[pim] Re: Ketan Talaulikar's Discuss on draft-ietf-pim-zer oconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: (with DISCUSS and COMMENT)
Ketan Talaulikar <[email protected]> Tue, 17 Feb 2026 18:46:18 +0530
| Newsgroups | gmane.ietf.pim |
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| Message-ID | <CAH6gdPyHpiAcJ3=d49DryW+S-_1zCKZ+gMcig9WoYtw36wiK6g@mail.gmail.com> |
Hi Nate, Thanks for posting this update. It addresses the remnant points in my DISCUSS ballot which I have now cleared. Thanks, Ketan On Fri, Feb 13, 2026 at 1:24 AM Karstens, Nate <[email protected]> wrote: > Ketan, > > > > I apologize for the significant delay since my last reply. We posted > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-11 to address your concerns: > > > > > https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps/ > > > > Please see responses below, marked *[NLK2]*. > > > > Cheers, > > > > Nate > > > > *From:* Ketan Talaulikar <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Friday, November 21, 2025 06:22 > *To:* Karstens, Nate <[email protected]> > *Cc:* The IESG <[email protected]>; > [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [pim] Ketan Talaulikar's Discuss on > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: (with DISCUSS and COMMENT) > > > > Hi Nate, Thanks for the continued discussion and the improvements being > made to the document. Please check inline below for responses with KT2 and > I am not following up on the points where we have reached an agreement. On > Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at > > Hi Nate, > > > > Thanks for the continued discussion and the improvements being made to the > document. > > > > Please check inline below for responses with KT2 and I am not following up > on the points where we have reached an agreement. > > > > > > On Fri, Nov 21, 2025 at 3:53 AM Karstens, Nate <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Ketan, > > > > Thanks for taking another look! My responses are below, denoted with > *[NLK]*. Also, we posted a version -10. > > > > Best Regards, > > > > Nate > > > > *From:* Ketan Talaulikar <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Thursday, November 20, 2025 02:30 > *To:* Karstens, Nate <[email protected]> > *Cc:* The IESG <[email protected]>; > [email protected]; [email protected]; > [email protected] > *Subject:* Re: [pim] Ketan Talaulikar's Discuss on > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: (with DISCUSS and COMMENT) > > > > Hi Nate, Thanks for your response and the document update. Please check > inline below for my responses/clarifications. For the ones where I haven't > responded, the changes and/or your responses address my comments. Thanks. > Also, I might have > > Hi Nate, > > > > Thanks for your response and the document update. Please check inline > below for my responses/clarifications. > > > > For the ones where I haven't responded, the changes and/or your responses > address my comments. Thanks. > > > > Also, I might have sneaked a peek at some of the solutions but by and > large my review has turned a blind eye to all those other drafts. I > strongly recommend that if this document is to be published as an RFC it > should be standing on its own with the necessary specifics and clarity. > > > > *[NLK] That makes sense. I think our document is intended to stand on its > own, but knowing about the other documents might help understand why we are > writing this document at all.* > > > > Note: I found it hard to process your style of responses where my original > comments have been trimmed. Could you please respond inline in the future > to preserve the context? I am dealing with a lot of context switches and > would appreciate it if the full context was preserved during such > discussions. > > > > *[NLK] My apologies and sorry for the additional work that caused for you. > All future replies will be inline.* > > > > On Thu, Nov 20, 2025 at 12:26 PM Karstens, Nate <[email protected]> > wrote: > > Ketan, > > > > Thanks for your review! We uploaded > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-09 and made changes based on > your feedback: > > > > > …why the WG wishes to publish this document as an RFC… > > > > We believe that there is benefit to documenting problems with the status > quo and providing metrics that future solutions (such as > draft-ietf-pim-ipv6-zeroconf-assignment and draft-ietf-pim-gaap) can be > evaluated by. > > > > KT> There is a difference between documenting and publishing as an RFC. I > don't see the long term benefit of publication of the document given the > state of the solution work. There are plenty of examples where such work is > adopted but not published as an RFC. Anyway, this was not a technical point > and I will leave this to the WG and the responsible AD's call. I'll move > this down into comments just to make sure it is not seen as a DISCUSS > > > > *[NLK] Sounds good, thanks!