One document matched: draft-claise-export-application-info-in-ipfix-00.txt





     IPFIX Working Group                                    B. Claise 
     Internet-Draft                                         P. Aitken 
     Intended Status: Informational                    N.ir Ben-Dvora 
     Expires: April 16, 2011                      Cisco Systems, Inc. 
                                                     October 16, 2010 
                                                                      
      
                    Export of Application Information in IPFIX 
                 draft-claise-export-application-info-in-ipfix-00 


     Status of this Memo 

        This Internet-Draft is submitted to IETF in full conformance 
        with the provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.  
         
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        This Internet-Draft will expire on April 16, 2011. 
         

         
         
                                                                         














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     Copyright Notice 
         
        Copyright (c) 2010 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the 
        document authors.  All rights reserved. 
         
        This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal 
        Provisions Relating to IETF Documents 
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        publication of this document.  Please review these documents 
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        without warranty as described in the Simplified BSD License. 
                            
      

     Abstract 

        This document specifies an extension to the IP Flow Information 
        eXport (IPFIX) protocol specification in [RFC5101] and the IPFIX 
        information model specified in [RFC5102] to export application 
        information. 
         
         
     Conventions used in this document 

        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]. 
      














      
      
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     Table of Contents 

         
        1. Overview................................................. 4 
           1.1. IPFIX Documents Overview............................ 4 
        2. Introduction............................................. 4 
        2.1. Application Information Use Case....................... 6 
        3. Terminology.............................................. 7 
           3.1. New Terminology..................................... 7 
        4. applicationTag Information Element Specification......... 7 
           4.1. Existing Classification Engine IDs.................. 9 
           4.2. Options Template Record for the Application Name... 11 
           4.3. Resolving IANA L4 port collisions.................. 11 
        5. Application Tag Examples................................ 13 
           5.1. Example 1: Layer 2 Protocol........................ 13 
           5.2. Example 2: Standardized IANA Layer 3 Protocol...... 14 
           5.3. Example 3: Cisco Systems Proprietary Layer 3 Protocol15 
           5.4. Example 4: Standardized IANA Layer 4 Port.......... 17 
           5.5. Example 4: Layer 7 Application..................... 18 
           5.6. Example: port Obfuscation.......................... 19 
           5.7. Example: Application Mapping Options Template...... 20 
        6. IANA Considerations..................................... 21 
           6.1. applicationDescription............................. 21 
           6.2. applicationTag..................................... 22 
           6.3. applicationName.................................... 22 
        7. Security Considerations................................. 22 
        8. References.............................................. 22 
           8.1. Normative References............................... 22 
           8.2. Informative References............................. 23 
        9. Acknowledgement......................................... 23 
        10. Authors' Addresses..................................... 24 
        Appendix A.  Additions to XML Specification of IPFIX 
        Information Elements....................................... 25 
         
      

     List of Figures 

         
        Figure 1: applicationTag Information Element ............... 8 
        Figure 2: Selector ID encoding ............................. 9 
        Table 1: Existing Classification Engine IDs ............... 10 
        Table 2: IANA layer 4 port collisions ..................... 12 
        Table 3: Resolving layer 4 UDP ports ...................... 12 
         

      
      
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     1. Overview 

     1.1. IPFIX Documents Overview 

      The IPFIX Protocol [RFC5101] provides network administrators with 
      access to IP Flow information. 
       
      The architecture for the export of measured IP Flow information 
      out of an IPFIX Exporting Process to a Collecting Process is 
      defined in the IPFIX Architecture [RFC5470], per the requirements 
      defined in RFC 3917 [RFC3917]. 
       
      The IPFIX Architecture [RFC5470] specifies how IPFIX Data Records 
      and Templates are carried via a congestion-aware transport 
      protocol from IPFIX Exporting Processes to IPFIX Collecting 
      Processes. 
       
      IPFIX has a formal description of IPFIX Information Elements, 
      their name, type and additional semantic information, as specified 
      in the IPFIX information model [RFC5102]. 
       
      In order to gain a level of confidence in the IPFIX 
      implementation, probe the conformity and robustness, and allow 
      interoperability, the Guidelines for IPFIX Testing [RFC5471] 
      presents a list of tests for implementers of compliant Exporting 
      Processes and Collecting Processes. 
      
