Network Working Group C. Kalbfleisch

Network Working Group C. Kalbfleisch
Request for Comments: 4149 Consultant
Category: Standards Track R. Cole
JHU/APL
D. Romascanu
Avaya
August 2005

Definition of Managed Objects for Synthetic Sources for
Performance Monitoring Algorithms

Status of This Memo

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
improvements. Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
and status of this protocol. Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005).

Abstract

This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
In particular, it describes objects for configuring Synthetic Sources
for Performance Monitoring (SSPM) algorithms.

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Table of Contents

1. Introduction ....................................................2
2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework ......................2
3. Overview ........................................................3
3.1. Terms ......................................................3
4. Relationship to Other MIB modules ...............................4
5. Relationship to Other Work ......................................4
5.1. IPPM .......................................................4
5.2. DISMAN .....................................................5
5.3. RMON .......................................................6
5.4. ApplMIB ....................................................6
5.5. SNMPCONF ...................................................7
5.6. RTFM .......................................................8
5.7. Relationship to Other Work: Summary ........................8
6. MIB Structure ...................................................9
6.1. General Information .......................................10
6.2. Source Configuration ......................................10
6.3. Sink Configuration ........................................10
7. Definitions ....................................................10
8. Security Considerations ........................................32
9. Acknowledgements ...............................................34
10. Normative References ..........................................34
11. Informative References ........................................36

1. Introduction

This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.

In particular, it defines a method of describing Synthetic Sources
for Performance Monitoring (SSPM). This is useful within the Remote
Monitoring (RMON) framework [RFC3577] for performance monitoring in
the cases where it is desirable to inject packets into the network
for the purpose of monitoring their performance with the other MIBs
in that framework.

This memo also includes a MIB module.

The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119 [RFC2119].

2. The Internet-Standard Management Framework

For a detailed overview of the documents that describe the current
Internet-Standard Management Framework, please refer to section 7 of
RFC 3410 [RFC3410].

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Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
the Management Information Base or MIB. MIB objects are generally
accessed through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).
Objects in the MIB are defined using the mechanisms defined in the
Structure of Management Information (SMI). This memo specifies a MIB
module that is compliant to the SMIv2, which is described in STD 58,
RFC 2578 [RFC2578], STD 58, RFC 2579 [RFC2579] and STD 58, RFC 2580
[RFC2580].

3. Overview

This document defines a MIB module for the purpose of remotely
controlling synthetic sources (or 'active' probes) and sinks in order
to enhance remote performance monitoring capabilities within IP
networks and services. Much work within the IETF exists related to
performance monitoring. One interesting aspect of this body of work
is that it does not explicitly define an 'active' probe capability.
An active probe capability is complimentary to existing capabilities,
and this MIB module is developed to fill this void.

3.1. Terms

The following definitions apply throughout this document:

o 'Performance monitoring' is the act of monitoring traffic for
the purpose of evaluating a statistic of a metric related to the
performance of the system. A performance monitoring system is
comprised of a) traffic generators, b) measurement, c) data
reduction, and d) reporting. The traffic generators may be
natural sources, synthetic sources, or intrusive sources.

o A 'synthetic source' is a device or an embedded software
program that generates a data packet (or packets) and injects it
(or them) onto the path to a corresponding probe or existing
server solely in support of a performance monitoring function.
A synthetic source may talk intrusively to existing application
servers.

The design goals for this MIB module are:

o Complementing the overall performance management architecture
being defined within the RMONMIB WG; refer to the RMONMIB
framework document [RFC3577]. This MIB module is defined within
the context of the APM-MIB [RFC3729].

o Extensibility: the MIB module should be easily extended to
include a greater set of protocols and applications for
performance monitoring purposes.

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o Flexibility: the module should support both round-trip and one-
way measurements.

o Security: the control of the source and sink of traffic is
handled by a management application, and communication is
recommended via SNMPv3.

This document is organized as follows. The next section discusses
the relationship of this MIB module to others from the RMONMIB and
Distributed Management (DISMAN) working groups. Then the structure
of the MIB module is discussed. Finally, the MIB module definitions
are given.

4. Relationship to Other MIB modules

This MIB module is designed to be used in conjunction with the RMON
MIB Working Group's two other MIB modules for application performance
measurement: Application Performance Measurement MIB [RFC3729] and
Transport Performance Metrics MIB [RFC4150]. These MIB modules
define reporting capabilities for that framework. The intent of this
MIB module is to define a method for injecting packets into the
network utilizing probe capabilities defined in the base MIB modules
and measured with the reporting MIB modules. Other reporting MIB
modules may be used as well.

Specifically, this MIB module uses the AppLocalIndex as defined in
the APM-MIB to map measurement configuration information to
definition and reporting structures defined in the APM-MIB.

5. Relationship to Other Work

Much work has already been done within the IETF that has a direct
bearing on the development of active performance probe definitions.
This body of work has been addressed in various working groups over
the years. In this section, we focus on the work of a) the IP
Performance Metrics (IPPM) working group, b) the DISMAN working
group, c) the RMON working group, d) the Application MIB (ApplMIB)
working group, and e) the Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement (RTFM)
working group.

5.1. IPPM

The IPPM working group has defined in detail a set of performance
metrics, sampling techniques, and associated statistics for
transport-level or connectivity-level measurements. The IPPM
framework document [RFC2330] discusses numerous issues concerning
sampling techniques, clock accuracy, resolution and skew, wire time
versus host time, error analysis, etc. Many of these are

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considerations for configuration and implementation issues discussed
below. The IPPM working group has defined several metrics and their
associated statistics, including

+ a connectivity metric [RFC2678],

+ one-way delay metric [RFC2679],

+ one-way loss metric [RFC2680],

+ round-trip delay and loss metrics [RFC2681],

+ delay variation metric [RFC3393],

+ a streaming media metric [RFC3432],

+ a throughput metric [EBT] and [TBT], and

+ others are under development.

These (or a subset) could form the basis for a set of active,
connectivity-level, probe types designed for monitoring the quality
of transport services. A consideration of some of these metrics may
form a set of work activities and a set of early deliverables for a
group developing an active probe capability.

