1 Network Working Group P. Quinn
2 Internet-Draft Cisco Systems, Inc.
3 Intended status: Experimental P. Agarwal
4 Expires: January 4, 2015 Broadcom
23 Generic Protocol Extension for VXLAN
24 draft-quinn-vxlan-gpe-03.txt
28 This draft describes extending Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network
29 (VXLAN), via changes to the VXLAN header, with three new
30 capabilities: support for multi-protocol encapsulation, operations,
31 administration and management (OAM) signaling and explicit
36 This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
37 provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.
39 Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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42 Drafts is at http://datatracker.ietf.org/drafts/current/.
44 Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
45 and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
46 time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
47 material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
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61 Copyright (c) 2014 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
62 document authors. All rights reserved.
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115 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
116 2. VXLAN Without Protocol Extension . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
117 3. Generic Protocol Extension VXLAN (VXLAN-gpe) . . . . . . . . . 6
118 3.1. Multi Protocol Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
119 3.2. OAM Support . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
120 3.3. Version Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
121 4. Backward Compatibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
122 4.1. VXLAN VTEP to VXLAN-gpe VTEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
123 4.2. VXLAN-gpe VTEP to VXLAN VTEP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
124 4.3. VXLAN-gpe UDP Ports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
125 4.4. VXLAN-gpe and Encapsulated IP Header Fields . . . . . . . 8
126 5. VXLAN-gpe Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
127 6. Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
128 7. Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
129 8. IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
130 8.1. UDP Port . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
131 8.2. VXLAN-gpe Next Protocol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
132 8.3. VXLAN-gpe Reserved Bits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
133 9. References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
134 9.1. Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
135 9.2. Informative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
136 Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
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171 Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network [VXLAN] defines an
172 encapsulation format that encapsulates Ethernet frames in an outer
173 UDP/IP transport. As data centers evolve, the need to carry other
174 protocols encapsulated in an IP packet is required, as well as the
175 need to provide increased visibility and diagnostic capabilities
176 within the overlay. The VXLAN header does not specify the protocol
177 being encapsulated and therefore is currently limited to
178 encapsulating only Ethernet frame payload, nor does it provide the
179 ability to define OAM protocols. Rather than defining yet another
180 encapsulation, VXLAN is extended to provide protocol typing and OAM
183 This document describes extending VXLAN via the following changes:
185 Next Protocol Bit (P bit): A reserved flag bit is allocated, and set
186 in the VXLAN-gpe header to indicate that a next protocol field is
189 OAM Flag Bit (O bit): A reserved flag bit is allocated, and set in
190 the VXLAN-gpe header, to indicate that the packet is an OAM
193 Version: Two reserved bits are allocated, and set in the VXLAN-gpe
194 header, to indicate VXLAN-gpe protocol version.
196 Next Protocol: A 8 bit next protocol field is present in the VXLAN-
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225 2. VXLAN Without Protocol Extension
227 As described in the introduction, the VXLAN header has no protocol
228 identifier that indicates the type of payload being carried by VXLAN.
229 Because of this, VXLAN is limited to an Ethernet payload.
230 Furthermore, the VXLAN header has no mechanism to signal OAM packets.
232 The VXLAN header defines bits 0-7 as flags (some defined, some
233 reserved), the VXLAN network identifier (VNI) field and several
234 reserved bits. The flags provide flexibility to define how the
235 reserved bits can be used to change the definition of the VXLAN
241 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
242 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
243 |R|R|R|R|I|R|R|R| Reserved |
244 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
245 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
246 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
249 Figure 1: VXLAN Header
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281 3. Generic Protocol Extension VXLAN (VXLAN-gpe)
283 3.1. Multi Protocol Support
285 This draft defines the following two changes to the VXLAN header in
286 order to support multi-protocol encapsulation:
288 P Bit: Flag bit 5 is defined as the Next Protocol bit. The P bit
289 MUST be set to 1 to indicate the presence of the 8 bit next
292 P = 0 indicates that the payload MUST conform to VXLAN as defined
295 Flag bit 5 was chosen as the P bit because this flag bit is
296 currently reserved in VXLAN.
298 Next Protocol Field: The lower 8 bits of the first word are used to
299 carry a next protocol. This next protocol field contains the
300 protocol of the encapsulated payload packet. A new protocol
301 registry will be requested from IANA.
303 This draft defines the following Next Protocol values:
308 0x4 : Network Service Header [NSH]
314 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
315 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
316 |R|R|R|R|I|P|R|R| Reserved |Next Protocol |
317 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
318 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
319 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
323 Figure 2: VXLAN-gpe Next Protocol
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339 Flag bit 7 is defined as the O bit. When the O bit is set to 1, the
340 packet is an OAM packet and OAM processing MUST occur. The OAM
341 protocol details are out of scope for this document. As with the
342 P-bit, bit 7 is currently a reserved flag in VXLAN.
347 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
348 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
349 |R|R|R|R|I|P|R|O| Reserved |Next Protocol |
350 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
351 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
352 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
356 Figure 3: VXLAN-gpe OAM Bit
360 VXLAN-gpe bits 8 and 9 are defined as version bits. These bits are
361 reserved in VXLAN. The version field is used to ensure backward
362 compatibility going forward with future VXLAN-gpe updates.