      The Bidirectional Flow Export [RFC5103] specifies a method for 
      exporting bidirectional flow (biflow) information using the IP 
      Flow Information Export (IPFIX) protocol, representing each Biflow 
      using a single Flow Record. 
       
      The "Reducing Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and 
      Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports" [RFC5473] specifies a bandwidth 
      saving method for exporting Flow or packet information, by 
      separating information common to several Flow Records from 
      information specific to an individual Flow Record: common Flow 
      information is exported only once. 
      
      
      
     2. Introduction 

      Today service providers and network administrators are looking for 
      visibility into the packet content rather than just the packet 
      header.  Some network devices Metering Processes inspect the 
      packet content and identify the applications that are utilizing 
      
      
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      the network traffic.  Applications in this context are defined as 
      the user processes that exchange packets between them (such as the 
      web applications, peer to peer applications,  file transfer, e-
      mail applications, etc.) 
       
      The application identification is based on different kind of 
      methods or even a combination of such methods:  
      1. L2 protocols (such as ARP, PPP, LLDP) 
      2. IP protocols (such as ICMP, IGMP, GRE) 
      3. TCP or UDP ports (such as HTTP, Telnet, FTP) 
      4. Application headers 
      5. Packet content signatures 
      6. Traffic behavior 
       
      The exact application identification methods are part of the 
      Metering Process internals that aims to provide an accurate 
      identification with a minimum false identification.  This task 
      requires a sophisticated Metering Process since the protocols do 
      not behave in a standard manner. 
      1. Applications use port obfuscation where the application run on 
        different port than the IANA assigned one.  For example a HTTP 
        server might run a TCP port 23 (assigned to telnet in [IANA-
        PORTS]) 
      2. IANA does not accurately reflect how certain ports are 
        "commonly" used today.  Some ports are reserved, but the 
        application either never became prevalent or is not in use 
        today.  
      3. The signatures become more and more complex 
      
      For that reason, such Metering Processes usually detect 
      application based on multiple mechanisms in parallel.  Detecting 
      applications based only on port matching might wrongly identify 
      the traffic.  Note that this example stresses the need for the 
      engine strength.  If the Metering Process is capable of detecting 
      applications more accurately it is considered as stronger and more 
      accurate. 
       
      Similarly, a reporting mechanism that uses L4 port based 
      applications only, such as L4:<known port>, would have a similar 
      issues.  The reporting system should be capable of reporting the 
      applications classified using all types for mechanisms.  In 
      particular applications that does not have any IANA port 
      definition.  While a mechanism to export application information 
      should be defined, the L4 port being in use must be exported using 
      the destination port (destinationTransportPort at [IANA-IPFIX]) in 
      the corresponding NetFlow record. 
       
      
      
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      Cisco Systems uses the IPFIX application tag as described in 
      section 4. to export the application information with the IPFIX 
      protocol [RFC5101].  
       
      Application could be defined at different OSI layers, from the 
      layer 2 to the layer 7. Examples: Cisco Discovery Protocol is 
      layer 2 application, ICMP is layer 3 application [IANA-PROTO], 
      HTTP is layer 4 application [IANA-PORTS], and skype is layer 7. 
       
      While an ideal solution would be an IANA registry for applications 
      above (or inside the payload of) the well known ports [IANA-
      PORTS], this solution is not always possible as the some 
      applications require well known specifications.  Therefore, some 
      reverse engineering is required, as well as a ubiquitous language 
      for application signature.  Clearly not realistic. 
        
      As this specification focuses on the application information 
      encoding, this document doesn't contain an application registry 
      for non IANA applications.  However, a reference to the Cisco 
      assigned numbers can be found at [CISCO].  
      
      
     2.1. Application Information Use Case 

      There are several use cases on which the application information 
      is used: 
       
      1. Network Visibility 
         
        This is one of the main use cases for using the application 
        information.  This use case is also called application 
        visibility.  Network administrators are using such application 
        visibility to understand the main network consumers, network 
        trends and user behavior. 
         
      2. Billing Services 
         
        In some cases, network providers are willing to bill different 
        applications differently.  For example, provide different 
        billing for VoIP and Web browsing. 
         
