Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.
 Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
 and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
 http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc5978.

Copyright Notice

 Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
 document authors.  All rights reserved.
 This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
 Provisions Relating to IETF Documents
 (http://trustee.ietf.org/license-info) in effect on the date of
 publication of this document.  Please review these documents
 carefully, as they describe your rights and restrictions with respect

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 to this document.  Code Components extracted from this document must
 include Simplified BSD License text as described in Section 4.e of
 the Trust Legal Provisions and are provided without warranty as
 described in the Simplified BSD License.

Table of Contents

 1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
 2.  The NSIS Architecture  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
 3.  The General Internet Signaling Transport . . . . . . . . . . .  6
 4.  Quality-of-Service NSLP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
 5.  NAT/Firewall Traversal NSLP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
 6.  Deploying the Protocols  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
   6.1.  Deployment Issues Due to Use of RAO  . . . . . . . . . . . 14
   6.2.  Deployment Issues with NATs and Firewalls  . . . . . . . . 15
   6.3.  Incremental Deployment and Workarounds . . . . . . . . . . 15
 7.  Security Features  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
 8.  Extending the Protocols  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
   8.1.  Overview of Administrative Actions Needed When
         Extending NSIS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
   8.2.  GIST . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
     8.2.1.  Use of Different Message Routing Methods . . . . . . . 18
     8.2.2.  Use of Different Transport Protocols or Security
             Capabilities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
     8.2.3.  Use of Alternative Security Services . . . . . . . . . 19
     8.2.4.  Query Mode Packet Interception Schemes . . . . . . . . 19
     8.2.5.  Use of Alternative NAT Traversal Mechanisms  . . . . . 20
     8.2.6.  Additional Error Identifiers . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
     8.2.7.  Defining New Objects To Be Carried in GIST . . . . . . 21
     8.2.8.  Adding New Message Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   8.3.  QoS NSLP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
   8.4.  QoS Specifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
   8.5.  NAT/Firewall NSLP  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
   8.6.  New NSLP Protocols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
 9.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
 10. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
 11. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   11.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
   11.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 2] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

1. Introduction

 The Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS) Working Group was formed in
 November 2001 to develop an Internet signaling protocol suite that
 would attempt to remedy some of the perceived shortcomings of
 solutions based on the Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP), e.g.,
 with respect to mobility and Quality-of-Service (QoS)
 interoperability.  The initial charter was focused on QoS signaling
 as the first use case, taking RSVP as the background for the work.
 In May 2003, middlebox traversal was added as an explicit second use
 case.  The requirements for the new generation of signaling protocols
 are documented in [RFC3726], and an analysis of existing signaling
 protocols can be found in [RFC4094].
 The design of NSIS is based on a two-layer model, where a general
 signaling transport layer provides services to an upper signaling
 application layer.  The design was influenced by Bob Braden's
 document entitled "A Two-Level Architecture for Internet Signaling"
 [TWO-LEVEL].
 This document gives an overview of the NSIS framework and protocol
 suite at the time of writing (2010), provides an introduction to the
 use cases for which the current version of NSIS was designed,
 describes how to deploy NSIS in existing networks, and summarizes how
 the protocol suite can be enhanced to satisfy new use cases.

2. The NSIS Architecture

 The design of the NSIS protocol suite reuses ideas and concepts from
 RSVP but essentially divides the functionality into two layers.  The
 lower layer, the NSIS Transport Layer Protocol (NTLP), is in charge
 of transporting the higher-layer protocol messages to the next
 signaling node on the path.  This includes discovery of the next-hop
 NSIS node, which may not be the next routing hop, and different
 transport and security services depending on the signaling
 application requirements.  The General Internet Signaling Transport
 (GIST) [RFC5971] has been developed as the protocol that fulfills the
 role of the NTLP.  The NSIS protocol suite supports both IP protocol
 versions, IPv4 and IPv6.
 The actual signaling application logic is implemented in the higher
 layer of the NSIS stack, the NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol (NSLP).
 While GIST is only concerned with transporting NSLP messages hop-by-
 hop between pairs of signaling nodes, the end-to-end signaling
 functionality is provided by the NSLP protocols if needed.  Not all
 NSLP protocols need to perform end-to-end signaling.  The current
 protocols have features to confine the signaling to a limited part of
 the path (such as the interior of a domain).  Messages transmitted by

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 3] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 GIST on behalf of an NSLP are identified by a unique NSLP identifier
 (NSLPID) associated with the NSLP.  Two NSLP protocols are currently
 specified: one concerning Quality-of-Service signaling [RFC5974] and
 one to enable NAT/firewall traversal [RFC5973].
 NSIS is primarily designed to provide the signaling needed to install
 state on nodes that lie on the path that will be taken by some end-
 to-end flow of data packets; the state installed should facilitate or
 enhance some characteristic of the data flow.  This is typically
 achieved by routing signaling messages along the same path (known as
 "path-coupled signaling") and intercepting the signaling message at
 NSIS-capable nodes.  However, the NSIS architecture is designed to be
 flexible, and the routing of signaling messages is controlled by the
 Message Routing Method (MRM) that is applied to the signaling
 messages.  The initial specifications define two MRMs:
 o  the basic Path Coupled MRM designed to drive signaling along the
    path that will be followed by the data flow, and
 o  an alternative Loose End MRM, which is applicable for
    preconditioning the state in firewalls and Network Address
    Translation (NAT) middleboxes when data flow destinations lie
    behind this sort of middlebox.  Without preconditioning, these
    middleboxes will generally reject signaling messages originating
    outside the region 'protected' by the middlebox and where the
    destination is located.
 Parameters carried by each signaling message drive the operation of
 the relevant transport or signaling application.  In particular, the
 messages will carry Message Routing Information (MRI) that will allow
 the NSIS nodes to identify the data flow to which the signaling
 applies.  Generally, the intercepted messages will be reinjected into
 the network after processing by the NSIS entities and will be routed
 further towards the destination, possibly being intercepted by
 additional NSIS-capable nodes before arriving at the flow endpoint.
 As with RSVP, it is expected that the signaling message will make a
 complete round trip either along the whole end-to-end path or a part
 of it if the scope of the signaling is limited.  This implements a
 two-phase strategy in which capabilities are assessed and provisional
 reservations are made on the outbound leg; these provisional
 reservations are then confirmed and operational state is installed on
 the return leg.  Unlike RSVP, signaling is normally initiated at the
 source of the data flow, making it easier to ensure that the
 signaling follows the expected path of the data flow, but can also be
 receiver initiated as in RSVP.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 4] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 A central concept of NSIS is the Session Identifier (SID).  Signaling
 application states are indexed and referred to through the SID in all
 the NSLPs.  This decouples the state information from IP addresses,
 allowing dynamic IP address changes for signaling flows, e.g., due to
 mobility: changes in IP addresses do not force complete teardown and
 re-initiation of a signaling application state; they force merely an
 update of the state parameters in the NSLP(s), especially the MRI.
 At the NTLP (GIST) layer, the SID is not meaningful by itself, but is
 used together with the NSLP identifier (NSLPID) and the Message
 Routing Information (MRI).  This 3-tuple is used by GIST to index and
 manage the signaling flows.  Changes of routing or dynamic IP address
 changes, e.g., due to mobility, will require GIST to modify already
 established Messaging Associations (MAs) that are used to channel
 NSLP messages between adjacent GIST peers in order to satisfy the
 NSLP MRI for each SID.
 The following design restrictions were imposed for the first phase of
 the protocol suite.  They may be lifted in the future, and new
 functionality may be added into the protocols at some later stage.
 o  Initial focus on MRMs for path-coupled signaling: GIST transports
    messages towards an identified unicast data flow destination based
    on the signaling application request, and does not directly
    support path-decoupled signaling, e.g., QoS signaling to a
    bandwidth broker or other off-path resource manager.  The
    framework also supports a Loose End MRM used to discover GIST
    nodes with particular properties in the direction of a given
    address; for example, the NAT/firewall NSLP uses this method to
    discover a NAT along the upstream data path.
 o  No multicast support: Introducing support for multicast was deemed
    too much overhead, considering the currently limited support for
    global IP multicast.  Thus, the current GIST and the NSLP
    specifications consider unicast flows only.
 The key documents specifying the NSIS framework are:
 o  Requirements for Signaling Protocols [RFC3726]
 o  Next Steps in Signaling: Framework [RFC4080]
 o  Security Threats for NSIS [RFC4081]
 The protocols making up the suite specified by the NSIS Working Group
 are documented in:
 o  The General Internet Signaling Transport protocol [RFC5971]