During the early development of the SSPM-MIB, it became apparent that
a one-way measurement protocol was required in order for the SSPM-MIB
to control a one-way measurement. This led to the current work with
the IPPM WG on the development of the One-Way Measurement Protocol
(OWDP) [ODP]. This work includes both the measurement protocol
itself, as well as the development of a separate control protocol.
This later control protocol is redundant with the current work on the
SSPM-MIB. The SSPM-MIB could be used as an alternative to the one-
way delay control protocol.

5.2. DISMAN

The DISMAN working group has defined a set of 'active' tools for
remote management. Of relevance to this document are:

+ the pingMIB [RFC2925],

+ the DNS Lookup MIB [RFC2925],

+ the tracerouteMIB [RFC2925],

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+ the scriptMIB [RFC3165], and

+ the expressionMIB [RFC2982].

The pingMIB and tracerouteMIB define an active probe capability,
primarily for the remote determination of path and path connectivity.
There are some performance-related metrics collected from the
pingMIB, and one could conceivably use these measurements for the
evaluation of a limited set of performance statistics. But there is
a fundamental difference between determining connectivity and
determining the quality of that connectivity. However, in the
context of performance monitoring, a fault can be viewed as not
performing at all. Therefore, both should be monitored with the same
probes to reduce network traffic.

The DNS Lookup MIB also includes some probe-like capabilities and
performance time measurements for the DNS lookup. This could be used
to suggest details of a related session-level, active probe.

The scriptMIB allows a network management application to distribute
and manage scripts to remote devices. Conceivably, these scripts
could be designed to run a set of active probe monitors on remote
devices.

5.3. RMON

The RMON working group has developed an extensive, passive monitoring
capability defined in RFC 2819 [RFC2819] and RFC 2021 [RFC2021] as
well as additional MIB modules. Initially, the monitors collected
statistics at the MAC layer, but the capability has now been extended
to higher-layer statistics. Higher-layer statistics are identified
through the definition of a Protocol Directory [RFC2021]. See the
RMONMIB framework document [RFC3577] for an overview of the RMONMIB
capabilities.

Within this context, the development of an active traffic source for
performance monitoring fits well within the overall performance
monitoring architecture being defined within the RMON WG.

5.4. ApplMIB

The ApplMIB working group defined a series of MIB modules that
monitor various aspects of applications, processes, and services.

The System Application MIB [RFC2287] describes a basic set of managed
objects for fault, configuration, and performance management of
applications from a systems perspective. More specifically, the
managed objects it defines are restricted to information that can be

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determined from the system itself and that does not require special
instrumentation within the applications to make the information
available.

The Application MIB [RFC2564] complements the System Application MIB,
providing for the management of applications' common attributes,
which could not typically be observed without the cooperation of the
software being managed. There are attributes that provide
information on application and communication performance.

The WWW MIB [RFC2594] describes a set of objects for managing
networked services in the Internet Community, particularly World Wide
Web (WWW) services. Performance attributes are available for the
information about each WWW service, each type of request, each type
of response, and top-accessed documents.

In the development of synthetic application-level probes,
consideration should be given to the relationship of the application
MIB modules to the measurements being performed through a synthetic
application-level probe. Similar, cross-indexing issues arise within
the context of the RMON monitoring and synthetic application-level
active probes.

5.5. SNMPCONF

The Configuration Management with SNMP (SNMPCONF) working group has
created the informational RFC 3512 [RFC3512], which outlines the most
effective methods for using the SNMP Framework to accomplish
configuration management. This work includes recommendations for
device-specific as well as network-wide (Policy) configuration. The
group is also chartered to write any MIB modules necessary to
facilitate configuration management. Specifically, they will write a
MIB module that describes a network entity's capabilities and
capacities, which can be used by management entities making policy
decisions at a network level or device-specific level.

Currently, the SNMPCONF working group is focused on the SNMP
Configuration MIB for policy [RFC4011]. It is conceivable that one
would want to monitor the performance of newly configured policies as
they are implemented within networks. This would require correlation
of the implemented policy and a related performance monitoring policy
that would specify synthetic probe definitions. For synthetic
probes, there would be a need for a configuration of a) a single
probe, b) several probes, c) source and destination probes, and d)
intermediate probes. In addition, it may be necessary to configure
any or all of these combinations simultaneously. It is hoped that
the work of SNMPCONF will suffice. The scripting language defined by
the SNMP Configuration MIB could allow for active monitoring to be

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activated and configured from a policy management script. Further,
the results of active monitoring could become arguments in further
policy decisions. This notion is reflected in the decision flow
outlined in Figure 1 below.

5.6. RTFM

The Realtime Traffic Flow Measurement (RTFM) working group is
concerned with issues relating to traffic flow measurements and usage
reporting for network traffic and Internet accounting. Various
documents exist that describe requirements [RFC1272], traffic flow
measurement architectures [RFC2722], and a traffic flow MIB
[RFC2720]. The work in this group is focused on passive measurements
of user traffic. As such, its work is related to the monitoring work
within the RMON WG. Fundamentally, their attention has not been
concerned with methods of active traffic generation.

5.7. Relationship to Other Work: Summary

In summary, the development of an active traffic generation
capability (primarily for the purpose of performance monitoring)
should draw upon various activities, both past and present, within
the IETF. Figure 1 shows the relationship of the various work
activities briefly touched upon in this section.

Horizontally, across the top of the figure are overall control
functions, which would coordinate the various aspects of the
performance monitoring systems. Vertically at the bottom of the
figure are the functions which comprise the minimum performance
monitoring capability; i.e., traffic generation, monitoring and
measurements, and data reduction. Traffic generation is addressed in
this MIB module. Monitoring and measurement is addressed in the
APM-MIB [RFC3729] and TPM-MIB [RFC4150] modules. Data reduction is
not yet addressed within the IETF. But data reduction could include
both spatial and temporal aggregations at different levels of
reduction. This is indicated in the figure by the arrow labeled
"Various levels and span".