      3. Congestion Control 
         
        While the traffic demand is increasing (mainly due to the high 
        usage of peer to peer applications, video applications and web 
        download applications),  the providers revenue doesn't grow. 
        Providers are looking at a more efficient way to control and 
      
      
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        prioritize the network utilization.  An application aware 
        bandwidth control system is used to prioritize the traffic based 
        on the applications, giving the critical applications priority 
        over the non-critical applications. 
         
      4. Security Functions 
         
        Application knowledge is sometimes used in security functions in 
        order to provide comprehensive functions such as Application 
        based firewall,  URL filtering,  Parental control,  Intrusion 
        detection,  etc. 
         
      All of the above use cases require exporting of application 
      information to provide the network function itself or to log the 
      network function operation. 
      
      
     3. Terminology 

      IPFIX-specific terminology used in this document is defined in 
      Section 2 of the IPFIX protocol specification [RFC5101].  As in 
      [RFC5101], these IPFIX-specific terms have the first letter of a 
      word capitalized when used in this document. 
       
       
     3.1. New Terminology 

      Application Tag 
       
          A unique identifier for an application.  The Application Tag 
          consists of a Classification Engine ID and a Selector ID 
          [RFC5476]. 
      
      
     4. applicationTag Information Element Specification 

        This document specifies the applicationTag Information Element, 
        which is composed of two parts: 
         
            1. 8 bits of Classification Engine ID. 
            2. m bits of Selector ID. The Selector ID length varies 
               depending on the engine. 
         
      0                   1                   2                   3 
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
     | Class. Eng. ID|         Selector ID  ...                      | 
      
      
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     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
     |                             ...                               | 
     +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

                  Figure 1: applicationTag Information Element 
         
         
        Classification Engine ID 
         
          A unique identifier for the engine which determined the 
          Selector ID.  Thus the Classification Engine ID defines the 
          context for the Selector ID. 
         
        Selector ID 
         
          A unique identifier of the application for a specific 
          Classification Engine ID.  
         
        Note that the Selector ID term is in sync with the PSAMP 
        terminology.  See [RFC5476], Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Protocol 
        Specifications.  
         
        When an application is detected, the most granular application 
        is encoded in the Application Tag: for example, ICMP would be 
        encoded as layer 3 value 1, SNMP as layer 4 value 161, bittorent 
        as layer 7 value 69. 
         
        The overall length of the applicationTag Information Element may 
        be specified either in the IPFIX Template Record or by using an 
        IPFIX Variable-Length Information Element. The receiver / 
        decoder must respect this length rather than using the 
        Classification Engine ID to make an assumption about the 
        Selector ID size. 
          
        When exporting applicationTag information in IPFIX, the 
        applicationTag SHOULD be encoded in a variable-length 
        Information Element [RFC5101].  However, if a legacy protocol 
        such as NetFlow version 9 is used, and this protocol doesn't 
        support variable length Information Elements, then either 
        multiple templates (one per applicationTag length), or a single 
        template corresponding to the maximum sized applicationTag MUST 
        be used. This avoids the need for multiple Template Records with 
        different applicationTag lengths when the IPFIX variable length 
        encoding [RFC5101] is not available. 
         
        As a consequence, although some Application Tags can be encoded 
        in a smaller number of bytes (eg, an IANA L3 protocol encoding 
      
      
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        would take 2 bytes, while an IANA L4 port encoding would take 3 
        bytes), nothing prevents an Exporting Process from exporting all 
        Application Tags with a larger fixed length. 
         
        Note that the Selector ID value is always encoded in the least 
        significant bits as shown: 
         
       0                   1                   2                   3 
       0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |Class. Eng. ID |            zero-valued upper-bits ...         | 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |                     ...  Selector ID                          | 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

                         Figure 2: Selector ID encoding 
      
         
     4.1. Existing Classification Engine IDs 

         
        The following Engine IDs have been allocated by Cisco Systems. 
         