* > > > > > A way to address this is to replace the "new protocol" with a "solution" > > > > Mohamed had a similar suggestion. We updated the document accordingly. > > > > KT> Thanks. I'll clear this point. > > > > *[NLK] Great, thank you!* > > > > > > > Assuming there is indeed the need for something new, I was looking for > some analysis of why we need to build something new for IPv4 and why not > just for IPv6. > > > > Our recommendation is to use IPv6, but leave that up to the protocol > designer in case they need IPv4 for their use case. > draft-ietf-pim-ipv6-zeroconf-assignment uses IPv6 only, while > draft-ietf-pim-gaap supports both IPv4 and IPv6. > > > > KT> I am not sure who you are referring to by "our". I see the authors of > this document are authors for both of those documents. Regardless, I would > look for what is the WG consensus on this topic and it would be good to > document the analysis on why work on IPv4 for something new. This point > remains open. > > > > *[NLK] I think there are networks in use today that would benefit from > host-based multicast address allocation, but where transitioning to IPv6 is > not practical. We didn’t want to preclude anything that could be > beneficial. I think the WG still regards IPv4 as worth maintaining because > the charter mentions IGMP and RFC 9776 (an update to IGMPv3) was published > earlier this year.* > > > > KT2> Some text along the lines of your response above in the introduction > section would help. It would be better if this were one of the > considerations that conveys that the problem needs to be solved for IPv6 > but it would be good to solve also for IPv4 (or something along those > lines). > > > > *[NLK2] We added another paragraph to the Introduction section to address > this.* > > > > > > > [Referring to RFC 4541] That RFC is almost 20 years old. Is it still > relevant? > > > > Yes, it is still relevant :). We are working on some improvements, see > draft-karstens-pim-multicast-snooping-optimization. > > > > KT> I find it very hard to believe that RFC4541 is still relevant and > reflects the current state. Especially the "survey" in > https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4541#section-4 > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc4541*section-4__;Iw!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!U6InPKfEEzSRFhS0SwFKiXm1PWzYkxm1AGEWdvmV8SOk3vxx9cQ4mkgwdcwCTfafIxP8oCtnkPYF3WijEmoc198$> > was only referring to IGMP and not covering MLD. IPv6/MLD text in that RFC > gives the impression of it being "bleeding edge" while it clearly cannot be > so in 2025? Is there any discussion that you could point me to? This > document claims "many switches" and I would like to see some > substantiations of those claims. This point remains open. > > > > *[NLK] We can discuss this more and get back with you. I do agree that > IETF documentation on this is not in the best state. Some of that may be > because ownership is not entirely clear – IETF owns network-layer and > above, IEEE owns link-layer and below, and snooping crosses both of those > layers. In any case, we are working on improvements.* > > > > KT2> I don't see any issue there - IETF and IEEE have a collaborative > liaison between them. Back to the topic, I haven't seen any changes in this > text in the latest version. At a minimum this claim needs to be revised > perhaps from "many switches" to "some switches" and the text should include > the clarification that there does not exist a more recent survey/analysis > but it is likely that some of those limitations (e.g., old or "deficient" > switches) still exist in some of the target deployments. > > > > *[NLK2] * > > *Sorry, I didn’t initially understand the main point you were making with > the comment, which is that the survey results are old and may not apply > anymore. We updated that section to point that out.* > > > > *You also mentioned MLD. My experience has been that the “IGMP/MLD > snooping” feature in switch hardware just detects the IGMP or MLD protocols > and kicks the Ethernet frame up to a management CPU for further handling. > The CPU is then able to treat MAC addresses generated by IPv4 multicast and > IPv6 multicast interchangeably as far as programming address tables in the > switch.* > > > > *This is a limited sample of course, but illustrates that the transition > to MLD didn’t necessarily require a large change in switch operation.* > > *[/NLK2]* > > > > > The reference to a 20+ year old patent (so the idea is even older) as an > example or justification seems very odd to me > > > > I’m not sure how prevalent this feature/limitation is in the market, but > we still encounter it in modern parts. > > > > KT> I find that response unconvincing. Is there anything lost if this > point and the entire paragraph were removed from this document? This point > remains open. > > > > *[NLK] Yes, section 2.1 of **draft-ietf-pim-ipv6-zeroconf-assignment* > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-pim-ipv6-zeroconf-assignment/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!VZVZL6NsedgtdadKkEPD8oCo9u42E2jDZ7zuZ-CbKvLkIMlncbh_S43hv1pHToHnIANWGySfC7l2OJ9uGPcrIqw$>* > describes a mitigation for this issue.