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+-----------------------------------+
| |
V |
+------------------------------------------+ |
+------| Application [script], [expr], [snmpconf],|---+ |
| | [apmmib] | | |
| +------------------------------------------+ | |
| | | |
+--------------------------------+ | |
| Synchronization Control | | |
+--------------------------------+ | |
| | | |
V V V |
+----------------+ +----------------------+ +-------------------+ |
| Traffic | |Monitoring Metrics | |Data Reduction | |
| Generation | |Control [rmon],[ippm],| |Control [applmib], | |
| Control [sspm]| | [applmib] | |[wwwservmib],[expr]| |
+----------------+ +----------------------+ +-------------------+ |
| | | |
| | | |
V V V |
+------------------+ +-------------------+ +----------------+ |
|Traffic Generation| |Monitoring Metrics | |Data Reduction | |
| Instrumentation| | Instrumentation | +-->| Instrumentation| |
+------------------+ +-------------------+ | +----------------+ |
| | |
| | |
Various levels | | |
and span +--------------| |
| |
| |
V |
Reports ---+

Figure 1: Coverage for an overall performance monitoring system

6. MIB Structure

This section presents the structure of the MIB module. The objects
are arranged into the following groups:

o general information

o source configuration

o sink configuration

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6.1. General Information

This section provides general information about the capabilities of
the probe. Currently, this information is related to the resolution
of the probe clock and its source.

6.2. Source Configuration

The source is configured with a pair of tables. The first,
sspmSourceProfileTable, defines a set of profiles for monitoring.
These profiles are then used by the second table,
sspmSourceControlTable, to instantiate a specific measurement. This
MIB module takes an IP-centric view of the configuration of the
measurement.

6.3. Sink Configuration

Configures the sink for measurements. If the test is round-trip,
then this table is on the same probe as the source configuration. If
the test is one-way, then the table is on a different probe. The
sspmSinkInstance is a unique identifier for the entry per probe.
Additional attributes are provided for test type and test source to
identify entries in the table uniquely.

7. Definitions

SSPM-MIB DEFINITIONS ::= BEGIN

IMPORTS

MODULE-IDENTITY, OBJECT-TYPE,
Counter32, Integer32, Unsigned32
FROM SNMPv2-SMI --[RFC2578]

TEXTUAL-CONVENTION, StorageType,
TruthValue, RowStatus
FROM SNMPv2-TC --[RFC2579]

MODULE-COMPLIANCE, OBJECT-GROUP
FROM SNMPv2-CONF --[RFC2578,
-- RFC2579,
-- RFC2580]
OwnerString, rmon
FROM RMON-MIB --[RFC2819]

InetAddressType, InetAddress
FROM INET-ADDRESS-MIB --[RFC3291]

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InterfaceIndexOrZero
FROM IF-MIB --[RFC2863]

AppLocalIndex
FROM APM-MIB --[RFC3729]

Utf8String
FROM SYSAPPL-MIB; --[RFC2287]

sspmMIB MODULE-IDENTITY
LAST-UPDATED "200507280000Z" -- July 28, 2005
ORGANIZATION "IETF RMON MIB working group"
CONTACT-INFO
" Carl W. Kalbfleisch
Consultant

E-mail: [email protected]

Working group mailing list: [email protected]
To subscribe send email to [email protected]"
DESCRIPTION
"This SSPM MIB module is applicable to probes
implementing Synthetic Source for Performance
Monitoring functions.

Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2005). This version
of this MIB module is part of RFC 4149; see the RFC
itself for full legal notices."

-- revision history

REVISION "200507280000Z" -- July 28, 2005
DESCRIPTION
"The original version of this MIB module,
was published as RFC4149."
::= { rmon 28 }

--
-- Object Identifier Assignments
--
sspmMIBObjects OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIB 1 }
sspmMIBNotifications OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIB 2 }
sspmMIBConformance OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIB 3 }

--
-- Textual Conventions
--

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SspmMicroSeconds ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
DISPLAY-HINT "d"
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A unit of time with resolution of MicroSeconds."
SYNTAX Unsigned32

SspmClockSource ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
DISPLAY-HINT "d"
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An indication of the source of the clock as defined by the
NTP specification RFC1305 [RFC1305] definition of stratum:

Stratum (sys.stratum, peer.stratum, pkt.stratum): This is
an integer indicating the stratum of the local clock,
with values defined as follows:

0 unspecified

1 primary reference (e.g., calibrated atomic clock,
radio clock)

2-255 secondary reference (via NTP)."
REFERENCE
"RFC1305."
SYNTAX Integer32 (0..255)

SspmClockMaxSkew ::= TEXTUAL-CONVENTION
DISPLAY-HINT "d"
STATUS current
-- UNITS "Seconds"
DESCRIPTION
"An indication of the accuracy of the clock as defined by
RFC1305. This variable indicates the maximum offset
error due to skew of the local clock over the
time interval 86400 seconds, in seconds."
REFERENCE
"RFC1305."
SYNTAX Integer32 (1..65535)

--
-- sspmGeneral
--
sspmGeneral OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIBObjects 1 }
sspmGeneralClockResolution OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmMicroSeconds
MAX-ACCESS read-only

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STATUS current
-- UNITS Microseconds
DESCRIPTION
"A read-only variable indicating the resolution
of the measurements possible by this device."
::= { sspmGeneral 1 }

sspmGeneralClockMaxSkew OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmClockMaxSkew
MAX-ACCESS read-only
STATUS current
-- UNITS Seconds
DESCRIPTION
"A read-only variable indicating the maximum offset
error due to skew of the local clock over the
time interval 86400 seconds, in seconds."
::= { sspmGeneral 2 }

sspmGeneralClockSource OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmClockSource
MAX-ACCESS read-only
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A read-only variable indicating the source of the clock.
This is provided to allow a user to determine how accurate
the timing mechanism is compared with other devices. This
is needed for the coordination of time values
between probes for one-way measurements."
::= { sspmGeneral 3 }

sspmGeneralMinFrequency OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmMicroSeconds
MAX-ACCESS read-only
-- units MicroSeconds
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A read-only variable that indicates the devices'
capability for the minimum supported
sspmSourceFrequency. If sspmSourceFrequency is
set to a value lower than the value reported
by this attribute, then the set of sspmSourceFrequency
will fail with an inconsistent value error."
::= { sspmGeneral 4 }

--
-- sspmCapabilities
--

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-- Describes the capabilities of the SSPM device.
--
sspmCapabilitiesTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF SspmCapabilitiesEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The table of SSPM capabilities."
::= { sspmGeneral 5 }

sspmCapabilitiesEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmCapabilitiesEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Details about a particular SSPM capability."
INDEX { sspmCapabilitiesInstance }
::= { sspmCapabilitiesTable 1 }

SspmCapabilitiesEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
sspmCapabilitiesInstance AppLocalIndex
}

sspmCapabilitiesInstance OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX AppLocalIndex
MAX-ACCESS read-only
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Indicates whether SSPM configuration of the corresponding
AppLocalIndex is supported by this device. Generally,
entries in this table are only made by the device when the
configuration of the measurement is available."
::= { sspmCapabilitiesEntry 1 }

--
-- sspmSource
--
-- Contains the details of the source of the
-- Synthetic Sources for Performance Monitoring algorithms.
-- This information is split into two tables. The first defines
-- profiles that can be applied to specific sources in the
-- control table.
--
sspmSource OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIBObjects 2 }

--
-- sspmSourceProfileTable
-- Defines template profiles for measurements.