        Name      Valu     Description 
                  e 
                  0        Invalid. 
        IANA-     1        The IANA protocol (layer 3) number is 
        L3                  exported in the Selector ID. 
                            See 
                            http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-
                            numbers. 
        CANA-     2        Cisco Systems proprietary layer 3 
        L3                  definition. Cisco Systems can still export 
                            its own layer 3 protocol numbers, while 
                            waiting for IANA to assign it. The Selector 
                            ID has a global significance for all Cisco 
                            Systems devices under CANA governance. 
                            Hopefully the same IDs will be maintained 
                            after the IANA standardization.  
        IANA-     3        IANA layer 4 well-known port number is 
        L4                  exported in the Selector ID. 
                            See http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-
                            numbers. 
                            Note: as a flow is unidirectional, it 
                            contains the destination port in a flow 
                            from the client to the server.  
        CANA-     4        Cisco Systems proprietary layer 4 
      
      
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        L4                  definition. Cisco Systems can still export 
                            its own layer 4 port numbers, while waiting 
                            for IANA to assign it. The Selector ID has 
                            global significance for all Cisco Systems 
                            devices under CANA governance. Hopefully 
                            the same ID will be maintained after the 
                            IANA standardization. Example: IPFIX had 
                            the port 4739 pre-assigned in the IETF 
                            draft for years. While waiting for the IANA 
                            registration, we could use this Selector 
                            ID. 
                  5        Reserved. 
                  6        Reserved. 
                  7        Reserved. 
                  8        Reserved.  
                  9        Reserved. 
                  10       Reserved. 
                  11       Reserved. 
        CANA      12       The Selector ID represents the Cisco 
        -L2                 Systems unique global layer 2 applications. 
                            The Selector ID has a global significance. 
        CANA      13       The Selector ID represents the Cisco 
        -L7                 Systems unique global ID for the layer 7 
                            applications. The Selector ID has global 
                            significance for all Cisco Systems devices. 
                  14       Reserved. 
                  15       Reserved. 
                  16       Reserved. 
                  17        
                  to       Available. 
                  254  
        MAX       255      255 is the maximum Engine ID. 
      
                  Table 1: Existing Classification Engine IDs 
         
        Note 1: "CANA = Cisco Systems Assigned Number Authority", Cisco 
        Systems's version of IANA for internal IDs. 
         
        Note 2: This is an extensible list, and new Classification 
        Engine IDs may be allocated at any time. See [CISCO] for the 
        latest version. 
         
         



      
      
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     4.2. Options Template Record for the Application Name 

        For engines which specify locally unique Application Tags (which 
        means unique per engine and per router), an Options Template 
        Record (see [RFC5101]) MUST be used to export the correspondence 
        between the Application Tag, the Application Name, and the 
        Application Description.  This is called the "options 
        application-table".  For engines which specify globally unique 
        Application Tags, an Options Template Record SHOULD be used to 
        export the correspondence between the Application Tag, the 
        Application Name and the Application Description, unless the 
        mapping is hardcoded in the NetFlow Collector, or known out of 
        band (for example, by polling a MIB). 
      
     4.3. Resolving IANA L4 port collisions 

        Even if the IANA L4 ports usually point to the same protocols 
        for both UDP and TCP, there are some exceptions. 10 ports in the 
        first 1K range of ports have different protocols assigned for 
        TCP and UDP: 
         
       exec            512/tcp    remote process execution; 
       #                          authentication performed using 
       #                          passwords and UNIX login names 
       comsat/biff     512/udp    used by mail system to notify users 
       #                          of new mail received; currently 
       #                          receives messages only from  
       #                          processes on the same machine 
       login           513/tcp    remote login a la telnet; 
       #                          automatic authentication performed 
       #                          based on priviledged port numbers 
       #                          and distributed data bases which 
       #                          identify "authentication domains" 
       who             513/udp    maintains data bases showing who's 
       #                          logged in to machines on a local  
       #                          net and the load average of the 
       #                          machine 
       shell           514/tcp    cmd 
       #                          like exec, but automatic 
       authentication  
       #                          is performed as for login server 
       syslog          514/udp 
       oob-ws-https    664/tcp    DMTF out-of-band secure web services 
       #                          management protocol 
       #                          Jim Davis 
       <jim.davis&wbemsolutions.com> 
      
      
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       #                          June 2007 
       asf-secure-rmcp 664/udp    ASF Secure Remote Management 
       #                          and Control Protocol 
       rfile           750/tcp 
       kerberos-iv     750/udp    kerberos version iv 
       submit          773/tcp 
       notify          773/udp 
       rpasswd         774/tcp 
       acmaint_dbd     774/udp 
       entomb          775/tcp 
       acmaint_transd  775/udp 
       busboy          998/tcp 
       puparp          998/udp 
       garcon          999/tcp 
       applix          999/udp    Applix ac 
         