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 5] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 o  Quality-of-Service NSLP (QoS NSLP) [RFC5974]
 o  The QoS specification template [RFC5975]
 o  NAT/firewall traversal NSLP [RFC5973]
 The next three sections provide a brief survey of GIST, the QoS NSLP,
 and the NAT/firewall NSLP.

3. The General Internet Signaling Transport

 The General Internet Signaling Transport (GIST) [RFC5971] provides
 signaling transport and security services to NSIS Signaling Layer
 Protocols (NSLP) and the associated signaling applications.  GIST
 does not define new IP transport protocols or security mechanisms but
 rather makes use of existing protocols, such as TCP, UDP, TLS, and
 IPsec.  Applications can indicate the desired transport attributes
 for the signaling flow, e.g., unreliable or reliable, and GIST then
 chooses the most appropriate transport protocol(s) to satisfy the
 requirements of the flow.  GIST will normally use UDP if unreliable
 signaling is adequate, TCP if reliability is required, and TLS over
 TCP for secure (and reliable) signaling flows, but there exist
 extensibility provisions within GIST that will allow alternatives to
 be specified in the future.  The NSIS layered protocol stack is shown
 in Figure 1.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 6] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

             +-----+ +--------+ +-------+
             |     | |        | |       |
             | QoS | | NAT/FW | |  ...  |       NSLP
             |     | |        | |       |
             +-----+ +--------+ +-------+
  1. ——————————————————————–

+————————–+

             |                          |
             |          GIST            |       NTLP
             |                          |
             +--------------------------+
  1. ——————————————————————–

+————+————-+

             |     TLS    |    DTLS     |  Security Support*
             +------------+-------------+
             | TCP | SCTP | UDP | DCCP  |  Transport Protocol*
             +--------------------------+
             +--------------------------+
             |         IPsec            |
             +--------------------------+
             +--------------------------+
             |    IPv4     |    IPv6    |
             +--------------------------+
  • The Security Support and Transport Protocol layers show some

possible protocols that could be used to transport NSIS messages.

    To provide authentication and/or integrity protection support,
    the transport protocol has to be paired with a suitable security
    mechanism, e.g., TCP with TLS, or Datagram Congestion Control
    Protocol (DCCP) with DTLS.
                   Figure 1: The NSIS protocol stack
 GIST divides up the data flow's end-to-end path into a number of
 segments between pairs of NSIS-aware peer nodes located along the
 path.  Not every router or other middlebox on the path needs to be
 NSIS aware: each segment of the signaling path may incorporate
 several routing hops.  Also not every NSIS-aware node necessarily
 implements every possible signaling application.  If the signaling
 for a flow requests services from a subset of the applications, then
 only nodes that implement those services are expected to participate
 as peers, and even some of these nodes can decline to operate on a
 particular flow if, for example, the additional load might overload
 the processing capability of the node.  These characteristics mean
 that incremental deployment of NSIS capabilities is possible both
 with the initial protocol suite, and for any future NSLP applications

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 7] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 that might be developed.  The following paragraphs describe how a
 signaling segment is set up to offer the transport and security
 characteristics needed by a single NSLP.
 When an NSLP application wants to send a message towards a flow
 endpoint, GIST starts the process of discovering the next signaling
 node by sending a Query message towards the destination of the
 related data flow.  This Query carries the NSLP identifier (NSLPID)
 and Message Routing Information (MRI), among others.  The MRI
 contains enough information to control the routing of the signaling
 message and to identify the associated data flow.  The next GIST node
 on the path receives the message, and if it is running the same NSLP,
 it provides the MRI to the NSLP application and requests it to make a
 decision on whether to peer with the querying node.  If the NSLP
 application chooses to peer, GIST sets up a Message Routing State
 (MRS) between the two nodes for the future exchange of NSLP data.
 State setup is performed by a three-way handshake that allows for
 negotiation of signaling flow parameters and provides counter-
 measures against several attacks (like denial-of-service) by using
 cookie mechanisms and a late state installation option.
 If a transport connection is required and needs to provide for
 reliable or secure signaling, like TCP or TLS/TCP, a Messaging
 Association (MA) is established between the two peers.  An MA can be
 reused for signaling messages concerning several different data
 flows, i.e., signaling messages between two nodes are multiplexed
 over the same transport connection.  This can be done when the
 transport requirements (reliability, security) of a new flow can be
 met with an existing MA, i.e., the security and transport properties
 of an existing MA are equivalent or better than what is requested for
 a potential new MA.
 For path-coupled signaling, we need to find the nodes on the data
 path that should take part in the signaling of an NSLP and invoke
 them to act on the arrival of such NSLP signaling messages.  The
 basic concept is that such nodes along a flow's data path intercept
 the corresponding signaling packets and are thus discovered
 automatically.  GIST places a Router Alert Option (RAO) in Query
 message packets to ensure that they are intercepted by relevant NSIS-
 aware nodes, as in RSVP.
 Late in the development of GIST, serious concerns were raised in the
 IETF about the security risks and performance implications of
 extensive usage of the RAO [RAO-BAD].  Additionally, evidence was
 discovered indicating that several existing implementations of RAO
 were inconsistent with the (intention of the) standards and would not
 support the NSIS usage.  There were also concerns that extending the
 need for RAO recognition in the fast path of routers that are