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--
sspmSourceProfileTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF SspmSourceProfileEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The table of SSPM Source Profiles configured."
::= { sspmSource 1 }

sspmSourceProfileEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmSourceProfileEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Details about a particular SSPM Source Profile
configuration. Entries must exist in this table
in order to be referenced by rows in the
sspmSourceControlTable."
INDEX { sspmSourceProfileInstance }
::= { sspmSourceProfileTable 1 }

SspmSourceProfileEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
sspmSourceProfileInstance Unsigned32,
sspmSourceProfileType AppLocalIndex,
sspmSourceProfilePacketSize Unsigned32,
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType INTEGER,
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillValue OCTET STRING,
sspmSourceProfileTOS Integer32,
sspmSourceProfileFlowLabel Integer32,
sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteFill OCTET STRING,
sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteLen Integer32,
sspmSourceProfileTTL Integer32,
sspmSourceProfileNoFrag TruthValue,
sspmSourceProfile8021Tagging Integer32,
sspmSourceProfileUsername Utf8String,
sspmSourceProfilePassword Utf8String,
sspmSourceProfileParameter OCTET STRING,
sspmSourceProfileOwner OwnerString,
sspmSourceProfileStorageType StorageType,
sspmSourceProfileStatus RowStatus
}

sspmSourceProfileInstance OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32 (1..65535)
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An arbitrary index."

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::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 1 }

sspmSourceProfileType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX AppLocalIndex
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The AppLocalIndex value that uniquely identifies the
measurement per the APM-MIB. In order to create a row
in this table, there must be a corresponding row in the
sspmCapabilitiesTable.

When attempting to set this object, if no
corresponding row exists in the sspmCapabilitiesTable,
then the agent should return a 'badValue' error."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 2}

sspmSourceProfilePacketSize OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The size of packet to be transmitted in bytes. The
size accounts for all data within the IPv4 or IPv6
payloads, excluding the IP headers, IP header options
and link-level protocol headers.

If the size is set smaller than the minimum allowed
packet size or greater than the maximum allowed
packet size, then the set should fail, and the agent
should return a 'badValue' error."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 3 }

sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX INTEGER {
random (1),
pattern (2),
url(3)
}
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Indicates how the packet is filled.

'random' indicates that the packet contains random
data patterns. This is probe and implementation
dependent.

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'pattern' indicates that the pattern defined in the
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillValue attribute is used to
fill the packet.

'url' indicates that the value of
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillValue should
contain a URL. The contents of the document
at that URL are retrieved when sspmSourceStatus becomes
active and utilized in the packet. If the attempt to
access that URL fails, then the row status is set to
'notReady', and the set should fail with
'inconsistentValue'. This value must contain a
dereferencable URL of the type 'http:', 'https:', or
'ftp:' only."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 4 }

sspmSourceProfilePacketFillValue OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX OCTET STRING (SIZE(0..255))
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The string value with which to fill the packet. If
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType is set to 'pattern',
then this pattern is repeated until the packet is
sspmSourcePacketSize in bytes. Note that if the
length of the octet string specified for this
value does not divide evenly into the packet
size, then an incomplete last copy of this data
may be copied into the packet. If the value of
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType is set to 'random', then
this attribute is unused. If the value of the
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType is set to 'url', then
the URL specified in this attribute is retrieved
and used by the probe. In the case of a URL, this value
must contain a dereferencable URL of the type
'http:', 'https:', or 'ftp:' only."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 5 }

sspmSourceProfileTOS OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32 (0..255)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Represents the TOS field in the IP packet header. The
value of this object defaults to zero if not set."
DEFVAL { 0 }
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 6 }

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sspmSourceProfileFlowLabel OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32 (0..1048575) -- 20-bit range (0 to 0xfffff)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"This object is used to specify the Flow Label in a IPv6
packet (RFC 2460) to force special handling by the IPv6
routers; e.g., non-default quality-of-service handling.

This object is meaningful only when the object
sspmSourceDestAddressType is IPv6(2).
The value of this object defaults to zero if not set."
DEFVAL { 0 }
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 7 }

sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteFill OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX OCTET STRING (SIZE(0..240))
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"In the event that the test should run over a
specific route, the intent is to force the route using the
Loose Source Route option in IPv4 [RFC791] and
IPv6 [RFC2460]. This object contains a
series of IP addresses along the path that would be
put into the loose source route option in the IP header.

The IPv4 addresses are to be listed as 32-bit
address values, and the IPv6 addresses are to be
listed as a string of 128-bit addresses. The
maximum length allowed within the IPv4 source route
option is 63 addresses. To simply account for
IPv6 addresses as well, the maximum length of the
octet string is 240. This allows up to 60
IPv4 addresses or up to 15 IPv6 addresses in the
string."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 8 }

sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteLen OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32(0..240)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"In the event that the test should run over a
specific route, the intent is to force the route.
This attribute specifies the length of data to
be copied from the sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteFill
into the route data fields of the loose source route

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

options in the IPv4 or IPv6 headers."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 9 }

sspmSourceProfileTTL OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32(1..255)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"If non-zero, this specifies the value to place into
the TTL field on transmission."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 10 }

sspmSourceProfileNoFrag OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX TruthValue
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"When true, the 'Don't Fragment Bit' should be set
on the packet header."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 11 }

sspmSourceProfile8021Tagging OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32 (-1..65535)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"IEEE 802.1Q tagging used in IEEE 802.1D bridged
environments.

