The router object
- Date: Mon, 18 Jul 1994 17:27:38 +0200
Please find below a draft of a proposal for a router object known as
``inet-rtr''. This is the missing link of the current ripe-81++
specifically for the ias-int information which was rightly removed
along with the component attribute iself. This proposal is really a
modification of a similar proposal made by Merit with just one or two
clarifications and all credit belongs to them.
This object could very quickly added to the Database.
Please let me have comments asap.
--Tony.
Please note: a postscript version is available as
ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/drafts/inet-rtr.ps
Specifying an `Internet Router' in the Routing
Registry
Tony Bates
DRAFT - DRAFT - DRAFT
Document ID: ripe-xy
ABSTRACT
This paper describes a simple specification for
defining an Internet router within a routing registry.
1. Introduction
It has become apparent as routing registries are evolving that there
is a need to register some details of an Internet router (1) within
the routing registry. By adding this kind of detailed information it
adds functionality to information based on routing policies [1]
facilitating the ability to build operational tools [2],[3] such as
configuration generators and diagnostic tools within increased local
information. It also provides a direct method to find a contact for
an important component of the Internet infrastructure. This can be
extremely useful when resolving operational problems.
2. Acknowledgments
This specification is based on a similar specification by Merit Inc.
for a `route' object (2). All credit should go to them. This paper
acts purely to clarify the original ideas set out in the Merit
paper.
_________________________
(1) Here an Internet router means any IP [4] node ca-
pable of running an IP routing protocol. Be that RIP,
BGP or any other of the current IP based routing proto-
cols found in the Internet today. This definition is
intentionally looser than what might be found in the
"Router requirements" Internet draft [5].
(2) This specification does not use `router' as the
object name to avoid possible clashes with the `route'
object which already exists within the routing regis-
try.
ripe-xy.txt July, 1994
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3. Router Representation
The representation must be capable of representing both ``interior''
and ``border'' routers within ones own autonomous system. Each
object is uniquely identified by its object name. Here is a simple
example of a router object:
inet-rtr: Amsterdam.ripe.net
localas: AS3333
ifaddr: 192.87.45.190
ifaddr: 192.87.4.28
ifaddr: 193.0.0.222
peer: 192.87.45.6 AS2122 BGP4
peer: 193.0.0.219 AS2122 BGP
peer: 193.0.0.221 AS1104 BGP
peer: 192.87.4.18 AS1103 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.24 AS1103 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.20 AS286 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.5 AS3333 IBGP4
admin-c: Daniel Karrenberg
tech-c: Tony Bates
tech-c: Marten Terpstra
notify: ops@localhost
remarks: The router for the RIPE NCC
changed: tony@localhost 940720
source: RIPE
This object provides several key pieces of information. The exact
syntax for each attribute is discussed in the next section. However,
some general remarks about this example are worthy of note. From
this you can see immediately that this router "Amsterdam.ripe.net"
is in the autonomous system 3333 and has three configured inter-
faces. You also see that it has several exterior peers and one inte-
rior peer (192.87.45.6). Details of the actual routing protocol are
given. This can be extremely useful. For example a BGP3 router is
not CIDR [6] capable whereas a BGP4 capable router is. A tool could
use this information when examining routing policy to see if a peer
can make use of aggregation. Finally, we also see who we can con-
tact when problems occur with this router.
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4. `inet-rtr' Syntax Definition
Here is a summary of the tags associated with inet-rtr object itself
and their status. The first column specifies the attribute, the
second column whether this attribute is mandatory in the inet-rtr
object, and the third column whether this specific attribute can
occur only once per object [single], or one or more [multiple]. When
specifying multiple lines per attribute, the attribute name must be
repeated.
inet-rtr: [mandatory] [single]
localas: [mandatory] [single]
ifaddr: [mandatory] [multiple]
peer: [optional] [multiple]
tech-c: [mandatory] [multiple]
admin-c: [mandatory] [multiple]
remarks: [optional] [multiple]
notify: [optional] [multiple]
maintainer: [optional] [single]
changed: [mandatory] [multiple]
source: [mandatory] [single]
Each attribute has the following syntax:
inet-rtr:
The fully qualified domain name of the router.
Format:
Fully qualified domain name without trailing "." (dot).
This must be registered in the DNS. For routers with more
than one DNS you should pick the one that seems most suit-
able. It should be noted that it is commonly general prac-
tice for a router to have single uniquely defined domain
name.
Example:
inet-rtr: Amsterdam.ripe.net
Status: mandatory, only one line allowed
localas:
The autonomous system in which this router belongs.
Format:
AS<positive integer between 1 and 65535>
Example:
localas: AS3333
Status: mandatory, only one line allowed
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ifaddr:
An interface address within the router.
Format:
<Interface Address> [Local AS]
<Interface Address> must be a "dotted-quad" represented
host address. It should be noted that at ONE ifaddr must
be configured for the inet-rtr object to be valid. This
facilitates the registering of route servers which may
only have one interface address and are purely routing
engines.
[Local AS] is an optional piece of information which
allows this interface to be configured as being in a DIF-
FERENT autonomous system. This is useful only when a
router is configured to `fake' that it is another AS. The
format of [Local AS] is AS<positive integer between 1 and
65535>.