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 8] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 frequently implemented in hardware would delay or deter
 implementation and deployment of NSIS.  Eventually, it was decided
 that NSIS would continue to specify RAO as its primary means for
 triggering interception of signaling messages in intermediate nodes
 on the data path, but the protocol suite would be published with
 Experimental status rather than on the Standards Track while
 deployment experience was gathered.  More information about the use
 of RAO in GIST can be found in [GIST-RAO].  Also, the deployment
 issues that arise from the use of RAO are discussed in Section 6.1.
 Alternative mechanisms have been considered to allow nodes to
 recognize NSIS signaling packets that should be intercepted.  For
 example, NSIS nodes could recognize UDP packets directed to a
 specific destination port as Query messages that need to be
 intercepted even though they are not addressed to the intercepting
 node.  GIST provides for the use of such alternatives as a part of
 its extensibility design.  NSIS recognizes that the workload imposed
 by intercepting signaling packets could be considerable relative to
 the work needed just to forward such packets.  To keep the necessary
 load to a minimum, NSIS provides mechanisms to limit the number of
 interceptions needed by constraining the rate of generation and
 allowing for intentional bypassing of signaling nodes that are not
 affected by particular signaling requests.  This can be accomplished
 either in GIST or in the NSLP.
 Since GIST carries information about the data flow inside its
 messages (in the MRI), NAT gateways must be aware of GIST in order to
 let it work correctly.  GIST provides a special object for NAT
 traversal so that the actual translation is disclosed if a GIST-aware
 NAT gateway provides this object.
 As with RSVP, all the state installed by NSIS protocols is "soft-
 state" that will expire and be automatically removed unless it is
 periodically refreshed.  NSIS state is held both at the signaling
 application layer and in the signaling transport layer, and is
 maintained separately.  NSLPs control the lifetime of the state in
 the signaling application layer by setting a timeout and sending
 periodic "keep alive" messages along the signaling path if no other
 messages are required.  The MAs and the routing state are maintained
 semi-independently by the transport layer, because MAs may be used by
 multiple NSLP sessions, and can also be recreated "on demand" if the
 node needs to reclaim resources.  The transport layer can send its
 own "keep alive" messages across a MA if no NSLP messages have been
 sent, for example, if the transport layer decides to maintain a
 heavily used MA even though there is no current NSLP session using
 it.  Local state can also be deleted explicitly when no longer
 needed.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 9] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 If there is a change in the route used by a flow for which NSIS has
 created state, NSIS needs to detect the change in order to determine
 if the new path contains additional NSIS nodes that should have state
 installed.  GIST may use a range of triggers in order to detect a
 route change.  It probes periodically for the next peer by sending a
 GIST Query, thereby detecting a changed route and GIST peer.  GIST
 monitors routing tables and the GIST peer states, and it notifies
 NSLPs of any routing changes.  It is then up to the NSLPs to act
 appropriately, if needed, e.g., by issuing a refresh message.  The
 periodic queries also serve to maintain the soft-state in nodes as
 long as the route is unchanged.
 In summary, GIST provides several services in one package to the
 upper-layer signaling protocols:
 o  Signaling peer discovery: GIST is able to find the next-hop node
    that runs the NSLP being signaled for.
 o  Multiplexing: GIST reuses already established signaling
    relationships and messaging associations to next-hop peers if the
    signaling flows require the same transport attributes.
 o  Transport: GIST provides transport with different attributes --
    namely, reliable/unreliable and secure/unsecure.
 o  Security: If security is requested, GIST uses TLS to provide an
    encrypted and integrity-protected message transport to the next
    signaling peer.
 o  Routing changes: GIST detects routing changes, but instead of
    acting on its own, it merely sends a notification to the local
    NSLP.  It is then up to the NSLP to act.
 o  Fragmentation: GIST uses either a known Path MTU for the next hop
    or limits its message size to 576 bytes when using UDP or Query
    mode.  If fragmentation is required, it automatically establishes
    an MA and sends the signaling traffic over a reliable protocol,
    e.g., TCP.
 o  State maintenance: GIST establishes and then maintains the soft-
    state that controls communications through MAs between GIST peers
    along the signaling path, according to usage parameters supplied
    by NSLPs and local policies.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 10] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

4. Quality-of-Service NSLP

 The Quality-of-Service (QoS) NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol (NSLP)
 establishes and maintains state at nodes along the path of a data
 flow for the purpose of providing some forwarding resources for that
 flow.  It is intended to satisfy the QoS-related requirements of RFC
 3726 [RFC3726].  No support for QoS architectures based on bandwidth
 brokers or other off-path resource managers is currently included.
 The design of the QoS NSLP is conceptually similar to RSVP, RFC 2205
 [RFC2205], and uses soft-state peer-to-peer refresh messages as the
 primary state management mechanism (i.e., state installation/refresh
 is performed between pairs of adjacent NSLP nodes, rather than in an
 end-to-end fashion along the complete signaling path).  The QoS NSLP
 extends the set of reservation mechanisms to meet the requirements of
 RFC 3726 [RFC3726], in particular, support of sender- or receiver-
 initiated reservations, as well as, a type of bidirectional
 reservation and support of reservations between arbitrary nodes,
 e.g., edge-to-edge, end-to-access, etc.  On the other hand, there is
 currently no support for IP multicast.
 A distinction is made between the operation of the signaling protocol
 and the information required for the operation of the Resource
 Management Function (RMF).  RMF-related information is carried in the
 QSPEC (QoS Specification) object in QoS NSLP messages.  This is
 similar to the decoupling between RSVP and the IntServ architecture,
 RFC 1633 [RFC1633].  The QSPEC carries information on resources
 available, resources required, traffic descriptions, and other
 information required by the RMF.  A template for QSPEC objects is
 defined in [RFC5975].  This provides a number of basic parameter
 objects that can be used as a common language to specify components
 of concrete QoS models.  The objects defined in [RFC5975] provide the
 building blocks for many existing QoS models such as those associated
 with RSVP and Differentiated Services.  The extensibility of the
 template allows new QoS model specifications to extend the template
 language as necessary to support these specifications.
 The QoS NSLP supports different QoS models because it does not define
 the QoS mechanisms and RMF that have to be used in a domain.  As long
 as a domain knows how to perform admission control for a given QSPEC,
 QoS NSLP actually does not care how the specified constraints are
 enforced and met, e.g., by putting the related data flow in the
 topmost of four Diffserv classes or by putting it into the third
 highest of twelve Diffserv classes.  The particular QoS configuration
 used is up to the network provider of the domain.  The QSPEC can be
 seen as a common language to express QoS requirements between
 different domains and QoS models.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 11] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 In short, the functionality of the QoS NSLP includes:
 o  Conveying resource requests for unicast flows
 o  Resource requests (QSPEC) that are decoupled from the signaling
    protocol (QoS NSLP)
 o  Sender- and receiver-initiated reservations, as well as
    bidirectional
 o  Soft-state and reduced refresh (keep-alive) signaling
 o  Session binding, i.e., session X can be valid only if session Y is
    also valid
 o  Message scoping, end-to-end, edge-to-edge, or end-to-edge (proxy
    mode)
 o  Protection against message re-ordering and duplication
 o  Group tear, tearing down several sessions with a single message
 o  Support for rerouting, e.g., due to mobility
 o  Support for request priorities and preemption
 o  Stateful and stateless nodes: stateless operation is particularly
    relevant in core networks where large amounts of QoS state could
    easily overwhelm a node
 o  Reservation aggregation
 The protocol also provides for a proxy mode to allow the QoS
 signaling to be implemented without needing all end-hosts to be
 capable of handling NSIS signaling.
 The QSPEC template supports situations where the QoS parameters need
 to be fine-grained, specifically targeted to an individual flow in
 one part of the network (typically the edge or access part) but might
 need to be more coarse-grained, where the flow is part of an
 aggregate (typically in the core of the network).