A value of -1 indicates that the packets are untagged.

A value of 0 to 65535 is the value of the tag to be
inserted in the tagged packets.

Note that according to IEEE 802.1Q, VLAN-ID tags with
a value of 4095 shall not be transmitted on the wire.
As the VLAN-ID is encoded in the 12 least significant
bits on the tag, values that translate in a binary
representation of all 1's in the last 12 bits
SHALL NOT be configured. In this case, the set should
fail, and return an error-status of 'inconsistentValue'."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 12 }

sspmSourceProfileUsername OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Utf8String
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION

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"An optional username used by the application protocol."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 13 }

sspmSourceProfilePassword OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Utf8String
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An optional password used by the application protocol."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 14 }

sspmSourceProfileParameter OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX OCTET STRING (SIZE(0..65535))
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An optional parameter used by the application protocol.
For DNS, this would be the hostname or IP. For HTTP,
this would be the URL. For nntp, this would be the
news group. For TCP, this would be the port number.
For SMTP, this would be the recipient (and could
assume the message is predefined)."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 15 }

sspmSourceProfileOwner OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX OwnerString
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Name of the management station/application that
set up the profile."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 16 }

sspmSourceProfileStorageType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX StorageType
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The storage type of this sspmSourceProfileEntry. If the
value of this object is 'permanent', no objects in this row
need to be writable."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 17 }

sspmSourceProfileStatus OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX RowStatus
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION

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"Status of this profile.

An entry may not exist in the active state unless all
objects in the entry have an appropriate value.

Once this object is set to active(1), no objects in the
sspmSourceProfileTable can be changed."
::= { sspmSourceProfileEntry 18 }

--
-- sspmSourceControlTable
-- Defines specific measurement instances based on template
-- profiles in the sspmSourceProfileTable which must be
-- pre-configured.
--

sspmSourceControlTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF SspmSourceControlEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The table of SSPM measurements configured."
::= { sspmSource 2 }

sspmSourceControlEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmSourceControlEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Details about a particular SSPM configuration."
INDEX { sspmSourceControlInstance }
::= { sspmSourceControlTable 1 }

SspmSourceControlEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
sspmSourceControlInstance Unsigned32,
sspmSourceControlProfile Integer32,
sspmSourceControlSrc InterfaceIndexOrZero,
sspmSourceControlDestAddrType InetAddressType,
sspmSourceControlDestAddr InetAddress,
sspmSourceControlEnabled TruthValue,
sspmSourceControlTimeOut SspmMicroSeconds,
sspmSourceControlSamplingDist INTEGER,
sspmSourceControlFrequency SspmMicroSeconds,
sspmSourceControlFirstSeqNum Unsigned32,
sspmSourceControlLastSeqNum Unsigned32,
sspmSourceControlOwner OwnerString,
sspmSourceControlStorageType StorageType,
sspmSourceControlStatus RowStatus

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

}

sspmSourceControlInstance OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32 (1..65535)
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An arbitrary index."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 1 }

sspmSourceControlProfile OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Integer32 (1..65535)
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A pointer to the profile (sspmSourceProfileEntry) that
this control entry uses to define the test being
performed."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 2 }

sspmSourceControlSrc OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX InterfaceIndexOrZero
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The ifIndex where the packet should originate from the
probe (if it matters). A value of zero indicates that
it does not matter and that the device decides."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 3 }

sspmSourceControlDestAddrType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX InetAddressType
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The type of Internet address by which the destination
is accessed."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 4 }

sspmSourceControlDestAddr OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX InetAddress
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The Internet address for the destination. The formatting
of this object is controlled by the
sspmSourceControlDestAddrType object above.

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When this object contains a DNS name, then the name is
resolved to an address each time measurement is to be made.
Further, the agent should not cache this address,
but instead should perform the resolution prior to each
measurement."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 5 }

sspmSourceControlEnabled OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX TruthValue
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"When set to 'true', this test is enabled. When set to
'false', it is disabled."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 6 }

sspmSourceControlTimeOut OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmMicroSeconds
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Timeout value for the measurement response. If no
response is received in the time specified, then
the test fails."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 7 }

sspmSourceControlSamplingDist OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX INTEGER {
deterministic(1),
poisson(2)
}
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"When this attribute is set to 'deterministic', then
packets are generated at with a fixed inter-packet
injection time specified by sspmSourceFrequency.

When this attribute is set to 'Poisson', then packets
are generated with inter-packet injection times sampled
from an exponential distribution with the single
distributional parameter determined by the inverse
frequency)."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 8 }

sspmSourceControlFrequency OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmMicroSeconds
MAX-ACCESS read-create

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STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The inverse of this value is the rate at which packets
are generated. Refer to sspmSourceSamplingDistribution.
If the value set is less than the value of
sspmGeneralMinFrequency, then the set will fail with an
error-status of 'inconsistentValue'."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 9 }

sspmSourceControlFirstSeqNum OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The first sequence number of packets to be transmitted."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 10 }

sspmSourceControlLastSeqNum OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32
MAX-ACCESS read-only
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The last sequence number transmitted. This value is updated
by the agent after packet generation."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 11 }

sspmSourceControlOwner OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX OwnerString
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Name of the management station/application that set
up the test."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 12 }

sspmSourceControlStorageType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX StorageType
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The storage type of this sspmSourceControlEntry. If the
value of this object is 'permanent', no objects in this row
need to be writable."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 13 }

sspmSourceControlStatus OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX RowStatus
MAX-ACCESS read-create

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STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Status of this source control entry.

An entry may not exist in the active state unless all
objects in the entry have an appropriate value.

