426 Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 25 (1992) 426-430 North-Holland

Technology: CONS-CLNS

RARE/COSINE connectionless mode network service pilot

Victor Reijs SURFnet B.V., P.O. Box 19035, 3501 DA Utrecht, The Netherlands

Abstract

Reijs, V., RARE/COSINE connectionless mode network service pilot, Computer Networks and ISDN Systems 25 (1992) 426-430.

This article describes a project studying the introduction of CLNS services in the European research and academic environment. The project has been set up as a joint project between COSINE and RARE (1991-1992). The 13 organizations that are participating in this pilot have established a CLNS network that uses Ebone 92, IXI and 3 links to the US. By means of this CLNS network operational aspects like routing, addressing and network management are being studied. The article gives a global overview of the goals and some preliminary results of the project.

Keywords: RARE; COSINE; CLNS; project description.

1. Introduction

The R A R E / C O S I N E CLNS pilot project is establishing a CLNS network environment for the research and academic community, to gain expe- rience with the protocols involved in CLNS (in- cluding routing protocol) and the setting up of a network managemen t structure for an opera- tional CLNS network. This work is being done in a two-year project (from 1991 to 1992) sponsored by R A R E and COSINE . Thir teen part icipating coun t r i e s /ne tworks are involved in the project.

2. The project: reasons and goals

The reasons for setting up this CLNS network for the research and academic environment were manifold. First of all it is foreseen that the Inter-

Correspondence to: Dr. V. Reijs, SURFnet B.V., P.O. Box 19035, 3501 DA Utrecht, The Netherlands. Tel. (+31) 30 310290, Fax (+ 31) 30 340903, E-mail: reijs@surfnet.nl.

net T C P / I P protocol suite will run out of global addressing space. To overcome this problem CLNS can be used, because it is based on N S A P addresses, which will provide sufficient address space for the next decade(s). Besides this techno- logical aspect, CLNS is gaining influence because of the US-GOSIP . Soon more and more products will become available, like I S O D E and D E C n e t Phase V. Fur the rmore the CLNS protocol suite could provide a smooth transition path from de facto s tandards to ISO standards.

The goals of the project are: - gaining experience with the CLNS protocols

including the corresponding routing protocols, - testing available equipment , and - setting up an initial environment to opera-

tionally manage a CLNS network.

3. The organizat ional env ironment of the project

The project started in the beginning of 1991 as a subgroup of the R A R E Working Group Lower

0169-7552/92/$05.00 © 1992 - Elsevier Science Publishers B.V. All rights reserved

V. Reijs / RARE / COSINE connectionless mode network sercice pilot 427

Layer Technology (WG-LLT). In the middle of 1991 it became a separate project under the umbrella of COSINE and RARE (see Fig. 1). Until the end of 1992 COSINE will support the project by means of project management and reimbursements for travel and software. RARE will continue to support the project by means of technical advice through its working group.

The participants in the project, doing the work on a voluntary basis sponsored by the (inter)na- tional networks, form two groups: - the initial participants: CERN, EARN (through

all the other participants), EASInet, INFN, NORDUnet , SURFnet BV and SWITCH started the project;

- t h e joining participants: ARIADNE, DFN, ENST (France Telecom), INRIA, RCCN and RedlRIS all joined the project during its exis- tence.

4. C L N S s e r v i c e p r o v i s i o n

The CLNS services provide a connectionless service (by means of the protocol defined i n ISO 8473) without error correction and no packet sequence guarantees. The CLNS service can be provided over point-to-point links, X.25, ISDN, LLC1, FR and FDDI.

The network

The physical pilot WAN network which sup- ports the CLNS service in Europe consists of (see also Fig. 2): - X.25 networks. The national X.25 networks are

internationally coupled by means of IXI.

Pilot environment

RARE/COSINE CLNS Pi ot

Participants... Fig. 1. Organizational environment of the project.

- Point-to-point connections. Some of the con- nections are part of the Ebone 92 network. Ebone 92 provides, alongside a production In- ternet IP service, a pilot CLNS service. The European CLNS service is connected by

means of three links to the US-CLNS service. The networks providing the CLNS service in the US, can be seen in Fig. 3.

The routing protocols

To provide a CLNS service it is essential that routing protocols are available. The End System to Intermediate System protocol (ES-IS protocol, ISO 9542) is already standardized in use. The Intermediate System to Intermediate System in- tra-domain protocol (IS-IS protocol, ISO 10589) has just been implemented by Cisco, so the pro- ject still uses a Cisco proprietary protocol ( IGRP

Victor Reijs, born in 1955, studied electronics at the University of Twente, The Netherlands. For five years he worked at the research department of Royal PTT-Telecom on functional ergonomics of ISDN. In 1989 he joined SURFnet BV, were he has been working on lower layer technologies (X.25 and CLNS). He was a member of RARE Working Groups 4 and 6 and the EEPG.

