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Re: [OSPF] Unnumbered PtoP router LSA question.



Dave Katz wrote:


On Jan 7, 2009, at 9:25 PM, Richard Ogier wrote:


I have found this discussion interesting and educational.
The above argument is very convincing, which I guess is why nobody
is arguing against it. Based on the discussion, I think RFC 2328 should
be clarified as follows to allow some flexibility while ensuring
interoperability between different implementations (including most
existing implementations).

- Footnote [From ospf-bounces at ietf.org  Wed Jan  7 22:54:49 2009
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Date: Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:57:17 -0800
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Subject: Re: [OSPF] Unnumbered PtoP router LSA question.
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Dave Katz wrote:


On Jan 7, 2009, at 9:25 PM, Richard Ogier wrote:


I have found this discussion interesting and educational.
The above argument is very convincing, which I guess is why nobody
is arguing against it. Based on the discussion, I think RFC 2328 should
be clarified as follows to allow some flexibility while ensuring
interoperability between different implementations (including most
existing implementations).

- Footnote [2] MUST 2] MUST be implemented, i.e., if all of the router's interfaces are point-to-point links, then the router's IP address MUST be advertised
in the router-LSA as a host route.


If all the router's interfaces are *unnumbered* point-to-point links. This is, for the most part, an uninteresting degenerate case and doesn't apply to the broader problem here, which is who should be advertising the source address of OSPF packets sent on *any* unnumbered link, independent of what the other link types are.



- For unnumbered point-to-point links, a Type 3 link (stub network)
MAY be added to the router-LSA (Option 1), but is not required. Although adding such links may seem redundant, it has the benefit of ensuring that routes calculated to each router are *shortest* paths. Without adding the stub links, the calculated routing table will provide the shortest path to each network and host, but that need not result in the shortest path to a
router that is not advertising its own IP address as a host route.
For example, the last hop of the shortest path might be via an unnumbered
point-to-point link, but the last hop of the calculated path might be
via a numbered point-to-point link (which includes a stub link to the
destination router).  Let me know if I am mistaken.


This is presumably what the dreaded Option 1 attempted to do. It attracts traffic to the neighbor router, which will then resolve the last hop to the unnumbered link itself via the usual mechanisms for directly-connected neighbors. Of course, this only results in optimal routing if *all* of the links are unnumbered (so all of the neighbors are injecting the stub), but then footnote 2 kicks in and saves the day in the only case that actually works optimally.


I am assuming that a stub link is always required for *numbered* point-to-point links (as per RFC 2328), and is optional for *unnumbered* links (my suggestion). So this allows optimal routing even if only some of the links are unnumbered, by allowing Option 1 to be used for all point-to-point links. (Maybe I wasn't clear about this.) My point is that some people might think it is redundant to advertise stub links for unnumbered links, but there is a benefit - optimal routing to all routers.

In addition, Footnote 2 is required to ensure interoperability with routers that decide not to use Option 1 for unnumbered links. The resulting clarification to RFC 2328 allows optimal routing to all routers (optionally), while hopefully complying with almost all existing implementations. Let me know if I am mistaken.

Richard


You are right that the only way to get optimal routing to the router in the general case is for the router itself to advertise a stub.

I fail to see what's controversial about Option 1, save for the fact that it's suboptimal and a stupid way of solving the problem (rather than having the router owning the address advertise the route instead of its neighbors) and for the colloquial use of "should", which I always read as MUST in the more modern dialect. To me it is straightforwardly and unambiguously required for unnumbered links (just as Option 2 is required for subnetted links.) Other than substituting MUST for "should" I don't see any question about this. It is brain-dead six ways from Sunday (like a number of things in OSPF) but I think we're stuck with it due to backward compatibility issues.

Unfortunately, I doubt there is no IETF equivalent of the Federalist Papers to try to give hints of the true intentions of the framers. (I was there, but didn't take notes, and was more interested in ISIS at the time anyhow.) As soon as we figure out what the 2nd Amendment was for, we can go on to Option 1. ;-)

--Dave


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be implemented, i.e., if all of the router's
interfaces
are point-to-point links, then the router's IP address MUST be advertised
in the router-LSA as a host route.


If all the router's interfaces are *unnumbered* point-to-point links. This is, for the most part, an uninteresting degenerate case and doesn't apply to the broader problem here, which is who should be advertising the source address of OSPF packets sent on *any* unnumbered link, independent of what the other link types are.



- For unnumbered point-to-point links, a Type 3 link (stub network)
MAY be added to the router-LSA (Option 1), but is not required. Although adding such links may seem redundant, it has the benefit of ensuring that routes calculated to each router are *shortest* paths. Without adding the stub links, the calculated routing table will provide the shortest path to each network and host, but that need not result in the shortest path to a
router that is not advertising its own IP address as a host route.
For example, the last hop of the shortest path might be via an unnumbered
point-to-point link, but the last hop of the calculated path might be
via a numbered point-to-point link (which includes a stub link to the
destination router).  Let me know if I am mistaken.


This is presumably what the dreaded Option 1 attempted to do. It attracts traffic to the neighbor router, which will then resolve the last hop to the unnumbered link itself via the usual mechanisms for directly-connected neighbors. Of course, this only results in optimal routing if *all* of the links are unnumbered (so all of the neighbors are injecting the stub), but then footnote 2 kicks in and saves the day in the only case that actually works optimally.


I am assuming that a stub link is always required for *numbered* point-to-point links (as per RFC 2328), and is optional for *unnumbered* links (my suggestion). So this allows optimal routing even if only some of the links are unnumbered, by allowing Option 1 to be used for all point-to-point links. (Maybe I wasn't clear about this.) My point is that some people might think it is redundant to advertise stub links for unnumbered links, but there is a benefit - optimal routing to all routers.

In addition, Footnote 2 is required to ensure interoperability with routers that decide not to use Option 1 for unnumbered links. The resulting clarification to RFC 2328 allows optimal routing to all routers (optionally), while hopefully complying with almost all existing implementations. Let me know if I am mistaken.

Richard


You are right that the only way to get optimal routing to the router in the general case is for the router itself to advertise a stub.

I fail to see what's controversial about Option 1, save for the fact that it's suboptimal and a stupid way of solving the problem (rather than having the router owning the address advertise the route instead of its neighbors) and for the colloquial use of "should", which I always read as MUST in the more modern dialect. To me it is straightforwardly and unambiguously required for unnumbered links (just as Option 2 is required for subnetted links.) Other than substituting MUST for "should" I don't see any question about this. It is brain-dead six ways from Sunday (like a number of things in OSPF) but I think we're stuck with it due to backward compatibility issues.

Unfortunately, I doubt there is no IETF equivalent of the Federalist Papers to try to give hints of the true intentions of the framers. (I was there, but didn't take notes, and was more interested in ISIS at the time anyhow.) As soon as we figure out what the 2nd Amendment was for, we can go on to Option 1. ;-)

--Dave


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