When this attribute has the value of
'active', none of the read-write or read-create attributes
in this table may be modified, with the exception of
sspmSourceControlEnabled."
::= { sspmSourceControlEntry 14 }

--
-- sspmSinkTable
--
-- Contains attributes for configuration of Synthetic
-- Sources for Performance Monitoring sinks, i.e.,
-- sinks for receipt of one-way delay measurements.
--
sspmSink OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIBObjects 5 }

sspmSinkTable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SEQUENCE OF SspmSinkEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A table configuring the sink for measurements."
::= { sspmSink 1 }

sspmSinkEntry OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmSinkEntry
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The details of a particular sink entry. If the measurement
is a round-trip type, then the sink entry will be on the
same probe as the corresponding sspmSourceEntry. If the
measurement is a one-way, type then the sink entry will be
on a different probe."
INDEX { sspmSinkInstance }
::= { sspmSinkTable 1}

SspmSinkEntry ::= SEQUENCE {
sspmSinkInstance Unsigned32,
sspmSinkType AppLocalIndex,
sspmSinkSourceAddressType InetAddressType,
sspmSinkSourceAddress InetAddress,

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sspmSinkExpectedRate SspmMicroSeconds,
sspmSinkEnable TruthValue,
sspmSinkExpectedFirstSequenceNum Unsigned32,
sspmSinkLastSequenceNumber Unsigned32,
sspmSinkLastSequenceInvalid Counter32,
sspmSinkStorageType StorageType,
sspmSinkStatus RowStatus
}

sspmSinkInstance OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32 (1..65535)
MAX-ACCESS not-accessible
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"An index. When the measurement is for a round-trip
measurement, then this table entry is on the same probe as
the corresponding sspmSourceEntry, and the value of this
attribute should correspond to the value of
sspmSourceInstance. Management applications configuring
sinks for one-way measurements could define some
scheme whereby the sspmSinkInstance is unique across
all probes. Note that the unique key to this entry is
also constructed with sspmSinkType,
sspmSinkSourceAddressType, and sspmSinkSourceAddress.
To make the implementation simpler, those other
attributes are not included in the index but uniqueness
is still needed to receive all the packets."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 1 }

sspmSinkType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX AppLocalIndex
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The AppLocalIndex value that uniquely identifies the
measurement per the APM-MIB. In order to create a row
in this table, there must be a corresponding row in the
sspmCapabilitiesTable. If there is no corresponding
row in the sspmCapabilitiestable, then the agent will
return an error-status of 'inconsistentValue'."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 2}

sspmSinkSourceAddressType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX InetAddressType
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The type of Internet address of the source."

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

::= { sspmSinkEntry 3 }

sspmSinkSourceAddress OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX InetAddress
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The Internet address of the source. The formatting
of this object is controlled by the sspmSinkSourceAddressType
object above.

This object should be set only to a valid device address
that has been administratively configured into the
device. If a set attempts to set this object to an
address that does not belong (i.e., is not administratively
configured into the device), the set should fail, and the
agent should return a error-status of 'inconsistentValue'."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 4 }

sspmSinkExpectedRate OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX SspmMicroSeconds
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The expected rate at which packets will arrive."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 5 }

sspmSinkEnable OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX TruthValue
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Indicates if the sink is enabled or not."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 6 }

sspmSinkExpectedFirstSequenceNum OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The expected first sequence number of packets.
This is used by the sink to determine if packets
were lost at the initiation of the test."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 7 }

sspmSinkLastSequenceNumber OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Unsigned32
MAX-ACCESS read-only

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The last sequence number received."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 8 }

sspmSinkLastSequenceInvalid OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX Counter32
MAX-ACCESS read-only
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The number of packets that arrived whose
sequence number was not one plus the value of
sspmSinkLastSequenceNumber."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 9 }

sspmSinkStorageType OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX StorageType
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The storage type of this sspmSinkEntry. If the value
of this object is 'permanent', no objects in this row
need to be writable."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 10 }

sspmSinkStatus OBJECT-TYPE
SYNTAX RowStatus
MAX-ACCESS read-create
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"Status of this conceptual row.
An entry may not exist in the active state unless all
objects in the entry have an appropriate value.

Once this object is set to active(1), no objects with
MAX-ACCESS of read-create in the sspmSinkTable can
be changed."
::= { sspmSinkEntry 11 }

--
-- Notifications
--

--
-- Conformance information
--
sspmCompliances OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIBConformance 1 }
sspmGroups OBJECT IDENTIFIER ::= { sspmMIBConformance 2 }

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

-- Compliance Statements
sspmGeneralCompliance MODULE-COMPLIANCE
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A general compliance that allows all things to be optional."
MODULE -- this module

MANDATORY-GROUPS { sspmGeneralGroup }

GROUP sspmSourceGroup
DESCRIPTION
"The SSPM Source Group is optional."

GROUP sspmSinkGroup
DESCRIPTION
"The SSPM Sink Group is optional."

GROUP sspmUserPassGroup
DESCRIPTION
"The SSPM User Pass Group is optional."

::= { sspmCompliances 1 }

--
-- SSPM Source Compliance
--
sspmSourceFullCompliance MODULE-COMPLIANCE
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"A source compliance. Use this compliance when implementing
a traffic-source-only device. This is useful for implementing
devices that probe other devices for intrusive application
monitoring. It is also useful for implementing the source
of one-way tests used with a sink-only device."
MODULE -- this module

MANDATORY-GROUPS { sspmGeneralGroup, sspmSourceGroup }

GROUP sspmUserPassGroup
DESCRIPTION
"The SSPM User Pass Group is optional."
::= { sspmCompliances 2 }

--
-- SSPM Sink Compliance
--
sspmSinkFullCompliance MODULE-COMPLIANCE
STATUS current

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

DESCRIPTION
"A sink-only compliance. Use this compliance when implementing a
sink-only device. This is useful for devices to receive one-way
measurements."
MODULE -- this module

MANDATORY-GROUPS { sspmGeneralGroup, sspmSinkGroup }

::= { sspmCompliances 3 }

--
-- Groups
--
sspmGeneralGroup OBJECT-GROUP
OBJECTS {
sspmGeneralClockResolution,
sspmGeneralClockMaxSkew,
sspmGeneralClockSource,
sspmGeneralMinFrequency,
sspmCapabilitiesInstance
}
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The objects in the SSPM General Group."
::= { sspmGroups 1 }

sspmSourceGroup OBJECT-GROUP
OBJECTS {
sspmSourceProfileType,
sspmSourceProfilePacketSize,
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillType,
sspmSourceProfilePacketFillValue,
sspmSourceProfileTOS,
sspmSourceProfileFlowLabel,
sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteFill,
sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteLen,
sspmSourceProfileTTL,
sspmSourceProfileNoFrag,
sspmSourceProfile8021Tagging,
sspmSourceProfileUsername,
sspmSourceProfilePassword,
sspmSourceProfileParameter,
sspmSourceProfileOwner,
sspmSourceProfileStorageType,
sspmSourceProfileStatus,
sspmSourceControlProfile,
sspmSourceControlSrc,
sspmSourceControlDestAddrType,