5. NAT/Firewall Traversal NSLP

 The NAT/firewall traversal NSLP [RFC5973] lets end-hosts interact
 with NAT and firewall devices in the data path.  Basically, it allows
 for a dynamic configuration of NATs and/or firewalls along the data
 path in order to enable data flows to traverse these devices without

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 12] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 being obstructed.  For instance, firewall pinholes could be opened on
 demand by authorized hosts.  Furthermore, it is possible to block
 unwanted incoming traffic on demand, e.g., if an end-host is under
 attack.
 Configurations to be implemented in NAT and firewall devices signaled
 by the NAT/firewall NSLP take the form of a (pattern, action) pair,
 where the pattern specifies a template for packet header fields to be
 matched.  The device is then expected to apply the specified action
 to any passing packet that matches the template.  Actions are
 currently limited to ALLOW (forward the packet) and DENY (drop the
 packet).  The template specification allows for a greater range of
 packet fields to be matched than those allowed for in the GIST MRI.
 Basically, NAT/firewall signaling starts at the data sender (NSIS
 Initiator) before any actual application data packets are sent.
 Signaling messages may pass several middleboxes that are NAT/firewall
 NSLP aware (NSIS Forwarder) on their way downstream and usually hit
 the receiver (being the NSIS Responder).  A proxy mode is also
 available for cases where the NAT/firewall NSLP is not fully
 supported along the complete data path.  NAT/firewall NSLP is based
 on a soft-state concept, i.e., the sender must periodically repeat
 its request in order to keep it active.
 Additionally, the protocol also provides functions for receivers
 behind NATs.  The receiver may request an external address that is
 reachable from outside.  The reserved external address must, however,
 be communicated to the sender out-of-band by other means, e.g., by
 application level signaling.  After this step the data sender may
 initiate a normal NAT/firewall signaling in order to create firewall
 pinholes.
 The protocol also provides for a proxy mode to allow the NAT/firewall
 signaling to be implemented without needing all end-hosts to be
 capable of handling NSIS signaling.

6. Deploying the Protocols

 The initial version of the NSIS protocol suite is being published
 with the status of Experimental in order to gain deployment
 experience.  Concerns over the security, implementation, and
 administrative issues surrounding the use of RAO are likely to mean
 that initial deployments occur in "walled gardens" where the
 characteristics of hardware in use are well-known, and there is a
 high level of trust and control over the end nodes that use the
 protocols.  This section addresses issues that need to be considered
 in a deployment of the NSIS protocol suite.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 13] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 First of all, NSIS implementations must be available in at least some
 of the corresponding network nodes (i.e., routers, firewalls, or NAT
 gateways) and end-hosts.  That means not only GIST support, but also
 the NSLPs and their respective control functions (such as a resource
 management function for QoS admission control, etc.) must be
 implemented.  NSIS is capable of incremental deployment and an
 initial deployment does not need to involve every node in a network
 domain.  This is discussed further in Section 6.3.  There are a
 number of obstacles that may be encountered due to broken
 implementations of RAO (see Section 6.1) and due to firewalls or NATs
 that drop NSIS signaling packets (see Section 6.2).
 Another important issue is that applications may need to be made
 NSIS-aware, thereby requiring some effort from the applications'
 programmers.  Alternatively, it may be possible to implement separate
 applications to control, e.g., the network QoS requests or firewall
 pinholes, without needing to update the actual applications that will
 take advantage of NSIS capabilities.

6.1. Deployment Issues Due to Use of RAO

 The standardized version of GIST depends on routers and other
 middleboxes correctly recognizing and acting on packets containing
 RAO.  There are a number of problems related to RAO that can obstruct
 a deployment of NSIS:
 o  Some implementations do not respond to RAO at all.
 o  Some implementations respond but do not distinguish between the
    RAO parameter values in IPv4 packets or reject anything except 0
    (in which case, only the value 0 can be used).
 o  The response to RAO in a GIST Query mode packet, which is sent
    using the UDP transport, is to dispatch the packet to the UDP
    stack in the intercepting node rather than to a function
    associated with the RAO parameter.  Since the node will not
    normally have a regular UDP receiver for these packets they are
    dropped.
 o  The major security concern with RAO in NSIS is that it provides a
    new vector for hosts to mount a (distributed) denial-of-service
    (DDoS) attack on the control plane of routers on the data path.
    Such attacks have occurred, and it is therefore normal for service
    providers to prohibit "host-to-router" signaling packets such as
    RSVP or NSIS from entering their networks from customer networks.
    This will tend to limit the deployment of NSIS to "walled gardens"
    unless a suitable mitigation of the DDoS threat can be found and
    deployed.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 14] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 In order to deploy NSIS effectively, routers and other hardware need
 to be selected and correctly configured to respond to RAO and
 dispatch intercepted packets to the NSIS function.
 A further obstacle results from the likelihood that IPv4 packets with
 IP options of any kind will be filtered and dropped by firewalls and
 NATs.  In many cases, this is the default behavior so that explicit
 configuration is needed to allow packets carrying the RAO to pass
 through.  The general inclination of domain administrators is to deny
 access to packets carrying IP options because of the security risks
 and the additional load on the routers in the domain.  The situation
 with IPv6 may be easier, as the RAO option in IPv6 is better defined,
 but the security concerns remain.
 Deployment issues are discussed at more length in Appendix C of the
 GIST specification [RFC5971].

6.2. Deployment Issues with NATs and Firewalls

 NAT gateways and firewalls may also hinder initial deployment of NSIS
 protocols for several reasons:
 o  They may filter and drop signaling traffic (as described in
    Section 6.1) to deny access to packets containing IP options.
 o  They may not permit "unsolicited" incoming GIST Query mode
    packets.  This behavior has been anticipated in the design of the
    protocols but requires additional support to ensure that the
    middleboxes are primed to accept the incoming queries (see
    [RFC5974] and [RFC5973]).
 o  NATs that are not aware of the NSIS protocols will generally
    perform address translations that are not coordinated with the
    NSIS protocols.  Since NSIS signaling messages may be carrying
    embedded IP addresses affected by these translations, it may not
    be possible to operate NSIS through such legacy NATs.  The
    situation and workarounds are discussed in Section 7.2.1 of
    [RFC5971].

6.3. Incremental Deployment and Workarounds

 NSIS is specifically designed to be incrementally deployable.  It is
 not required that all nodes on the signaling and data path are NSIS
 aware.  To make any use of NSIS, at least two nodes on the path need
 to be NSIS aware.  However, it is not essential that the initiator
 and receiver of the data flow are NSIS aware.  Both the QoS and NAT/
 firewall NSLPs provide "proxy modes" in which nodes adjacent to the
 initiator and/or receiver can act as proxy signaling initiator or

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 15] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 receiver.  An initiator proxy can monitor traffic and, hopefully,
 detect when a data flow of a type needing NSIS support is being
 initiated.  The proxies can act more or less transparently on behalf
 of the data flow initiator and/or receiver to set up the required
 NSIS state and maintain it while the data flow continues.  This
 capability reduces the immediate need to modify all the data flow
 endpoints before NSIS is viable.