* > > > > KT2> Thanks for that clarification. In which case, the problem may be > described briefly inline to benefit the reader instead of pointing > normatively to a 20+ year old patent. Is that possible? > > > > *[NLK2] Yeah, no problem. We improved the description a bit and moved the > patent to an informative reference (the diagrams and description are still > helpful).* > > > > > > > I find this very strange. Why is this a requirement? I would have > expected it to be the other way around - use/extend what exists? > > > > The only protocol that was published as a standard is MADCAP. Making that > work as a host-based (vs server-based) allocation model was something we > looked into briefly, but it would be significantly more complicated than a > protocol designed for host allocation. We left it out of the Excluded > Solutions section because it was never really a viable option. > > > > KT> I'll remind you that we are not anymore talking about protocols but > solutions. This text is not just about MADCAP. Taking a step back and > thinking about this, is the intention actually the following (please feel > free to wordsmith to convey the intention)? > > > > [CONS-2] Standards Compatibility: The solution SHOULD aim to minimize the > need for changes to existing protocols or standards that affects backwards > compatibility or deployment in existing networks. > > > > *[NLK] I’m fine with this wording.* > > > > > It is not clear if the solution can extend to both host stacks as well > as network devices. > > > > We somewhat address that with the Standards Compatibility consideration. > That is limited to protocols and standards, though that can be extended to > a desire to minimize *any* change. We can update the document to reflect > that if you prefer. > > > > KT> Yes, however, it would be preferable to describe in terms of > applications, hosts, and routers/switches. When you say "platform", it is > not clear what exactly that refers to. I suspect this is on the hosts - but > please clarify. > > > > *[NLK] Sure, we can clarify that this is referring to host platforms.* > > > > > Should it also cover MLD snooping > > > > We can update this to say “IGMP/MLD snooping” > > > > > Perhaps you would want to clarify why not? Is it because it requires a > server and is not a decentralized mechanism? > > > > That’s correct. We rearranged the sentence a bit to make that more > apparent: > > > > RFC2730 (MADCAP) describes a method for multicast IP address allocation, > but its server-based model does not suit a zeroconf environment. > > > > > Does "Ethernet" here imply the "wired" media or in general for others > such as wifi and various other link layer technologies? > > > > Éric Vyncke had a similar comment. We updated the document to be more > neutral with regards to link layer. > > > > > I am assuming the "hardware" being referred to here is an L2 switch? > > > > No, this would be in the Ethernet MAC, for example. > > > > KT> Could you please clarify and be more precise? > > > > *[NLK]* > > *Sure. We updated this paragraph as follows:* > > > > *First, many host network interfaces allow filtering of multicast traffic > directly in hardware. When an application joins a multicast group, the host > network stack typically programs the hardware to accept only traffic for > that group. However, if two groups share the same link-layer address, the > hardware network interface cannot distinguish them. The network stack is > then forced to process unwanted traffic in software, reducing performance > and increasing CPU usage.* > > > > *Does that help?* > > *[/NLK]* > > > > KT2> Yes, it does. Thanks. > > > > Thanks, > > Ketan > > > > > > > > > > > "gracefully" is not very precise > > > > We left that vague to allow flexibility in protocol design. Still, it > would be helpful to at least indicate that streams should be migrated to a > unique address. We updated this accordingly. > > > > > I am not able to parse the above statement properly. Could you please > clarify or rephrase > > > > Sorry, my grammar was terrible there. I updated to say “advertising and > *discovering* allocated addresses”. This was from Mohamed Boucadair’s > question about how the allocated addresses would be communicated (see > https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/pim/yvDAR-jVVIuexooqwS9P8FywSNk/ > <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/msg/pim/yvDAR-jVVIuexooqwS9P8FywSNk/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!U6InPKfEEzSRFhS0SwFKiXm1PWzYkxm1AGEWdvmV8SOk3vxx9cQ4mkgwdcwCTfafIxP8oCtnkPYF3WijaaFO6qw$> > ). > > > > > The above sentence is not appropriate for this document > > > > Éric Vyncke had a similar comment. Our concern with removing the reference > from the IPv6 considerations section is that the reader may get the > impression that there is no solution to the issues we describe. > > > > KT> It is not right that a problem statement and requirement document > references solutions. Please remove this reference. What prevents the WG > from finding another solution? Do we want this document to be partial to > one particular solution? > > > > *[NLK] OK, we will remove it.