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

sspmSourceControlDestAddr,
sspmSourceControlEnabled,
sspmSourceControlTimeOut,
sspmSourceControlSamplingDist,
sspmSourceControlFrequency,
sspmSourceControlFirstSeqNum,
sspmSourceControlLastSeqNum,
sspmSourceControlOwner,
sspmSourceControlStorageType,
sspmSourceControlStatus
}
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The objects in the SSPM Source Group."
::= { sspmGroups 2 }

sspmUserPassGroup OBJECT-GROUP
OBJECTS {
sspmSourceProfileUsername,
sspmSourceProfilePassword
}
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The objects in the SSPM Username and password group."
::= { sspmGroups 3 }

sspmSinkGroup OBJECT-GROUP
OBJECTS {
sspmSinkType,
sspmSinkSourceAddressType,
sspmSinkSourceAddress,
sspmSinkExpectedRate,
sspmSinkEnable,
sspmSinkExpectedFirstSequenceNum,
sspmSinkLastSequenceNumber,
sspmSinkLastSequenceInvalid,
sspmSinkStorageType,
sspmSinkStatus
}
STATUS current
DESCRIPTION
"The objects in the SSPM Sink Group."
::= { sspmGroups 4 }

END

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

8. Security Considerations

This MIB module defines objects that allow packets to be injected
into the network for the purpose of measuring some performance
characteristics. As such, the MIB module may contain sensitive
network and application data; e.g., user IDs and passwords. Further,
if security is compromised, this MIB module could provide a source
for denial-of-service, and potential other, attacks. These issues
will be addressed within this section.

There are a number of management objects defined in this MIB module
that have a MAX-ACCESS clause of read-write and/or read-create. Such
objects may be considered sensitive or vulnerable in some network
environments. The support for SET operations in a non-secure
environment without proper protection can have a negative effect on
network operations. These are the tables and objects and their
sensitivity/vulnerability:

+ The sspmSourceProfileTable contains objects that configure link-
level, IP, and application-level data used within test suites.
These objects with a MAX-ACCESS clause of read-write and/or
read- create are:

o sspmSourcePacketSize - configures the overall size of the
test packets,

o sspmSourceProfileTOS - sets the TOS field in the IPv4 and
IPv6 headers,

o sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteFill and
sspmSourceProfileLooseSrcRteLen - give a list of IPv4 or IPv6
addresses for the loose source route options in the IP
headers,

o sspmSourceProfileFlowLabel - sets the Flow Label in the IPv6
header,

o sspmSourceProfileTTL - sets the TTL field in the packet
headers,

o sspmSourceProfileNoFrag - sets the No Fragment bit in the
packet headers,

o sspmSourceProfile8021Tagging - sets the Tag field in the
802.1 headers, and

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

o sspmSourceProfileUsername and sspmSourceProfilePassword -
these hold the ID and passwords specific to an application
test profile.,

+ The sspmSourceControlTable contains objects that configure IP
and application-level data used within a given test. These
objects with a MAX-ACCESS clause of read-write and/or read-
create are:

o sspmSourceControlSrc - controls the source IP address used on
the test packets,

o sspmSourceControlDestAddr - holds the destination address for
the specific test packet,

o sspmSourceControlTimeout, sspmSourceControlSamplingDist, and
sspmSourceControlFrequency - control the nature and frequency
of the test packet injection onto the network, and

o sspmSourceControlFirstSeqNum and sspmSourceControlLastSeqNum
- set the first and last sequence numbers for the specific
test.

+ The sspmSinkTable contains objects that configure the recipient
of the test packets. As such, the objects in this table have no
security issues related to them.

Some attributes configure username and password information for some
application-level protocols as indicated above. Access to these
attributes may provide unauthorized use of resources. These
attributes are: sspmSourceProfileUsername and
sspmSourceProfilePassword.

Some attributes configure the size and rate of traffic flows for the
purpose of performance measurements. Access to these attributes may
exacerbate the use of this MIB module in denial-of-service attacks.
It is possible to define a maximum packet rate on the device and to
indicate this rate through the sspmSourceFrequency object. This
object reflects the maximum acceptable packet rate that a device
supporting this MIB module is willing to generate. This places a
bound on setting the test packet rate through the
sspmSourceControlFrequency object. Other objects that control
aspects of the test packets related to packet size and rate are
sspmSourceControlTimeOut, sspmSourceControlSamplingDist and
sspmSourceControlFrequency.

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RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

The objects sspmSourceControlSrc, sspmSourceControlDestAddr,
sspmSourceControlLooseSrcRteFill, and sspmSourceControlLooseSrcRteLen
control the setting of the source and destination addresses on the
packet headers and the routing of the packets. The device should not
allow the setting of source addresses on the test packets other than
those that are administratively configured onto the device. This is
controlled by using the syntax InterfaceIndexOrZero for the control
of the source address through the sspmSourceControlSrc object.

It is thus important to control even GET access to these objects and
possibly to even encrypt the values of these object when sending them
over the network via SNMP. Not all versions of SNMP provide features
for such a secure environment.

SNMP versions prior to SNMPv3 did not include adequate security.
Even if the network itself is secure (for example by using IPSec),
even then, there is no control as to who on the secure network is
allowed to access and GET/SET (read/change/create/delete) the objects
in this MIB module.

It is RECOMMENDED that implementers consider the security features as
provided by the SNMPv3 framework (see [RFC3410], section 8),
including full support for the SNMPv3 cryptographic mechanisms (for
authentication and privacy).

Further, deployment of SNMP versions prior to SNMPv3 is NOT
RECOMMENDED. Instead, it is RECOMMENDED to deploy SNMPv3 and to
enable cryptographic security. It is then a customer/operator
responsibility to ensure that the SNMP entity giving access to an
instance of this MIB module is properly configured to give access to
the objects only to those principals (users) that have legitimate
rights to indeed GET or SET (change/create/delete) them.

