Hi Stewart,

Please see inline [Bruno]



Orange Restricted
From: rtgwg <rtgwg-boun...@ietf.org> On Behalf Of Stewart Bryant
Sent: Friday, November 3, 2023 10:06 AM
To: Gyan Mishra <hayabusa...@gmail.com>
Cc: draft-ietf-rtgwg-segment-routing-ti-...@ietf.org; rtgwg@ietf.org; 
rtgwg-chairs <rtgwg-cha...@ietf.org>; Alexander Vainshtein 
<alexander.vainsht...@rbbn.com>
Subject: Re: [EXTERNAL] draft-ietf-rtgwg-segment-routing-ti-lfa : A simple 
pathological network fragment



On 3 Nov 2023, at 02:43, Gyan Mishra 
<hayabusa...@gmail.com<mailto:hayabusa...@gmail.com>> wrote:

        Gyan> TI-LFA is a critical draft for operator SR deployments and I 
agree getting it published asap is a good idea.  All vendors that have 
implemented     TI-LFA  have implemented uLoop.  In reality any operator 
deploying TI-LFA would  always deploy uLoop avoidance at the same time per 
vendor recommendation.  The uLoop I-D  is 7 years old and  is mature as every 
vendor that has implemented TI-LFA has also implemented uLoop,  so I think this 
could be slam dunk to do a quick Adoption followed by expedite through WGLC and 
publish.  The other option is combine the drafts which may or may not be 
favorable to the WG.

The uLoop basic concept is simple ->> building a list of adj-sid from PLR to 
RLFA PQ node merge point with a timer set at time T1 post convergence and 
removed when T2 timer pops.  Simple!  The solution for TI-LFA in my mind is not 
complete without uLoop.  The major issue that Stewart pointed out is related to 
multiple entry points or chain of P space nodes preceding the PLR or multiple Q 
space nodes preceding the RLFA PQ node merge point is what I documented in my 
review.  Any of those longer chain of nodes can have uLoop distributed 
convergence cascaded delays.

TI-LFA implementations aim to solve with optimized least number of SID to avoid 
hardware MSD issues to solve the problem using a single node-sid plus maybe an 
adj-sid and at most 4 sid's.  Use of node-sid yields ECMP along the chain of 
nodes not yet converged resulting in many possible micro loops is the major 
issue that the  hop by hop list of adj-sid's along the post convergence path 
solves with the uLoop draft.

I don't know of any other way to resolve the TI-LFA uLoop issue if implemented 
by itself if node-sid ECMP is utilized.  One option but unlikely is in case of 
chain of nodes exists, that TI-LFA if configured by itself w/o uLoop while 
signaling for MSD maximum threshold, can build an adj-sid list across the nodes 
not yet converged from PLR to PQ node merge point.  Other then trying to fix 
TI-LFA so it can work independently of uLoop feature is to do what we have been 
discussing in the thread about adding txt related to micro loops and 
interaction between       TI-LFA draft and uLoop draft.

Cheers,

Gyan

As I noted earlier in the thread, unless you need to ensure that the repair 
path is congruent with the post convergence path for TE reasons, you never need 
more than two labels for a link repair.

[Bruno] That's equally the case with TI-LFA (i.e. when following the post 
convergence path).

If you use the procedures in RFC 7490 then at most you need two labels for link 
failure. One can be a normal MPLS label, the second is a label that get the 
packet from P to Q. When we wrote RFC 7490 we did not have SR, so we were 
expecting to use T-LDP which created additional state in the network. Now 
SR-MPLS is deployed you can use an SR label to get from P to Q and thus avoid 
the need for T-LDP [1].

I would point out that none of this actually requires standardisation, since 
the repair is a unitary action by the PLR and uses existing widely deployed 
MPLS technology, i.e. any path that gets to P then Q will work and any path can 
be chosen that meets the needs of the operator. The notion that forcing the 
repair path to the post convergence path from the PLR  solves all the TE 
problems is questionable since, as was noted the very first time TiLFA was 
mooted, the operational traffic may no longer go via the PLR post convergence.

[Bruno] I should probably refrain from commenting but to me this last point is 
moot. During fast reroute, the question is rerouting the traffic that reached 
the PLR. What happened before, happened and nobody can do anything about this.

It is also clear from these discussions that whilst TiLFA solves the problem of 
micro looping along the path from the PLR to Q space, that is not adequate in 
itself and thus not a useful path constraint.
[Bruno] I would assume that we agree that TI-LFA works and provide a loop free 
path from the PLR to the destination (to the Q space if you want). I'm not sure 
to see when you call it non-adequate.

Simplifying the design to use exiting RFC 7490 with an SR label to get from P 
to Q would not invalidate any TiLFA implementation but would make it clear that 
implementations could chose any path that best suited their needs.
[Bruno] yes, if you want you could use any path. But TI-LFA use the IGP 
shortest path which is defined as the best path. Why would you want to pick 
another path? Plus using this shortest path has extra nice benefits which are 
described in section 2 (Introduction)

If we expect failure to be a rare event, then we could control the convergence 
with an unoptimised ordered fib solution an approach which is also a unitary 
action at the PLR. Of course the PLR might choose to calculate the optimum path 
cost values to speed up the process.
[Bruno] we are not preventing you or anyone to use oFIB. You want oFIB, please 
use oFIB. But here, you are digressing to uloop, while TI-LFA is about FRR.

If we need a more expeditious approach then we can achieve this with a method 
such as nearside tunnelling which also needs at most one ordinary MPLS label.

Now let us go up a level. This is an emergency use safety system. Safety 
engineering teaches two things, firstly that such systems are rarely executed 
and thus bugs may remain hidden for a long time before then manifest 
themselves, and secondly they normally need to applied in circumstances where 
instrumentation is difficult. The design philosophy in such systems is normally 
that they are extremely simple and thus will obviously work under all 
circumstances both those that are "expected" and those that are "reasonably 
unexpected". This is why most safety systems are at first glance quite 
primitive.

With TiLFA I think we have lost sight of the need for simplicity and thus have 
an higher risk of a repair failure than we would have in a simpler but 
adequately functional alternative approach.
[Bruno] Let's not make it a beauty contest. Personally, having worked on this 
subject for a long time, on multiple networks, TI-LFA is simpler to operate: to 
speak to any network operator and refer to the IGP shortest path, and he will 
know what this path is. Compared to RLFA or MRT computations, where the path 
are different and the computations not natural for a typical human brain.

Best regards,
--Bruno

Best regards

Stewart

[1] Node failure is intrinsically more complex for all solutions and many more 
labels (or network state) may be needed. This was written up as the cartwheel 
problem in which a node has a black hole effect on the traffic and you need to 
skim the traffic around the rim of the cartwheel.



____________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Ce message et ses pieces jointes peuvent contenir des informations 
confidentielles ou privilegiees et ne doivent donc
pas etre diffuses, exploites ou copies sans autorisation. Si vous avez recu ce 
message par erreur, veuillez le signaler
a l'expediteur et le detruire ainsi que les pieces jointes. Les messages 
electroniques etant susceptibles d'alteration,
Orange decline toute responsabilite si ce message a ete altere, deforme ou 
falsifie. Merci.

This message and its attachments may contain confidential or privileged 
information that may be protected by law;
they should not be distributed, used or copied without authorisation.
If you have received this email in error, please notify the sender and delete 
this message and its attachments.
As emails may be altered, Orange is not liable for messages that have been 
modified, changed or falsified.
Thank you.
_______________________________________________
rtgwg mailing list
rtgwg@ietf.org
https://www.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/rtgwg

Reply via email to