7. Security Features

 Basic security functions are provided at the GIST layer, e.g.,
 protection against some blind or denial-of-service attacks, but note
 that introduction of alternative MRMs may provide attack avenues that
 are not present with the current emphasis on the path-coupled MRM.
 Conceptually, it is difficult to protect against an on-path attacker
 and man-in-the-middle attacks when using path-coupled MRMs, because a
 basic functionality of GIST is to discover as yet unknown signaling
 peers.  Transport security can be requested by signaling applications
 and is realized by using TLS between signaling peers, i.e.,
 authenticity and confidentiality of signaling messages can be assured
 between peers.  GIST allows for mutual authentication of the
 signaling peers (using TLS means such as certificates) and can verify
 the authenticated identity against a database of nodes authorized to
 take part in GIST signaling.  It is, however, a matter of policy that
 the identity of peers is verified and accepted upon establishment of
 the secure TLS connection.
 While GIST is handling authentication of peer nodes, more fine-
 grained authorization may be required in the NSLP protocols.  There
 is currently an ongoing work to specify common authorization
 mechanisms to be used in NSLP protocols [NSIS-AUTH], thus allowing,
 e.g., per-user and per-service authorization.

8. Extending the Protocols

 This section discusses the ways that are available to extend the NSIS
 protocol suite.  The Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS) Framework
 [RFC4080] describes a two-layer framework for signaling on the
 Internet, comprising a generic transport layer with specific
 signaling-layer protocols to address particular applications running
 over this transport layer.  The model is designed to be highly
 extensible so that it can be adapted for different signaling needs.
 It is expected that additional signaling requirements will be
 identified in the future.  The two-layer approach allows for NSLP
 signaling applications to be developed independently of the transport
 protocol.  Further NSLPs can therefore be developed and deployed to
 meet these new needs using the same GIST infrastructure, thereby

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 16] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 providing a level of macro-extensibility.  However, the GIST protocol
 and the two signaling applications have been designed so that
 additional capabilities can be incorporated into the design should
 additional requirements within the general scope of these protocols
 need to be accommodated.
 The NSIS framework is also highly supportive of incremental
 deployment.  A new NSLP need not be available on every NSIS-aware
 node in a network or along a signaling path in order to start using
 it.  Nodes that do not (yet) support the application will forward its
 signaling messages without complaint until it reaches a node where
 the new NSLP application is deployed.
 One key functionality of parameter objects carried in NSIS protocols
 is the so-called "Extensibility flags (A/B)".  All the existing
 protocols (and any future ones conforming to the standards) can carry
 new experimental objects, where the A/B flags can indicate whether a
 receiving node must interpret the object, or whether it can just drop
 them or pass them along in subsequent messages sent out further on
 the path.  This functionality allows defining new objects without
 forcing all network entities to understand them.

8.1. Overview of Administrative Actions Needed When Extending NSIS

 Generally, NSIS protocols can be extended in multiple ways, many of
 which require the allocation of unique code point values in
 registries maintained by IANA on behalf of the IETF.  This and the
 following sections provide an overview of the administrative
 mechanisms that might apply.  The extensibility rules defined below
 are based upon the procedures by which IANA assigns values: "IESG
 Approval", "IETF Review", "Expert Review", and "Private Use" (as
 specified in [RFC5226]).  The appropriate procedure for a particular
 type of code point is defined in one or other of the NSIS protocol
 documents, mostly [RFC5971].
 In addition to registered code points, all NSIS protocols provide
 code points that can be used for experimentation, usually within
 closed networks, as explained in [RFC3692].  There is no guarantee
 that independent experiments will not be using the same code point!

8.2. GIST

 GIST is extensible in several aspects covered in the subsections
 below.  In these subsections, there are references to document
 sections in the GIST specification [RFC5971] where more information
 can be found.  The bullet points at the end of each subsection
 specify the formal administrative actions that would need to be
 carried out when a new extension is standardized.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 17] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 More generally, as asserted in Section 1 of the GIST specification,
 the GIST design could be extended to cater for multicast flows and
 for situations where the signaling is not tied to an end-to-end data
 flow.  However, it is not clear whether this could be done in a
 totally backwards-compatible way, and this is not considered within
 the extensibility model of NSIS.

8.2.1. Use of Different Message Routing Methods

 Currently, only two message routing methods are supported (Path
 Coupled MRM and Loose End MRM), but further MRMs may be defined in
 the future.  See Sections 3.3 and 5.8 of the GIST specification
 [RFC5971].  One possible additional MRM under development is
 documented in [EST-MRM].  This MRM would direct signaling towards an
 explicit target address other than the (current) data flow
 destination and is intended to assist setting up of state on a new
 path during "make-before-break" handover sequences in mobile
 operations.  Note that alternative routing methods may require
 modifications to the firewall traversal techniques used by GIST and
 NSLPs.
 o  New MRMs require allocation of a new MRM-ID either by IETF review
    of a specification or expert review [RFC5971].

8.2.2. Use of Different Transport Protocols or Security Capabilities

 The initial handshake between GIST peers allows a negotiation of the
 transport protocols to be used.  Currently, proposals exist to add
 DCCP [GIST-DCCP] and the Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP)
 [GIST-SCTP] transports to GIST; in each case, using Datagram TLS
 (DTLS) to provide security.  See Sections 3.2 and 5.7 of the GIST
 specification [RFC5971].  GIST expects alternative capabilities to be
 treated as selection of an alternative protocol stack.  Within the
 protocol stack, the individual protocols used are specified by MA
 Protocol IDs that are allocated from an IANA registry if new
 protocols are to be used.  See Sections 5.7 and 9 of the GIST
 specification [RFC5971].
 o  Use of an alternative transport protocol or security capability
    requires allocation of a new MA-Protocol-ID either by IETF review
    of a specification or expert review [RFC5971].

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 18] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

8.2.3. Use of Alternative Security Services

 Currently, only TLS is specified for providing secure channels with
 MAs.  Section 3.9 of the GIST specification [RFC5971] suggests that
 alternative protocols could be used, but the interactions with GIST
 functions would need to be carefully specified.  See also Section
 4.4.2 of the GIST specification [RFC5971].
 o  Use of an alternative security service requires allocation of a
    new MA-Protocol-ID either by IETF review of a specification or
    expert review [RFC5971].