9. Acknowledgements

This document was produced by the IETF Remote Network Monitoring
Working Group. The editors gratefully acknowledge the comments of
the following individuals: Andy Bierman, Lester D'Souza, Jim McQuaid,
and Steven Waldbusser.

10. Normative References

[RFC791] Postel, J., "Internet Protocol", STD 5, RFC 791,
September 1981.

[RFC1305] Mills, D., "Network Time Protocol (Version 3)
Specification, Implementation and Analysis", RFC 1305,
March 1992.

Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 34]

RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

[RFC2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997.

[RFC2287] Krupczak, C. and J. Saperia, "Definitions of System-Level
Managed Objects for Applications", RFC 2287, February
1998.

[RFC2460] Deering, S. and R. Hinden, "Internet Protocol, Version 6
(IPv6) Specification", RFC 2460, December 1998.

[RFC2578] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Structure of Management
Information Version 2 (SMIv2)", STD 58, RFC 2578, April
1999.

[RFC2579] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Textual Conventions for
SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2579, April 1999.

[RFC2580] McCloghrie, K., Perkins, D., Schoenwaelder, J., Case, J.,
Rose, M., and S. Waldbusser, "Conformance Statements for
SMIv2", STD 58, RFC 2580, April 1999.

[RFC2680] Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., and M. Zekauskas, "A One-Way
Packet Loss Metric for IPPM" RFC 2680, September 1999.

[RFC2863] McCloghrie, K. and F. Kastenholz, "The Interfaces Group
MIB", RFC 2863, June 2000.

[RFC3291] Daniele, M., Haberman, B., Routhier, S., and J.
Schoenwaelder, "Textual Conventions for Internet Network
Addresses ", RFC 3291, May 2002.

[RFC3393] Demichelis, C. and P. Chimento, "IP Packet Delay
Variation Metric for IP Performance Metrics (IPPM)", RFC
3393, November 2002.

[RFC3432] Raisanen, V., Grotefeld, G., and A. Morton, "Network
Performance Measurement with Periodic Streams", RFC 3432,
November 2002.

[RFC3577] Waldbusser, S., Cole, R.G., Kalbfleisch, C., and D.
Romascanu, "Introduction to the Remote Monitoring (RMON)
Family of MIB Modules", RFC 3577, August 2003.

[RFC3729] Waldbusser, S., "Application Performance Measurement
MIB", RFC 3729, March 2004.

Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 35]

RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

[RFC4150] Dietz, R. and R. Cole, "Transport Performance Metrics
MIB", RFC 4150, August 2005.

11. Informative References

[RFC1272] Mills, C., Hirsch, G., and G. Ruth, "Internet Accounting
Background", RFC 1272, November 1991.

[RFC2021] Waldbusser, S., "Remote Network Monitoring Management
Information Base Version 2 using SMIv2", RFC 2021,
January 1997.

[RFC2722] Browlee, N., Mills, C., and G. Ruth, "Traffic Flow
Measurement: Architecture", RFC 2722, October 1999.

[RFC2720] Brownlee, N. "Traffic Flow Measurement: Meter MIB", RFC
2720, October 1999.

[RFC2330] Paxson, V., Almes, G., Mahdavi, J., and M. Mathis,
"Framework for IP Performance Metrics", RFC 2330, May
1998.

[RFC2564] Kalbfleisch, C., Krupczak, C., Presuhn, R., and J.
Saperia, "Application Management MIB", RFC 2564, May
1999.

[RFC2594] Hazewinkel, H., Kalbfleisch, C., and J. Schoenwaelder,
"Definitions of Managed Objects for WWW Services", RFC
2594, May 1999.

[RFC3165] Levi, D. and J. Schoenwaelder, "Definitions of Managed
Objects for the Delegation of Management Scripts", RFC
3165, August 2001.

[RFC2678] Mahdavi, J. and V. Paxson, "IPPM metrics for Measuring
Connectivity", RFC 2678, September 1999.

[RFC2679] Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., and M. Zekauskas, "A One-way
Delay Metric for IPPM", RFC 2679, September 1999.

[RFC2681] Almes, G., Kalidindi, S., and M. Zekauskas, "A Round-Trip
Delay Metric for IPPM", RFC 2681, September 1999.

[RFC2819] Waldbusser, S., "Remote Network Monitoring Management
Information Base", STD 59, RFC 2819, February 1995.

Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 36]

RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

[RFC2925] White, K., "Definitions of Managed Objects for Remote
Ping, Traceroute, and Lookup Operations", RFC 2925,
September 2000.

[RFC2982] Kavasseri, R., "Distributed Management Expression MIB",
RFC 2982, October 2000.

[RFC3410] Case, J., Mundy, R., Partain, D., and B. Stewart,
"Introduction and Applicability Statements for Internet-
Standard Management Framework", RFC 3410, December 2002.

[RFC3512] MacFaden, M., Partain, D., Saperia, J., and W. Tackabury,
"Configuring Networks and Devices with Simple Network
Management Protocol (SNMP)", RFC 3512, April 2003.

[EBT] Mathis, M. and M. Allman, "Empirical Bulk Transfer
Capacity", Work in Progress, October 1999.

[ODP] Shalunov, S., Teitelbaum, B., and M. Zekauskas, "A One-
Way Delay Protocol for IP Performance Measurements", Work
in Progress, December 2000.

[RFC4011] Waldbusser, S., Saperia, J., and T. Hongal, "Policy Based
Management MIB", RFC 4011, March 2005.

[TBT] Mathis, M., "TReno Bulk transfer Capacity", Work in
Progress, February 1999.

Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 37]

RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

Authors' Addresses

Carl W. Kalbfleisch
Consultant

EMail: [email protected]

Robert G. Cole
Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
MP2-170
11100 Johns Hopkins Road
Laurel, MD 20723-6099
USA

Tel: +1 443-778-6951
EMail: [email protected]

Dan Romascanu
Avaya
Atidim Technology Park, Bldg. #3
Tel Aviv, 61131
Israel

Tel: +972-3-645-8414
EMail: [email protected]

Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 38]

RFC 4149 SSPM-MIB August 2005

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Kalbfleisch, et al. Standards Track [Page 39]