* > > > > Thanks, > > Ketan > > > > > > > > > I find the discussion of excluded solutions in this document to be odd > > > > I can’t say that the WG spent extensive time discussing these, though that > might have been because we listed them in our first draft. We moved this to > an appendix. > > > > Best Regards, > > > > Nate > > > > *From:* Ketan Talaulikar via Datatracker <[email protected]> > *Sent:* Wednesday, November 19, 2025 08:33 > *To:* The IESG <[email protected]> > *Cc:* [email protected]; > [email protected]; [email protected] > *Subject:* [pim] Ketan Talaulikar's Discuss on > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: (with DISCUSS and COMMENT) > > > > Ketan Talaulikar has entered the following ballot position for > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: Discuss When responding, > please keep the subject line intact and reply to all email addresses > included in the To and CC lines. (Feel > > Ketan Talaulikar has entered the following ballot position for > > draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps-08: Discuss > > > > When responding, please keep the subject line intact and reply to all > > email addresses included in the To and CC lines. (Feel free to cut this > > introductory paragraph, however.) > > > > > > Please refer to https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://www.ietf.org/about/groups/iesg/statements/handling-ballot-positions/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!UjULH0DhVmj7ill_v9jfReZ7yq_cT2H8QJnwK_ItAH83KaVQhMPVVUq-VtkisWQ_PdLPxlq7rDQbI7GChw$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/www.ietf.org/about/groups/iesg/statements/handling-ballot-positions/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!UjULH0DhVmj7ill_v9jfReZ7yq_cT2H8QJnwK_ItAH83KaVQhMPVVUq-VtkisWQ_PdLPxlq7rDQbI7GChw$> > > for more information about how to handle DISCUSS and COMMENT positions. > > > > > > The document, along with other ballot positions, can be found here: > > https://urldefense.com/v3/__https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!UjULH0DhVmj7ill_v9jfReZ7yq_cT2H8QJnwK_ItAH83KaVQhMPVVUq-VtkisWQ_PdLPxlq7rDRKAVrmUA$ <https://urldefense.com/v3/__https:/datatracker.ietf.org/doc/draft-ietf-pim-zeroconf-mcast-addr-alloc-ps/__;!!EJc4YC3iFmQ!UjULH0DhVmj7ill_v9jfReZ7yq_cT2H8QJnwK_ItAH83KaVQhMPVVUq-VtkisWQ_PdLPxlq7rDRKAVrmUA$> > > > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > DISCUSS: > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > Thanks to the authors and the WG for their work on this document. > > > > There are several aspects in this document that I would like to discuss with > > the authors and the WG. > > > > There is also an overarching question at the back of my mind on why the WG > > wishes to publish this document as an RFC when it has already adopted multiple > > documents related to solutions that supposedly address this problem space > > (draft-ietf-pim-updt-ipv6-dyn-mcast-addr-grp-id (in IETF LC), > > draft-ietf-pim-ipv6-zeroconf-assignment, draft-ietf-pim-gaap (experimental)). > > Just curious ... perhaps the WG can just decide not to publish this as an RFC > > and instead continue their work-in-progress solutions while keeping this draft > > as a guidance? > > > > Please find below discussion points inline in the idnits o/p of v08 of this > > document: > > > > 29 zeroconf deployment. This foundation serves as a reference for > > 30 developing future multicast address allocation protocols that operate > > 31 autonomously within local networks. > > > > <discuss-1> It is strange for a problem statement and requirements documents to > > pre-suppose a solution that requires new/future protocols. I would have expected > > the document to remain open to any solution that solves the problem and meets > > the requirements. It may be a protocol or a mechanism (e.g., a mapping scheme > > for multicast address allocation). It may an extension of an existing protocol > > or mechanism or a new one. I do not see the analysis that rules out extending > > existing things and makes it a must to define new ones. > > > > A way to address this is to replace the "new protocol" with a "solution" so this > > document is not getting into the specifics of the solution space. > > > > <discuss-2> Assuming there is indeed the need for something new, I was looking > > for some analysis of why we need to build something new for IPv4 and why not > > just for IPv6. > > > > 154 Second, link-layer address collisions reduce the benefit of using > > 155 multicast snooping switches on a network. As described in [RFC4541], > > 156 Section 4, many switches forward multicast traffic based solely on > > 157 the link-layer address, without considering the network-layer group > > 158 (see the results for Q2 and Q3). In such cases, if two multicast > > > > <discuss-3> That RFC is almost 20 years old. Is it still relevant? > > > > 165 Third, the internal design of some switches can also contribute to > > 166 collisions. For example, certain switch implementations > > 167 [US6690667B1] use hash tables to store forwarding entries based on > > 168 MAC addresses. If multiple addresses hash to the same location and > > 169 the table fills up, additional entries may be dropped or rejected, > > 170 resulting in forwarding failures. > > > > <discuss-4> The reference to a 20+ year old patent (so the idea is even older) > > as an example or justification seems very odd to me. I find the argument odd > > that we need to design a new protocol in 2026+ to fix this thing ... > > > > 224 2. Standards Compatibility: The protocol SHOULD aim to minimize the > > 225 need for changes to existing protocols or standards. > > > > <discuss-5> I find this very strange. Why is this a requirement? I would have > > expected it to be the other way around - use/extend what exists? > > > > 227 3. Cross-Platform Availability: It SHOULD use capabilities that are > > 228 widely available across platforms and operating systems. > > > > <discuss-6> It is not clear if the solution can extend to both host stacks as > > well as network devices or only to the network devices or only to the hosts. > > Would it be desirable if the solution only comprises of changes in the hosts > > (e.g., a new plugin for socket layer) and does not require any other changes? I > > don't find any discussion or analysis on this part. > > > > > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > COMMENT: > > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > > > > I would also like to share some comments/suggestions inline in the idnits o/p > > of v08 of the document. > > > > 103 destination MAC addresses. Instead, each multicast stream is > > 104 assigned a unique destination multicast IP address, and IGMP snooping > > > > <minor> Should it also cover MLD snooping? > > > > 114 [RFC2730] (MADCAP) describes a method for server-based multicast IP > > 115 address allocation, but this does not suit a zeroconf environment. > > > > <minor> Perhaps you would want to clarify why not? Is it because it requires > > a server and is not a decentralized mechanism? > > > > 146 First, many Ethernet interfaces allow filtering of multicast traffic > > > > <major> Does "Ethernet" here imply the "wired" media or in general for others > > such as wifi and various other link layer technologies? > > > > 147 directly in hardware. When an application joins a multicast group, > > 148 the network stack typically programs the hardware to accept only > > > > <major> I am assuming the "hardware" being referred to here is an L2 switch? > > And is the "network stack" here IP Routing or L2 bridging? Is it possible to > > make this more precise so the target deployment network can be better > > understood by those that would build the solutions? > > > > 212 Note: In rare cases, collisions may arise after a temporary network > > 213 partition, when different parts of the network allocate the same > > 214 multicast address independently. Upon reconnection, such collisions > > 215 SHALL be detectable and resolved gracefully. > > > > <major> "gracefully" is not very precise. Is there a time period in mind here? > > Is it OK for the multicast service to be disrupted? Any details on what is > > expected from the applications, from the host stack, and from the network > > devices (switches/routers)? > > > > 241 7. Advertisement: The protocol SHOULD describe a mechanism for > > 242 advertising and discovery allocated addresses. > > > > <major> I am not able to parse the above statement properly. Could you please > > clarify or rephrase? > > > > 268 A solution to these issues is presented in > > 269 [I-D.ietf-pim-updt-ipv6-dyn-mcast-addr-grp-id]. > > > > <major> The above sentence is not appropriate for this document. > > > > 295 6. Excluded Solutions > > > > <major> I find the discussion of excluded solutions in this document to be odd. > > However, if they have been discussed in the WG as part of this work and there is > > a need to document them (not as requirements but just as "notes") then perhaps > > this can be moved to the Appendix with such a note? > > > > <EoRv08> > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > pim mailing list -- [email protected] > > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] > > > ------------------------------ > > > CONFIDENTIALITY NOTICE: This email and any attachments are for the sole > use of the intended recipient(s) and contain information that may be Garmin > confidential and/or Garmin legally privileged. 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