                     Table 2: IANA layer 4 port collisions 
         
         
        Instead of imposing the protocol (UDP/TCP) in the scope of the 
        "options application-table" Options Template for all 
        applications (on top of having the protocol as key-field in the 
        Flow Record definition), we define that the L4 application is 
        always TCP related, by convention.  So, whenever the collector 
        has a conflict in looking up IANA, it would choose the TCP 
        choice.  The following UDP L4 applications are assigned in the 
        Cisco L7 Application Tag range (ie, under Classification Engine 
        ID 13): 
         
        comsat/biff     256/udp    used by mail system to notify users 
        who             257/udp    maintains data bases showing who's 
        syslog          41/udp 
        asf-secure-rmcp 258/udp    ASF Secure Remote Management and 
        #                          Control Protocol 
        kerberos-iv     259/udp    kerberos version iv  
        notify          260/udp 
        acmaint_dbd     261/udp 
        acmaint_transd  262/udp 
        puparp          263/udp 
        applix          264/udp    Applix ac 
      
                      Table 3: Resolving layer 4 UDP ports  
       
      

      
      
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     5. Application Tag Examples 

      The following examples are created solely for the purpose of 
      illustrating how the extensions proposed in this document are 
      encoded. 

      

     5.1. Example 1: Layer 2 Protocol 

        From the list of Classification Engine IDs in Table 1, we can 
        see that the layer 2 Classification Engine ID is 12: 
         
        L2        12    The Selector ID represents the layer 2 
                         applications. The Selector ID has a global 
                         significance. 
         
        From the list of layer 2 protocols at [cisco], we can see that 
        PPP has the value 24: 
         
        NAME    Selector ID 
        ppp     24 
         
        So, in the case of layer 2 protocol PPP, the Classification 
        Engine ID is 12 while the Selector ID has the value 24. 
          
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
            0                   1            
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
           |       12      |      24       | 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
         
        So the Application Tag has the value of 3097. Instead of 
        representing the Application Tag in hexadecimal format, the 
        format '12...24' is used for simplicity in the examples below. 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - ipDiffServCodePoint (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
      
      
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        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
         
        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              ipDiffServCodePoint=0, applicationTag='12...24', 
              octetTotalCount=123456 } 
         
        The Collector has all the required information to determine that 
        the application is PPP, because the Application Tag uses a 
        global and well know registry, ie the IANA protocol number.  
        The 24 value is globally unique within Cisco Systems for 
        Classification Engine ID 12, so the Collector can determine 
        which application is represented by the Application Tag by 
        loading the registry out of band. 
      

     5.2. Example 2: Standardized IANA Layer 3 Protocol 

        From the list of Classification Engine IDs in Table 1, we can 
        see that the IANA layer 3 Classification Engine ID is 1: 
         
        IANA-       1      The IANA protocol (layer 3) number is 
         L3                exported in the Selector ID. 
                           See 
                           http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-
                           numbers.. 
      
        From the list of IANA layer 3 protocols (see [IANA-PROTO]), we 
        can see that ICMP has the value 1: 
                                         
        Decimal    Keyword    Protocol                    Reference 
        1          ICMP       Internet Control Message    [RFC792] 
         
        So in the case of the standardized IANA layer 3 protocol ICMP, 
        the Classification Engine ID is 1, and the Selector ID has the 
        value of 1.  
         
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
            0                   1            
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 

      
      
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           |       1       |       1       | 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
         
        So the Application Tag has the value of 257. Instead of 
        representing the Application Tag in hexadecimal format, the 
        format '1...1' is used for simplicity in the examples below. 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - ipDiffServCodePoint (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
         
        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              ipDiffServCodePoint=0, applicationTag='1...1', 
              octetTotalCount=123456 } 
         
        The Collector has all the required information to determine that 
        the application is ICMP, because the Application Tag uses a 
        global and well know registry, ie the IANA L3 protocol number.  
         
         
     5.3. Example 3: Cisco Systems Proprietary Layer 3 Protocol 

        Assume that Cisco Systems has specified a new layer 3 protocol 
        called "foo".  
         