V. Reijs / RARE / COSINE connectionless mode network service pilot

, o . ~ . , ~ , c..sove, x.2, :: - - CLNS over point-to-point

DFN, DE JENC 92, AT

_~ J ~ Ebone92 / / \ f ~ •

\ / INRIA, FR SWITI~H. GH •

~ , . . . . . . . G~D DE • CLNS connectiol'1 to organizatioil " ~.~NFN, IT bl~ , ~ - ~

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Fig. 2. Physical networks providing GLNS in Europe.

OSI CLNP in the Internet

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Fig. 3. CLNS networks in the US.

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V. Reijs / RARE / COSINE connectionless mode network service pilot 429

protocol). It is expected that in the near future (3rd quarter of 1992) the Intermediate System to Intermediate System inter-domain routing proto- col (IDRP protocol, ISO 10747) will be finalized. As soon as the IDRP protocol is standardized, it will certainly be used as the CLNS backbone routing protocol.

The levels of service provision

To provide production CLNS services, certain steps have to be taken prior to start-up. These are:

(1) Testbeds. Within the (inter)national net- works of several participants, tests are under- taken to see if the equipment can provide stable services. CERN/INFN (in the HEPnet environ- ment), NORDUnet, RedlRIS and Switch are heavily involved in this testing.

(2) Interconnection of networks. As soon as the major problems are solved, the software can be used within the CLNS pilot, on a European scale.

(3) Pilot service. During a 1 year period the CLNS service provision over point-to-point links worked without problems. This was a prerequisite to allow incorporation as a pilot CLNS service within Ebone 92.

(4) Production service. As soon as the proper routing protocols are available (IS-IS AND IDRP protocol), the CLNS service can be offered as a production service. This will take us to at least mid 1993. The successor of Ebone 92 or IXI could provide this service.

done with Cisco and Digital routers. Both had problems with supporting the protocols (CLNS and ES-IS), but these problems are now either being worked on or solved. As soon as IS-IS and IDRP are there, the previously agreed testing scenarios will be executed.

Applications

The applications that the project is looking at, are: ISODE (including PP/X.400), FTAM and DECnet applications. At the end of the project the performance of these applications over the CLNS service will be measured. Equipment from Digital Equipment, Novell, SUN and XEROX is being used/tested.

Network management tools

To monitor the CLNS network, the project has implemented network management tools. Some examples are: database structures for End Sys- tems and Intermediate Systems, CLNS-trace and a graphical representation of the network (by means of SunNet Manager).

Furthermore, a prioritized list of SNMP ob- jects has been made, so that the manufacturers can provide, as soon as possible, the required SNMP environment.

6. An evaluation

5. Equipment and applications

Within the project all kinds of equipment are being used and tested. The testing is done by means of worked-out test scenarios. The results of these tests are handed over to the manufactur- ers, so that they can improve their products. Furthermore the European experience is also provided to the US CLNS community, to ensure a close interworking environment.

Routing equipment

The different brands of routers used within the project are limited by the availability within the participating communities. Tests have been

Until now the experience with the NSAP ad- dress has been that it is difficult to remember and input them (max. 40 digits long). A translation function (based on X.500 or in the meantime with DNS) would be very effective.

The following parts of the NSAP address are important for the routing mechanism: the Area Address, System ID and the Selector. For the IS-IS protocol it is important that: the Area Ad- dress has a length of max. 26 digits (max. 13 octets), the System ID is 12 digits (6 octets) long and the Selector 2 digits (1 octet). No other rules apply to the routing mechanism and may not be imposed by the equipment. Structuring the Area Address will of course shorten the routing tables.

It is recommended that the IS-IS protocol be used within countries. The IDRP protocol can be

430 11".. Reijs / RARE/COSINE connectionless mode network service pilot

used within a country and within the European CLNS backbone.

At this moment there is not much experience with the transition towards CLNS. HEPnet is working out the transition scheme for going from DECnet Phase IV to Phase V. For the Internet TCP/IP protocol suite several options will be studied in the second half of 1992 (see e.g. RFC986, RFC1136 and RFC1195).

The management tools designed for the pro- ject will be further optimized, including the stim- ulation of SNMP MIB object implementation for CLNS.

7. Future of the project

The results of the pilot will be documented and shared with the CLNS environment in the US, so that progress can be made as efficiently as possible. At the end of 1992 the project will stop receiving money from COSINE, but if required the project could proceed as a task force under the Working Group Lower Layer Technology.

I hereby would like to thank all project partici- pants (and manufacturers) for their hard work. Without them the project would not have achieved the present results.