Internet Info 1997 December/Internet_Info_CD-ROM_Walnut_Creek_December_1997.iso/ietf/ifmib/ifmib-minutes-93nov.txt

Text File | 1994-02-08 | 9KB | 240 lines

CURRENT_MEETING_REPORT_

Reported by Theodore Brunner/Bellcore

Minutes of the Interfaces MIB Working Group (IFMIB)

Discussion focussed on the ``Evolution of the Interfaces Group of MIB
II'' Internet-Draft of October 20, 1993.  The discussion reviewed issues
raised on the mailing list and was the final forum for concerns about
the Internet-Draft before it was forwarded from the IFMIB Working Group
to the Area Director for consideration as a Proposed Standard.


Evolution of the Interfaces Group of MIB II Internet-Draft

   o ifOperStatus and ifOperStatusDetail

     A suggestion was made on the mailing list to add more detail about
     why an interface is ``down.''  An example was given of an on-demand
     connection down for lack of traffic.  IfOperStatusDetail was
     included in the document.  A question was raised in the meeting as
     to what is a generic OID; all seemed media specific.  An
     alternative to StatusDetail was suggested (actually an original
     suggestion on the list), of expanding ifOperStatus to include a
     ``down-non-failure'' state, in addition to the existing down(2)
     interpreted as ``down-failure.''

     Result:  The new ifOperStatus state was accepted and a group was
     delegated to work out the details and report back.

   o Counters

     A question was raised as to why ifXxxOctets is counted at the
     bottom of the interface stack while packets are counted at the top
     of the stack.  It was answered that Octets-on-the-wire gives a
     measure of network utilization, while packets-on-the-wire would
     not.

     Result:  There is no interest in changing the definition.

   o ifOutQLen

     A question was raised about why it is being deprecated.  It was
     suggested that it has network debugging utility.  A response was
     given that ifOutDiscards and the Ethernet MIB offer the same
     functionality.  Following the last IFMIB meeting there had been a
     proposal sent out on the list of a redefinition of ifOutQLen, but
     it was not carried forward in the document, nor extensively
     discussed.

     Result:  The authors will present it again to the working group.

   o ifStackTable

     A question was raised as to why there is no reverse of ifStackTable
     to directly read off the layer above.  It was answered that one
     direction was sufficient; a manager loads the whole table upon
     startup and builds the entire layer mapping from it.  The reverse
     direction would not be generally needed.

     Result:  There was interest in changing the definition.

   o ifStackTable

     It was asked why is it easy to read top to bottom instead of bottom
     to top.  The reason is that the IP layer references interfaces
     below it.

     Result:  There is no interest in changing the definition.

   o ifConnector

     It was asked if the enumeration could be changed to an OID
     describing the plug, if it is a physical connection.  It was
     decided that this is too complex; extensions are not wanted.

     Result:  The syntax will be changed to boolean.



Session Two - Internet Draft Discussion

   o ifOperStatus and Traps

     The group reporting back suggested that LinkUp and LinkDown traps
     are generated only when there is a ifOperStatus state transition
     into or out of the down(2) state (down(2) is interpreted as the
     failure condition.)  For instance, no traps are generated on
     transitions through the testing or unknown states.  Further, on
     boot up the agent should transition out of ifOperStatus down(2) if
     ifAdminStatus is up.  If ifAdminStatus is down, the agent should
     transition to ifOperStatus down(2).

     Result:  The changes were accepted.

   o Promotion of the ether-like MIB (RFC 1398)

     Issues in progressing from Proposed Standard to Draft Standard.
     There are some typos.  The ChipSet OID will be added since its
     deleted from ifExtensions/interfaces.  The SNMPV1 macros need to be
     changed to SNMPV2 macros.  There is a question if this MIB at Draft
     status can rely on SNMPV2 which is currently proposed.

     Result:  Work will continue on the discussion list.

   o ifOutCongest and ifOutCongestThreshold

     Original author's proposal for ifOutQLen replacement.  The
     ifOutCongest is a counter and ifOutCongestThreshold is read-write.

      -  Question if threshold is 0 then outCongest becomes a packet
         counter equal to Ucast+Mcast+Bcast.