        From the list of Classification Engine IDs in Table 1, we can 
        see that the Cisco Systems layer 3 Classification Engine ID is 
        2: 
         
        CANA-       2      Cisco Systems proprietary layer 3 
         L3                definition. Cisco Systems can still export 
                           its own layer 3 protocol numbers, while 
                           waiting for IANA to assign it. The 
                           Selector ID has a global significance for 
                           all Cisco Systems devices under CANA 
                           governance. Hopefully the same IDs will be 

      
      
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                           maintained after the IANA standardization.  
         
         
        A global registry within Cisco Systems specifies that the "foo" 
        protocol has the value 90: 
         
        Protocol    Protocol Id 
        foo         90 
         
        So in the case of Cisco Systems layer 3 protocol foo, the 
        Classification Engine ID is 2, and the Selector ID has the value 
        of 90. 
         
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
            0                   1            
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
           |       2       |       90      | 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
         
        So the Application Tag has the value of 602. Instead of 
        representing the Application Tag in hexadecimal format, the 
        format '2..90' is used for simplicity in the examples below. 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - ipDiffServCodePoint (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
         
        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              ipDiffServCodePoint=0, applicationTag='2...90', 
              octetTotalCount=123456 } 
         
        Along with this Flow Record, a new Options Template Record would 
        be exported, as shown in Section 5.7.  
         

      
      
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     5.4. Example 4: Standardized IANA Layer 4 Port 

        From the list of Classification Engine IDs in Table 1, we can 
        see that the IANA layer 4 Classification Engine ID is 3: 
         
        IANA-       3      IANA layer 4 well-known port number is 
         L4                exported in the selector ID. 
                           See http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-
                           numbers. 
                            
                           Note: as a flow is unidirectional, it 
                           contains the destination port in a flow 
                           from the client to the server.  
         
        From the list of IANA layer 4 ports (see [IANA-PORTS]), we can 
        see that SNMP has the value 161: 
         
        Keyword    Decimal    Description 
        snmp       161/tcp    SNMP 
        snmp       161/udp    SNMP 
         
        So in the case of the standardized IANA layer 4 SNMP port, the 
        Classification Engine ID is 3, and the Selector ID has the value 
        of 161. 
         
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
            0                   1            
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
           |       3       |      161      | 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - protocol (key field) 
        - ipDiffServCodePoint (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
      
      
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        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              protocol=17, ipDiffServCodePoint=0, 
              applicationTag='3..161', octetTotalCount=123456 } 
      
        The Collector has all the required information to determine that 
        the application is SNMP, because the Application Tag uses a 
        global and well know registry, ie the IANA L4 protocol number.  
      
                                         
     5.5. Example 4: Layer 7 Application 

        In this example, the Metering Process has observes some Citrix 
        traffic. 
         
        From the list of Classification Engine IDs in Table 1, we can 
        see that the L7 unique Engine ID is 13: 
         
         L7        13    The Selector ID represents the Cisco Systems 
                         unique global ID for the layer 7 
                         application. The Selector ID has a global 
                         significance for all Cisco Systems devices. 
         
        Suppose that the Metering Process returns the ID 10000 for 
        Citrix traffic. 
         
        So, in the case of this Citrix application, the Classification 
        Engine ID is 13 and the Selector ID has the value of 10000. 
         
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
      0                   1                   2                   3 
      0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |      13       |                                               | 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
      |                             10000                             | 
      +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
       
        So the Application Tag has the value of '13..10000'.  
         

      
      
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        Note that the figure shows that the Exporting Process exports 
        the value 10000 in 7 bytes: this is pure speculation.  However, 
        it doesn't matter as the applicationTag would be exported in a 
        variable length Information Element. 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - ipDiffServCodePoint (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
         
        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              ipDiffServCodePoint=0, applicationTag='13...10000', 
              octetTotalCount=123456 } 
         
        The 10000 value is globally unique within Cisco Systems, so the 
        Collector can determine which application is represented by the 
        Application Tag by loading the registry out of band. 
         
        Along with this Flow Record, a new Options Template Record would 
        be exported, as shown in Section 5.7.  
         
         
     5.6. Example: port Obfuscation 

        For example, a HTTP server might run a TCP port 23 (assigned to 
        telnet in [IANA-PORTS]). If the Metering Process is capable of 
        detecting HTTP in the same case, the Application Tag 
        representation must contain HTTP. However, if the reporting 
        application wants to determine whether or the default HTTP port 
        80 or 8080 was used, it must export the destination port 
        (destinationTransportPort at [IANA-IPFIX]) in the corresponding 
        NetFlow record.  
         