Examples:
ifaddr: 192.87.45.190
ifaddr: 192.87.4.99 AS1755
Status: mandatory, multiple lines allowed
peer:
Details of any router peerings. These can be both interior or
exterior.
Format:
<Peer address> <Peer AS> <Routing Protocol>
<Peer address> is the interface address of the remote
peer. This is same format as that used in the ``ifaddr''
attribute above.
<Peer AS> is the autonomous system number of the peer. Its
format is AS<positive integer between 1 and 65535>. It
should be noted that even interior peers should have their
<Peer AS> detailed.
<Routing Protocol> represents the routing protocol running
between the router and the peer. This can be any one of
the following reserved routing protocol keywords:
EGP
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
EGP [7].
BGP
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
BGP conforming to [8]. This can mean either BGP
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version 2 or BGP version 3.
BGP4
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
BGP conforming to BGP version 4 [9].
IBGP
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
BGP as an interior routing protocol conforming to
[8]. This can mean either BGP version 2 or BGP ver-
sion 3.
IBGP4
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
BGP as an interior routing protocol conforming to BGP
version 4 [9].
IDRP
The routers are using the exterior gateway protocol,
IDRP conforming to [10].
IGP
This is an interior peering using a standard interior
gateway protocol (i.e. RIP, OSPF, etc.).
OTHER
This peering is using a protocol not in one of the
categories above.
Example:
peer: 192.87.45.6 AS2122 BGP4
peer: 193.0.0.219 AS2122 BGP
peer: 193.0.0.221 AS1104 BGP
peer: 192.87.4.18 AS1103 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.24 AS1103 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.20 AS286 BGP4
peer: 192.87.4.5 AS3333 IBGP4
Status: optional, multiple lines allowed
admin-c:
Full name or uniquely assigned NIC-handle of an administrative
contact person.
Format:
<firstname> <initials> <lastname> or <nic-handle>
Examples:
admin-c: Joe T Bloggs
admin-c: JTB1
Status: mandatory, multiple lines allowed
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tech-c:
Full name or uniquely assigned NIC-handle of a technical con-
tact person for this macro. This is someone to be contacted for
technical problems such as misconfiguration.
Format:
<firstname> <initials> <lastname> or <nic-handle>
Examples:
tech-c: John E Doe
tech-c: JED31
Status: mandatory, multiple lines allowed
notify:
The notify attribute contains an email address to which notifi-
cations of changes to this object should be send.
Format:
<email-address>
The <email-address> should be in RFC822 domain syntax
wherever possible.
Example:
notify: Marten.Terpstra@localhost
Status: optional, multiple lines allowed
maintainer:
The maintainer attribute contains a registered maintainer name.
Format:
<registered maintainer name>
Example:
maintainer: RIPE-DBM
Status: optional, multiple lines allowed
remarks:
Remarks/comments, to be used only for clarification.
Format:
free text
Example:
remarks: This is a router
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Status: optional, multiple lines allowed
changed:
Who changed this object last, and when was this change made.
Format:
<email-address> YYMMDD
<email-address> should be the address of the person who
made the last change. YYMMDD denotes the date this change
was made.
Example:
changed: johndoe@localhost 900401
Status: mandatory, multiple lines allowed
source:
Source of the information.
This is used to separate information from different sources
kept by the same database software. For RIPE database entries
the value is fixed to RIPE.
Format:
RIPE
Status: mandatory, only one line allowed
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5. References
[1] Bates, T., Gerich, E., Joncheray, L., Joanigot, J-M, Karren-
berg, D., Terpstra, M, Yu, J., ripe-81++, July 1994. WORK IN
PROGRESS
[2] PRIDE Tools Release 1.
See ftp.ripe.net:pride/tools/pride-tools-1.tar.Z.
[3] Merit Inc. RRDB Tools.
See rrdb.merit.edu:pub/meritrr/*
[4] J. Postel, "Internet Protocol", RFC 791, January 1981.
[5] Kastenholz, F., draft-ietf-rreq-iprouters-require-01.txt,
April, 1994, INTERNET DRAFT
[6] V. Fuller, T. Li, J. Yu, K. Varadhan, "Classless Inter-Domain
Routing (CIDR): an Address Assignment and Aggregation Stra-
tegy", RFC1519, Sep., 1993.
[7] Mills, D., "Exterior Gateway Protocol formal specification",
RFC904, April 1984.
[8] K. Lougheed, Y. Rekhter, "A Border Gateway Protocol 3 (BGP-3)",
RFC1267, October 1991.
[9] Y. Rekhter, T. Li, "A Border Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)",
<draft-ietf-bgp-bgp4-10.txt>, INTERNET DRAFT, May, 1994.
[10] C. Kunzinger, "ISO/IEC 10747 - Protocol for the Exchange of
Inter-Domain Routing Information among Intermediate Systems to
Support Forwarding of ISO 8473 PDUs", <draft-kunzinger-idrp-
ISO10747-00.txt>, INTERNET DRAFT, April 1994.
ripe-xy.txt July, 1994