8.2.4. Query Mode Packet Interception Schemes

 GIST has standardized a scheme using RAO mechanisms [GIST-RAO] with
 UDP packets.  If the difficulties of deploying the RAO scheme prove
 insuperable in particular circumstances, alternative interception
 schemes can be specified.  One proposal that was explored for GIST
 used UDP port recognition in routers (rather than RAO mechanisms) to
 drive the interception of packets.  See Section 5.3.2 of the GIST
 specification [RFC5971].  Each NSLP needs to specify membership of an
 "interception class" whenever it sends a message through GIST.  A
 packet interception scheme can support one or more interception
 classes.  In principle, a GIST instance can support multiple packet
 interception schemes, but each interception class needs to be
 associated with exactly one interception scheme in a GIST instance,
 and GIST instances that use different packet interception schemes for
 the same interception class will not be interoperable.
 Defining an alternative interception class mechanism for
 incorporation into GIST should be considered as a very radical step,
 and all alternatives should be considered before taking this path.
 The main reason for this is that the mechanism will necessarily
 require additional operations on every packet passing through the
 affected router interfaces.  A number of considerations should be
 taken into account:
 o  Although the interception mechanism need only be deployed on
    routers that actually need it (probably for a new NSLP),
    deployment may be constrained if the mechanism requires
    modification to the hardware of relevant routers and/or needs to
    await modification of the software by the router vendor.
 o  Typically, any packet fields to be examined should be near the
    header of the packet so that additional memory accesses are not
    needed to retrieve the values needed for examination.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 19] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 o  The logic required to determine if a packet should be intercepted
    needs to be kept simple to minimize the extra per-packet
    processing.
 o  The mechanism should be applicable to both IPv4 and IPv6 packets.
 o  Packet interception mechanisms potentially provide an attack path
    for denial-of-service attacks on routers, in that packets are
    diverted into the "slow path" and hence can significantly increase
    the load on the general processing capability of the router.  Any
    new interception mechanism needs to be carefully designed to
    minimize the attack surface.
 Packet interception mechanisms are identified by an "interception
 class" which is supplied to GIST through the Application Programming
 Interface for each message sent.
 o  New packet interception mechanisms will generally require
    allocation of one or more new Interception-class-IDs.  This does
    not necessarily need to be placed in an IANA registry as it is
    primarily used as a parameter in the API between the NSLPs and
    GIST and may never appear on the wire, depending on the mechanism
    employed; all that is required is consistent interpretation
    between the NSLPs and GIST in each applicable node.  However, if,
    as is the case with the current RAO mechanism [GIST-RAO], the
    scheme distinguishes between multiple packet interception classes
    by a value carried on the wire (different values of RAO parameter
    for the RAO mechanism in GIST), an IANA registry may be required
    to provide a mapping between interception classes and on-the-wire
    values as discussed in Section 6 of [GIST-RAO].

8.2.5. Use of Alternative NAT Traversal Mechanisms

 The mechanisms proposed for both legacy NAT traversal (Section 7.2.1
 of the GIST specification [RFC5971]) and GIST-aware NAT traversal
 (Section 7.2.2 of the GIST specification [RFC5971]) can be extended
 or replaced.  As discussed above, extension of NAT traversal may be
 needed if a new MRM is deployed.  Note that there is extensive
 discussion of NAT traversal in the NAT/firewall NSLP specification
 [RFC5973].

8.2.6. Additional Error Identifiers

 Making extensions to any of the above items may result in having to
 create new error modes.  See Section 9 and Appendix A.4.1 - A.4.3 of
 the GIST specification [RFC5971].

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 20] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 o  Additional error identifiers require allocation of new error
    code(s) and/or subcode(s) and may also require allocation of
    Additional Information types.  These are all allocated on a first-
    come, first-served basis by IANA [RFC5971].

8.2.7. Defining New Objects To Be Carried in GIST

 The A/B (extensibility) flags in each signaling object carried in
 NSIS protocols enable the community to specify new objects applicable
 to GIST that can be carried inside a signaling session without
 breaking existing implementations.  See Appendix A.2 of the GIST
 specification [RFC5971].  The A/B flags can also be used to indicate
 in a controlled fashion that a certain object must be understood by
 all GIST nodes, which makes it possible to probe for the support of
 an extension.  One such object already designed is the "Peering
 Information Object (PIO)" [PEERING-DATA] that allows a Query message
 to carry additional peering data to be used by the recipient in
 making the peering decision.
 o  New objects require allocation of a new Object Type ID either by
    IETF review of a specification or through another acceptable
    published specification [RFC5971].

8.2.8. Adding New Message Types

 Major modifications could be made by adding additional GIST message
 types and defining appropriate processing.  It might be necessary to
 define this as a new version of the protocol.  A field is provided in
 the GIST Common Header containing the version number.  GIST currently
 has no provision for version or capability negotiation that might be
 needed if a new version was defined.
 o  New GIST Message Types require allocation of a new GIST Message
    Type ID either by IETF review of a specification or expert review
    [RFC5971].

8.3. QoS NSLP

 The QoS NSLP provides signaling for QoS reservations on the Internet.
 The QoS NSLP decouples the resource reservation model or architecture
 (QoS model) from the signaling.  The signaling protocol is defined in
 Quality-of-Service NSLP (QoS NSLP) [RFC5974].  The QoS models are
 defined in separate specifications, and the QoS NSLP can operate with
 one or more of these models as required by the environment where it
 is used.  It is anticipated that additional QoS models will be
 developed to address various Internet scenarios in the future.
 Extensibility of QoS models is considered in Section 8.4.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 21] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 The QoS NSLP specifically mentions the possibility of using
 alternative Message Routing Methods (MRMs), apart from the general
 ability to extend NSLPs using new objects with the standard A/B
 extensibility flags to allow them to be used in new and old
 implementations.
 There is already work to extend the base QoS NSLP and GIST to enable
 new QoS signaling scenarios.  One such proposal is the Inter-Domain
 Reservation Aggregation aiming to support large-scale deployment of
 the QoS NSLP [RESV-AGGR].  Another current proposal seeks to extend
 the whole NSIS framework towards path-decoupled signaling and QoS
 reservations [HYPATH].

8.4. QoS Specifications

 The QoS Specification template (QSPEC) is defined in [RFC5975].  This
 provides the language in which the requirements of specific QoS
 models are described.  Introduction of a new QoS model involves
 defining a new QSPEC.  In order to have a new QSPEC allocated by
 IANA, there must be an acceptable published specification that
 defines the specific elements within the QSPEC used in the new model.
 See [RFC5975] for details.
 The introduction of new QoS models is designed to enable deployment
 of NSIS-based QoS control in specific scenarios.  One such example is
 the Integrated Services Controlled Load Service for NSIS [CL].
 A key feature provided by defining the QSPEC template is support of a
 common language for describing QoS requirements and capabilities,
 which can be reused by any QoS models intending to use the QoS NSLP
 to signal their requirements for traffic flows.  The commonality of
 the QSPEC parameters ensures a certain level of interoperability of
 QoS models and reduces the demands on hardware that has to implement
 the QoS control.  Optional QSPEC parameters support the extensibility
 of the QoS NSLP to other QoS models in the future; new QSPEC
 parameters can be defined in the document that specifies a new QoS
 model.  See Sections 4.4 and 7 of [RFC5975].
 The QSPEC consists of a QSPEC version number, QSPEC objects, plus
 specification of processing and procedures that can be used to build
 many QoS models.  The definition of a QSPEC can be revised without
 necessarily changing the version if the changes are functionally
 backwards compatible.  If changes are made that are not backwards
 compatible, then a new QSPEC version number has to be assigned.  Note
 that a new QSPEC version number is not needed just because additional
 QSPEC parameters are specified; new versions will be needed only if
 the existing functionality is modified.  The template includes
 version negotiation procedures that allow the originator of an NSLP

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 22] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 message to retry with a lower QSPEC version if the receiver rejects a
 message because it does not support the QSPEC version signaled in the
 message.  See Section 3.2 of [RFC5975].
 o  Creation of a new, incompatible version of an existing QSPEC
    requires allocation of a new QSPEC version number that is
    documented in a permanent and readily available public
    specification.  See [RFC5975].
 o  Completely new QSPECs can also be created.  Such new QSPECs
    require allocation of a QSPEC type that is documented in a
    permanent and readily available public specification.  Values are
    also available for local or experimental use during development.
    See [RFC5975].
 o  Additional QSPEC procedures can be defined requiring allocation of
    a new QSPEC procedure number that is documented in a permanent and
    readily available public specification.  Values are also available
    for local or experimental use during development.  See [RFC5975].
 o  Additional QSPEC parameters and associated error codes can be
    defined requiring a permanent and readily available public
    specification document.  Values are also available for local or
    experimental use during development.  See [RFC5975].