        In the case of a standardized IANA layer 4 port, the 
        Classification Engine ID is 2, and the Selector ID has the value 
        of 80 for HTTP (see [IANA-PORTS]). 
         
        Therefore the Application Tag is encoded as: 
         
      
      
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            0                   1                   2                   
            0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
           |       3       |             80                | 
           +-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+ 
         
        Flexible NetFlow creates a Template Record with a few 
        Information Elements: amongst other things, the Application Tag. 
        For example: 
         
        - sourceIPv4Address (key field) 
        - destinationIPv4Address (key field) 
        - protocol (key field) 
        - destinationTransportPort (key field) 
        - applicationTag (key field) 
        - octetTotalCount (non key field) 
         
        For example, a Flow Record corresponding to the above Template 
        Record may contain: 
         
            { sourceIPv4Address=1.1.1.1, destinationIPv4Address=2.2.2.2, 
              protocol=17, destinationTransportPort=23, 
              applicationTag='3..80', octetTotalCount=123456 } 
                     
        The Collector has all the required information to determine that 
        the application is HTTP, but runs on port 23. 
      

     5.7. Example: Application Mapping Options Template 

        Along with the Flow Records shown in the above examples, a new 
        Options Template Record would be exported to express the 
        Application Name and Application Description associated with 
        each Application Tag. 
         
        The Options Template Record would contain the following 
        Information Elements: 
         
        1. Scope = applicationTag. 
         
               From RFC 5101: "The scope, which is only available in the 
               Options Template Set, gives the context of the reported 
               Information Elements in the Data Records." 
                
        2. applicationName. 
         
        3. applicationDescription. 
      
      
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        The Options Data Record associated with the examples above would 
        contain, for example: 
         
            { scope=applicationTag='2...90', 
              applicationName="foo", 
              applicationDescription="The Cisco foo protocol", 
         
              scope=applicationTag='13...10000', 
              applicationName="Citrix", 
              applicationDescription="A Citrix application" } 
         
        When combined with the example Flow Records above, these Options 
        Template Records tell the NetFlow collector: 
         
        1. A flow of 123456 bytes exists from sourceIPv4Address 1.1.1.1 
        to destinationIPv4address 2.2.2.2 with a DSCP value of 0 and an 
        applicationTag of '12...90', which maps to the "foo" 
        application. 
         
        2. A flow of 123456 bytes exists from sourceIPv4Address 1.1.1.1 
        to destinationIPv4address 2.2.2.2 with a DSCP value of 0 and an 
        Application Tag of '13...10000', which maps to the "Citrix" 
        application. 
         

     6. IANA Considerations 

      This document specifies three new IPFIX Information Elements: the 
      applicationDescription, applicationTag and the applicationName. 
       
      New Information Elements to be added to the IPFIX Information 
      Element registry at [IANA-IPFIX] are listed below. 
       
      EDITOR'S NOTE: the XML specification in Appendix A must be updated 
      with the elementID values allocated below. 
       
     6.1. applicationDescription 

      Name: applicationDescription  
      Description:  
        Specifies the description of an application. 
      Abstract Data Type: string 
      Data Type Semantics:  
      ElementId: 94 
      Status: current  
      
      
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     6.2. applicationTag 

      Name: applicationTag  
      Description:  
        Specifies an Application Tag. 
        (EDITOR'S NOTE: reference this document). 
      Abstract Data Type: octetArray 
      Data Type Semantics: identifer 
      ElementId: 95 
      Status: current  
      
      
     6.3. applicationName 

      Name: applicationName  
      Description:  
        Specifies the name of an application. 
      Abstract Data Type: string  
      Data Type Semantics: 
      ElementId: 96 
      Status: current  
      
      
     7. Security Considerations 

      The same security considerations as for the IPFIX Protocol 
      [RFC5101] apply. 
       
      
     8. References 

     8.1. Normative References 

        [RFC2119] S. Bradner, Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 
                Requirement Levels, BCP 14, RFC 2119, March 1997. 
      