364 The initial version for VXLAN-gpe is 0.
369 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
370 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
371 |R|R|R|R|I|P|R|O|Ver| Reserved |Next Protocol |
372 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
373 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
374 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
380 Figure 4: VXLAN-gpe Version Bits
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393 4. Backward Compatibility
395 4.1. VXLAN VTEP to VXLAN-gpe VTEP
397 As per VXLAN, reserved bits 5 and 7, VXLAN-gpe P and O-bits
398 respectively must be set to zero. The remaining reserved bits must
399 be zero, including the VXLAN-gpe version field, bits 8 and 9. The
400 encapsulated payload MUST be Ethernet.
402 4.2. VXLAN-gpe VTEP to VXLAN VTEP
404 A VXLAN-gpe VTEP MUST NOT encapsulate non-Ethernet frames to a VXLAN
405 VTEP. When encapsulating Ethernet frames to a VXLAN VTEP, the VXLAN-
406 gpe VTEP will set the P bit to 0, the Next Protocol to 0 and use UDP
407 destination port 4789. A VXLAN-gpe VTEP MUST also set O = 0 and Ver
408 = 0 when encapsulating Ethernet frames to VXLAN VTEP. The receiving
409 VXLAN VTEP will threat this packet as a VXLAN packet.
411 A method for determining the capabilities of a VXLAN VTEP (gpe or
412 non-gpe) is out of the scope of this draft.
414 4.3. VXLAN-gpe UDP Ports
416 VXLAN-gpe uses a new UDP destination port (to be assigned by IANA)
417 when sending traffic to VXLAN-gpe VTEPs.
419 4.4. VXLAN-gpe and Encapsulated IP Header Fields
421 When encapsulating and decapsulating IPv4 and IPv6 packets, certain
422 fields, such as IPv4 Time to Live (TTL) from the inner IP header need
423 to be considered. VXLAN-gpe IP encapsulation and decapsulation
424 utilizes the techniques described in [RFC6830], section 5.3.
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449 5. VXLAN-gpe Examples
451 This section provides three examples of protocols encapsulated using
452 the Generic Protocol Extension for VXLAN described in this document.
457 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
458 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
459 |R|R|R|R|I|1|R|0|0|0| Reserved | NP = IPv4 |
460 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
461 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
462 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
463 | Original IPv4 Packet |
464 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
468 Figure 5: IPv4 and VXLAN-gpe
474 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
475 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
476 |R|R|R|R|I|1|R|0|0|0| Reserved | NP = IPv6 |
477 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
478 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
479 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
480 | Original IPv6 Packet |
481 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
485 Figure 6: IPv6 and VXLAN-gpe
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506 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1
507 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
508 |R|R|R|R|I|1|R|0|0|0| Reserved |NP = Ethernet |
509 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
510 | VXLAN Network Identifier (VNI) | Reserved |
511 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
512 | Original Ethernet Frame |
513 +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+
517 Figure 7: Ethernet and VXLAN-gpe
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561 6. Security Considerations
563 VXLAN's security is focused on issues around L2 encapsulation into
564 L3. With VXLAN-gpe, issues such as spoofing, flooding, and traffic
565 redirection are dependent on the particular protocol payload
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619 A special thank you goes to Dino Farinacci for his guidance and
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673 8. IANA Considerations
677 A new UDP port will be requested from IANA.
679 8.2. VXLAN-gpe Next Protocol
681 IANA is requested to set up a registry of "Next Protocol". These are
682 8-bit values. Next Protocol values 0, 1, 2, 3 and 4 are defined in
683 this draft. New values are assigned via Standards Action [RFC5226].
685 +---------------+-------------+---------------+
686 | Next Protocol | Description | Reference |
687 +---------------+-------------+---------------+
688 | 0 | Reserved | This document |
690 | 1 | IPv4 | This document |
692 | 2 | IPv6 | This document |
694 | 3 | Ethernet | This document |
696 | 4 | NSH | This document |
698 | 5..253 | Unassigned | |
699 +---------------+-------------+---------------+
703 8.3. VXLAN-gpe Reserved Bits
705 There are ten bits at the beginning of the VXLAN-gpe header. New
706 bits are assigned via Standards Action [RFC5226].
709 Bit 4 - Instance ID (I bit)
710 Bit 5 - Next Protocol (P bit)
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731 9.1. Normative References
733 [RFC0768] Postel, J., "User Datagram Protocol", STD 6, RFC 768,
736 [RFC0791] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
739 [RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
740 Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.
742 [RFC5226] Narten, T. and H. Alvestrand, "Guidelines for Writing an
743 IANA Considerations Section in RFCs", BCP 26, RFC 5226,
746 9.2. Informative References
748 [NSH] Quinn, P. and et al. , "Network Service Header", 2014.
750 [RFC1700] Reynolds, J. and J. Postel, "Assigned Numbers", RFC 1700,
753 [RFC6830] Farinacci, D., Fuller, V., Meyer, D., and D. Lewis, "The
754 Locator/ID Separation Protocol (LISP)", RFC 6830,
757 [VXLAN] Dutt, D., Mahalingam, M., Duda, K., Agarwal, P., Kreeger,
758 L., Sridhar, T., Bursell, M., and C. Wright, "VXLAN: A
759 Framework for Overlaying Virtualized Layer 2 Networks over
760 Layer 3 Networks", 2013.
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790 Email: paulq@cisco.com
796 Email: pagarwal@broadcom.com
808 Email: kreeger@cisco.com
814 Email: darlewis@cisco.com
820 Email: kreeger@cisco.com
826 Email: michsmit@cisco.com
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844 Email: nyadav@cisco.com
850 Email: lucy.yong@huawei.com
856 Email: xuxiaohu@huawei.com
862 Email: uri.elzur@intel.com
868 Email: Garg.Pankaj@microsoft.com