8.5. NAT/Firewall NSLP

 The NAT/firewall signaling can be extended broadly in the same way as
 the QoS NSLP by defining new parameters to be carried in NAT/firewall
 NSLP messages.  See Section 7 of [RFC5973].  No proposals currently
 exist to fulfill new use cases for the protocol.

8.6. New NSLP Protocols

 Designing a new NSLP is both challenging and easy.
 New signaling applications with associated NSLPs can be defined to
 work in parallel or replace the applications already defined by the
 NSIS working group.  Applications that fit into the NSIS framework
 will be expected to use GIST to provide transport of signaling
 messages and appropriate security facilities that relieve the
 application designer of many "lower-level" problems.  GIST provides
 many important functions through the API that it exposes to the code
 of the signaling application layer, and allows the signaling
 application programmer to offload various tasks to GIST, e.g., the
 channel security, transport characteristics, and signaling node
 discovery.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 23] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 Yet, on the other hand, the signaling application designer must take
 into account that the network environment can be dynamic, both in
 terms of routing and node availability.  The new NSLP designer must
 take into account at least the following issues:
 o  Routing changes, e.g., due to mobility: GIST sends network
    notifications when something happens in the network, e.g., peers
    or routing paths change.  All signaling applications must be able
    to handle these notifications and act appropriately.  GIST does
    not include logic to figure out what the NSLP would want to do due
    to a certain network event.  Therefore, GIST gives the
    notification to the application, and lets it make the right
    decision.
 o  GIST indications: GIST will also send other notifications, e.g.,
    if a signaling peer does not reply to refresh messages, or a
    certain NSLP message was not successfully delivered to the
    recipient.  NSLP applications must also be able to handle these
    events.  Appendix B in the GIST specification discusses the GIST-
    NSLP API and the various functionality required, but implementing
    this interface can be quite challenging; the multitude of
    asynchronous notifications that can arrive from GIST increases the
    implementation complexity of the NSLP.
 o  Lifetime of the signaling flow: NSLPs should inform GIST when a
    flow is no longer needed using the SetStateLifetime primitive.
    This reduces bandwidth demands in the network.
 o  NSLP IDs: NSLP messages may be multiplexed over GIST MAs.  The new
    NSLP needs to use a unique NSLPID to ensure that its messages are
    delivered to the correct application by GIST.  A single NSLP could
    use multiple NSLPIDs, for example, to distinguish different
    classes of signaling nodes that might handle different levels of
    aggregation of requests or alternative processing paths.  Note
    that unlike GIST, the NSLPs do not provide a protocol versioning
    mechanism.  If the new NSLP is an upgraded version of an existing
    NSLP, then it should be distinguished by a different NSLPID.
  • A new generally available NSLP requires IESG approval for the

allocation of a new NSLP ID [RFC5971]

 o  Incremental deployment: It would generally be unrealistic to
    expect every node on the signaling path to have a new NSLP
    implemented immediately.  New NSLPs need to allow for this.  The
    QoS and NAT/firewall NSLPs provide examples of techniques such as
    proxy modes that cater for cases where the data flow originator
    and/or receiver does not implement the NSLP.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 24] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 o  Signaling Message Source IP Address: It is sometimes challenging
    for an NSLP originating a signaling message to determine the
    source IP address that should be used in the signaling messages,
    which may be different from the data flow source address used in
    the MRI.  This challenge occurs either when a node has multiple
    interfaces or is acting as a proxy for the data flow originator
    (typically expected to occur during the introduction of NSIS when
    not all nodes are NSIS enabled).  A proxy signaling flow
    originator generally needs to know and use the correct data flow
    source IP address, at least initially.  As discussed in Section
    5.8.1.2 of [RFC5971], the signaling flow originator may choose to
    alter the source IP address after the initial Query message has
    established the flow path in order that ICMP messages are directed
    to the most appropriate node.  In the proxy case, the data flow
    originator would be unaware of the signaling flow, and ICMP
    messages relating to the signaling would be meaningless if passed
    on to the data flow originator.  Hence, it is essential that an
    NSLP is aware of the position and role of the node on which it is
    instantiated and has means of determining the appropriate source
    address to be used and ensuring that it is used on signaling
    packets.
 o  New MRMs: GIST currently defines two Message Routing Methods, and
    leaves the door open for new ideas.  Thus, it is possible that a
    new NSLP also requires a new MRM; path-decoupled routing being one
    example.
 o  Cooperation with other NSLPs: Some applications might need
    resources from two or more different classes in order to operate
    successfully.  The NSLPs managing these resources could operate
    cooperatively to ensure that such requests were coordinated to
    avoid wasting signaling bandwidth and prevent race conditions.
 It is essential that the security considerations of a new NSLP are
 carefully analyzed.  NSIS NSLPs are deployed in routers as well as
 host systems; a poorly designed NSLP could therefore provide an
 attack vector for network resources as well as end systems.  The NSLP
 must also support authorization of users and must allow the use of
 the GIST authentication and integrity protection mechanisms where
 users deem them to be necessary.
 The API between GIST and NSLPs (see Appendix B in [RFC5971]) is very
 important to understand.  The abstract design in the GIST
 specification does not specify the exact messaging between GIST and
 the NSLPs but gives an understanding of the interactions, especially
 what kinds of asynchronous notifications from GIST the NSLP must be
 prepared to handle: the actual interface will be dependent on each
 implementation of GIST.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 25] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 Messages transmitted by GIST on behalf of an NSLP are identified by a
 unique NSLP identifier (NSLPID).  NSLPIDs are 16-bit unsigned numbers
 taken from a registry managed by IANA and defined in Section 9 of the
 GIST specification [RFC5971].
 A range of values (32704-32767) is available for Private and
 Experimental use during development.  Any new signaling application
 that expects to be deployed generally on the Internet needs to use
 the registration procedure "IESG Approval" in order to request
 allocation of unique NSLPID value(s) from the IANA registry.  There
 is additional discussion of NSLPIDs in Section 3.8 of the GIST
 specification.