        [RFC5101] Claise, B., Ed., "Specification of the IP Flow 
                Information Export (IPFIX) Protocol for the Exchange of 
                IP Traffic Flow Information", RFC 5101, January 2008. 
      
        [RFC5102] Quittek, J., Bryant, S., Claise, B., Aitken, P., and 
                J. Meyer, "Information Model for IP Flow Information 
                Export", RFC 5102, January 2008. 
         
      
      
      
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     8.2. Informative References 

         
        [RFC792] J. Postel, Internet Control Message Protocol, RFC 792, 
                September 1981. 
          
        [RFC3917] Quittek, J., Zseby, T., Claise, B., and S. Zander, 
                Requirements for IP Flow Information Export, RFC 3917, 
                October 2004. 
         
        [RFC5103] Trammell, B., and E. Boschi, "Bidirectional Flow 
                Export Using IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX)", RFC 
                5103, January 2008. 
      
        [RFC5470] Sadasivan, G., Brownlee, N., Claise, B., and J. 
                Quittek, "Architecture for IP Flow Information Export", 
                RFC 5470, March 2009. 
         
        [RFC5471] Schmoll, C., Aitken, P., and B. Claise, "Guidelines 
                for IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) Testing", RFC 
                5471, March 2009. 
         
         
        [RFC5473] Boschi, E., Mark, L., and B. Claise, "Reducing 
                Redundancy in IP Flow Information Export (IPFIX) and 
                Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Reports", RFC 5473, March 2009. 
      
        [RFC5476] Claise, B., Ed., "Packet Sampling (PSAMP) Protocol 
                Specifications", RFC 5476, March 2009. 
      
        [IANA-IPFIX] http://www.iana.org/assignments/ipfix/ipfix.xhtml 
         
        [IANA-PORTS] http://www.iana.org/assignments/port-numbers 
         
        [IANA-PROTO] http://www.iana.org/assignments/protocol-numbers 
         
        [CISCO] http://www.cisco.com 
         

     9. Acknowledgement 

      The authors would like to thank their many colleagues across Cisco 
      Systems who made this work possible. 
       
       

      
      
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     10. Authors' Addresses 

       
      Benoit Claise 
      Cisco Systems Inc. 
      De Kleetlaan 6a b1 
      Diegem 1813 
      Belgium 
          
      Phone: +32 2 704 5622 
      EMail: bclaise@cisco.com 
       
       
       
      Paul Aitken 
      Cisco Systems (Scotland) Ltd. 
      96 Commercial Quay 
      Commercial Street 
      Edinburgh, EH6 6LX, United Kingdom 
          
      Phone: +44 131 561 3616 
      EMail: paitken@cisco.com 
       
       
       
      Nir Ben-Dvora 
      Cisco Systems Inc. 
      32 HaMelacha St.,  
      P.O.Box 8735, I.Z.Sapir  
      South Netanya, 42504  
      Israel 
       
      Phone: +972 9 892 7187 
      EMail: nirbd@cisco.com 
       
       











      
      
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      Appendix A.  Additions to XML Specification of IPFIX Information 
      Elements 

        This appendix contains additions to the machine-readable 
        description of the IPFIX information model coded in XML in 
        Appendix A and Appendix B in [RFC5102].  Note that this appendix 
        is of informational nature, while the text in section Error! 
        Reference source not found.(generated from this appendix) is 
        normative. 
         
        The following field definitions are appended to the IPFIX 
        information model in Appendix A of [RFC5102]. 
      
        <field name="applicationDescription" 
                 dataType="string" 
                 group="application" 
                 elementId="94" applicability="all" status="current"> 
            <description> 
              <paragraph> 
                 Specifies the description of an application. 
              </paragraph> 
            </description> 
          </field> 
         
          <field name="applicationTag" 
                 dataType="octetArray" 
                 group="application" 
                 dataTypeSemantics="identifer" 
                 elementId="95" applicability="all" status="current"> 
            <description> 
              <paragraph> 
                 Specifies an Application Tag. 
              </paragraph> 
            </description> 
          </field> 
         
          <field name="applicationName" 
                 dataType="string" 
                 group="application" 
                 elementId="96" applicability="all" status="current"> 
            <description> 
              <paragraph> 
                 Specifies the name of an application. 
              </paragraph> 
            </description> 
          </field> 

      
      
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