      -  Question how to implement if queue managed by packets.

      -  Question that outQLen did not involve any counting per packet
         sent, while this proposal does.

     Result:  The proposal was not accepted.

   o TestTable

     It was questioned that the TestTable does use a semaphore to
     reserve testing to one manager, but does not use a semaphore to
     preserve the results of a test for the manager to read.  The answer
     is that this is an unlikely event.  It was also stated that this
     table enjoys little support (or opposition.)

     Result:  The working group does not feel that this is important
     enough to either do a fix, or get rid of the testTable all
     together, and suffer delay in promoting the MIB.


This ended the discussion of the Interface Evolution MIB. The working
group supported this version (with above edits) for consideration as a
Proposed Standard.



Generic Connection Table

An initial presentation was made on the motivation for the current
document, and a number of questions were raised, but not fully answered.
There is concern as to whether this would delay the ATM and Frame Relay
MIBs nearing completion now.

The following questions were raised:


   o Will there be benefits to all constituencies from such a generic
     model (ATM/Frame Relay or CNM/Device Management)?

   o What is the meaning of a connection AdminStatus versus media
     specific AdminStatus?

   o Is cnTable mandatory?

   o Does cnTable contain any additional information to what is in the
     media specific tables?

   o Is there a difference between CNM and device cross connect?


There is a desire to pursue an effort on generic connection tables, but
there is no desire to delay existing efforts; the ATM and Frame Relay
MIBs will proceed as scheduled.  A generic connection effort will start,
and be formulated as an independent addition to those efforts.  It is
presumed that the questions raised at this meeting will be addressed as
part of that effort.


Attendees

Masuma Ahmed             [e-mail]
Fred Baker               [e-mail]
Jim Barnes               [e-mail]
Bart Berger              [e-mail]
Andy Bierman             [e-mail]
Tracy Brown              [e-mail]
Theodore Brunner         [e-mail]
Lida Carrier             [e-mail]
Jeff Case                [e-mail]
Chris Chiotasso          [e-mail]
Manuel Diaz              [e-mail]
Jonathan Didner          [e-mail]
Kurt Dobbins             [e-mail]
Christopher Dorsey       [e-mail]
David Engel              [e-mail]
William Fardy            [e-mail]
Steve Feldman            [e-mail]
Robert Fenoglio          [e-mail]
Christine Gressley       [e-mail]
Stuart Hale              [e-mail]
Mike Holloway            [e-mail]
John Hopprich            [e-mail]
Refael Horev             [e-mail]
Melanie Humphrey         [e-mail]
Frank Kastenholz         [e-mail]
Mark Kepke               [e-mail]
Michael Kornegay         [e-mail]
Deirdre Kostick          [e-mail]
Cheryl Krupczak          [e-mail]
Joseph Liu               [e-mail]
Andrew Malis             [e-mail]
Peram Marimuthu          [e-mail]
Evan McGinnis            [e-mail]
Steve McRobert           [e-mail]
Rina Nathaniel           [e-mail]
Sath Nelakonda           [e-mail]
Orly Nicklass            [e-mail]
Tom Nisbet               [e-mail]
Shannon Nix              [e-mail]
Bill Norton              [e-mail]
Steven Onishi            [e-mail]
Zbigniew Opalka          [e-mail]
Eric Peterson            [e-mail]
Kenneth Rehbehn          [e-mail]
Kenneth Rodemann         [e-mail]
Michal Rozenthal         [e-mail]
Jon Saperia              [e-mail]
Michael Scanlon          [e-mail]
Jean-Bernard Schmitt     [e-mail]
Chi Shue                 [e-mail]
Timon Sloane             [e-mail]
Andrew Smith             [e-mail]
Robert Snyder            [e-mail]
Louis Steinberg          [e-mail]
Bob Stewart              [e-mail]
Adam Stolinski           [e-mail]
Kaj Tesink               [e-mail]
Michael Thatcher         [e-mail]
Dean Throop              [e-mail]
Steven Waldbusser        [e-mail]
Alice Wang               [e-mail]
James Watt               [e-mail]
Evan Wetstone            [e-mail]
Peter Wilson             [e-mail]