9. Security Considerations

 This document provides information to the community.  It does not
 itself raise new security concerns.
 However, any extensions that are made to the NSIS protocol suite will
 need to be carefully assessed for any security implications.  This is
 particularly important because NSIS messages are intended to be
 actively processed by NSIS-capable routers that they pass through,
 rather than simply forwarded as is the case with most IP packets.  It
 is essential that extensions provide means to authorize usage of
 capabilities that might allocate resources and recommend the use of
 appropriate authentication and integrity protection measures in order
 to exclude or adequately mitigate any security issues that are
 identified.
 Authors of new extensions for NSIS should review the analysis of
 security threats to NSIS documented in [RFC4081] as well as
 considering whether the new extension opens any new attack paths that
 need to be mitigated.
 GIST offers facilities to authenticate NSIS messages and to ensure
 that they are delivered reliably.  Extensions must allow these
 capabilities to be used in an appropriate manner to minimize the
 risks of NSIS messages being misused and must recommend their
 appropriate usage.
 If additional transport protocols are proposed for use in association
 with GIST, an appropriate set of compatible security functions must
 be made available in conjunction with the transport protocol to
 support the authentication and integrity functions expected to be
 available through GIST.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 26] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

10. Acknowledgements

 This document combines work previously published as two separate
 documents: "What is Next Steps in Signaling anyway - A User's Guide
 to the NSIS Protocol Family" written by Roland Bless and Jukka
 Manner, and "NSIS Extensibility Model" written by John Loughney.
 Max Laier, Nuutti Varis and Lauri Liuhto have provided reviews of the
 "User's Guide" and valuable input.  Teemu Huovila also provided
 valuable input on the later versions.
 The "Extensibility Model" borrowed some ideas and some text from RFC
 3936 [RFC3936], "Procedures for Modifying the Resource ReSerVation
 Protocol (RSVP)".  Robert Hancock provided text for the original GIST
 section, since much modified, and Claudia Keppler has provided
 feedback on this document, while Allison Mankin and Bob Braden
 suggested that this document be worked on.

11. References

11.1. Normative References

 [RFC3726]       Brunner, M., "Requirements for Signaling Protocols",
                 RFC 3726, April 2004.
 [RFC4080]       Hancock, R., Karagiannis, G., Loughney, J., and S.
                 Van den Bosch, "Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS):
                 Framework", RFC 4080, June 2005.
 [RFC4081]       Tschofenig, H. and D. Kroeselberg, "Security Threats
                 for Next Steps in Signaling (NSIS)", RFC 4081,
                 June 2005.
 [RFC5226]       Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing
                 an IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26,
                 RFC 5226, May 2008.
 [RFC5971]       Schulzrinne, H. and R. Hancock, "GIST: General
                 Internet Signalling Transport", RFC 5971,
                 October 2010.
 [RFC5973]       Stiemerling, M., Tschofenig, H., Aoun, C., and E.
                 Davies, "NAT/Firewall NSIS Signaling Layer Protocol
                 (NSLP)", RFC 5973, October 2010.
 [RFC5974]       Manner, J., Karagiannis, G., and A. McDonald, "NSIS
                 Signaling Layer Protocol (NSLP) for Quality-of-
                 Service Signaling", RFC 5974, October 2010.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 27] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 [RFC5975]       Ash, G., Bader, A., Kappler, C., and D. Oran, "QSPEC
                 Template for the Quality-of-Service NSIS Signaling
                 Layer Protocol (NSLP)", RFC 5975, October 2010.

11.2. Informative References

 [CL]            Kappler, C., Fu, X., and B. Schloer, "A QoS Model for
                 Signaling IntServ Controlled-Load Service with NSIS",
                 Work in Progress, April 2010.
 [EST-MRM]       Bless, R., "An Explicit Signaling Target Message
                 Routing Method (EST-MRM) for the General Internet
                 Signaling Transport (GIST) Protocol", Work
                 in Progress, June 2010.
 [GIST-DCCP]     Manner, J., "Generic Internet Signaling Transport
                 over DCCP and DTLS", Work in Progress, June 2007.
 [GIST-RAO]      Hancock, R., "Using the Router Alert Option for
                 Packet Interception in GIST", Work in Progress,
                 November 2008.
 [GIST-SCTP]     Fu, X., Dickmann, C., and J. Crowcroft, "General
                 Internet Signaling Transport (GIST) over Stream
                 Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP) and Datagram
                 Transport Layer Security (DTLS)", Work in Progress,
                 May 2010.
 [HYPATH]        Cordeiro, L., Curado, M., Monteiro, E., Bernardo, V.,
                 Palma, D., Racaru, F., Diaz, M., and C. Chassot,
                 "GIST Extension for Hybrid On-path Off-path Signaling
                 (HyPath)", Work in Progress, February 2008.
 [NSIS-AUTH]     Manner, J., Stiemerling, M., Tschofenig, H., and R.
                 Bless, "Authorization for NSIS Signaling Layer
                 Protocols", Work in Progress, July 2008.
 [PEERING-DATA]  Manner, J., Liuhto, L., Varis, N., and T. Huovila,
                 "Peering Data for NSIS Signaling Layer Protocols",
                 Work in Progress, February 2008.
 [RAO-BAD]       Rahman, R. and D. Ward, "Use of IP Router Alert
                 Considered Dangerous", Work in Progress,
                 October 2008.
 [RESV-AGGR]     Doll, M. and R. Bless, "Inter-Domain Reservation
                 Aggregation for QoS NSLP", Work in Progress,
                 July 2007.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 28] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

 [RFC1633]       Braden, B., Clark, D., and S. Shenker, "Integrated
                 Services in the Internet Architecture: an Overview",
                 RFC 1633, June 1994.
 [RFC2205]       Braden, B., Zhang, L., Berson, S., Herzog, S., and S.
                 Jamin, "Resource ReSerVation Protocol (RSVP) --
                 Version 1 Functional Specification", RFC 2205,
                 September 1997.
 [RFC3692]       Narten, T., "Assigning Experimental and Testing
                 Numbers Considered Useful", BCP 82, RFC 3692,
                 January 2004.
 [RFC3936]       Kompella, K. and J. Lang, "Procedures for Modifying
                 the Resource reSerVation Protocol (RSVP)", BCP 96,
                 RFC 3936, October 2004.
 [RFC4094]       Manner, J. and X. Fu, "Analysis of Existing Quality-
                 of-Service Signaling Protocols", RFC 4094, May 2005.
 [TWO-LEVEL]     Braden, R. and B. Lindell, "A Two-Level Architecture
                 for Internet Signaling", Work in Progress,
                 November 2002.

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 29] RFC 5978 NSIS User and Extension Guide October 2010

Authors' Addresses

 Jukka Manner
 Aalto University
 Department of Communications and Networking (Comnet)
 P.O. Box 13000
 FIN-00076 Aalto
 Finland
 Phone: +358 9 470 22481
 EMail: jukka.manner@tkk.fi
 URI:   http://www.netlab.tkk.fi/~jmanner/
 Roland Bless
 Institute of Telematics, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT)
 Zirkel 2, Building 20.20
 P.O. Box 6980
 Karlsruhe  76049
 Germany
 Phone: +49 721 608 6413
 EMail: bless@kit.edu
 URI:   http://tm.kit.edu/~bless
 John Loughney
 Nokia
 955 Page Mill Road
 Palo Alto, CA  94303
 USA
 Phone: +1 650 283 8068
 EMail: john.loughney@nokia.com
 Elwyn Davies (editor)
 Folly Consulting
 Soham
 UK
 EMail: elwynd@folly.org.uk
 URI:   http://www.folly.org.uk

Manner, et al. Informational [Page 30]

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