Network Working Group                              Paul Knight (Editor) 
Internet Draft                                        Hamid Ould-Brahim 
draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt                          Nortel Networks 
Expires: September 6, 2006                      
                                                          Bryan Gleeson 
                                                                  Nokia 
                                                
                                                          March 6, 2006 
 
 
 
                   Network based IP VPN Architecture  
                         Using Virtual Routers  
 
    
    
Status of this Memo 
    
   By submitting this Internet-Draft, each author represents that any 
   applicable patent or other IPR claims of which he or she is aware 
   have been or will be disclosed, and any of which he or she becomes 
   aware will be disclosed, in accordance with Section 6 of BCP 79.  
    
   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering 
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that 
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
   Drafts.  
    
   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six 
   months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents 
   at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as 
   reference material or to cite them other than as "work in progress."  
    
   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at 
   http://www.ietf.org/ietf/1id-abstracts.txt  
    
   The list of Internet-Draft Shadow Directories can be accessed at 
   http://www.ietf.org/shadow.html. 
    
   This Internet-Draft will expire on September 7, 2006. 
    
Copyright Notice 
    
   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006). 
 
Abstract 
    
   This document describes a network-based Virtual Private Network 
   (VPN) architecture using the virtual router (VR) concept. Multiple 
   VRs can exist in a single physical device. A VR emulates all the 
   functionality of a physical router, and therefore inherits all 
   existing mechanisms and tools for configuration, operation, 
   accounting, and maintenance. Any routing protocol can be used to 
 
Knight, et. al                                          [Page 1] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   distribute VPN reachability information among VRs, and no VPN-
   related modifications or extensions are needed to the routing 
   protocol for achieving VPN reachability. Direct VR-to-VR 
   connectivity may be configured through layer-2 links or through IP- 
   or MPLS-based tunnels. Traffic from VRs belonging to different VPNs 
   may be aggregated over a "backbone VR" network, which greatly 
   simplifies VPN provisioning. This architecture accommodates various 
   backbone deployment scenarios, both where the VPN service provider 
   owns the backbone, and where the VPN service provider obtains 
   backbone service from one or more other service providers.  
 
 
Table of Contents 
 
   1     Introduction  ........................................  3 
   2     Virtual Router VPN Architecture Guidelines ...........  4 
   2.1   Membership  ..........................................  5 
   2.2   Scalability ..........................................  5 
   2.3   Quality of Service ...................................  5 
   2.4   Auto-Discovery .......................................  5 
   2.5   Routing ..............................................  6 
   2.5.1 Routing between CE and PE ............................  6 
   2.5.2 Routing in the Service Provider Network ..............  6 
   2.5.3 Routing between PEs...................................  6 
   2.5.4 Multicast routing using VRs ..........................  6 
   2.6   Security .............................................  6 
   2.7   Topology .............................................  7 
   2.8   Tunneling ............................................  7 
   2.9   Management ...........................................  7 
   2.10  Additional Characteristics ...........................  7 
   3     Network Reference Model ..............................  8 
   3.1   Backbone  ............................................  8 
   4     Virtual Router Definition ............................  9 
   5     How VPNs are Built and Deployed using VRs ............  9 
   5.1   VR to VR Connectivity over layer-2 Connections........ 10 
   5.2   VR to VR Connectivity through IP or MPLS Tunnels...... 10 
   5.3   Virtual Router Backbone Aggregation .................. 11 
   5.3.1 Tunneling ............................................ 12 
   5.3.1.1  MPLS Tunnels ...................................... 13 
   5.3.1.2  IPsec Tunnels ..................................... 13 
   5.3.2 Routing .............................................. 13 
   5.3.3 Relationship between the VRs and the Backbone VR ..... 13 
   5.3.4 Multiple Backbones Connected to a Single PE .......... 14 
   6     VPN Membership and Topology Auto-Discovery ........... 14 
   7     VRs and Extranets .................................... 15 
   8     VPNs across Domains .................................. 16 
   9     Internet Access ...................................... 16 
   10    Carrier's Carrier Case................................ 17 
   11    Operations and Management ............................ 17 
   11.1  Backbone Migration ................................... 18 
   11.2  Troubleshooting ...................................... 18 
   12    Quality of Service  .................................. 18 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 2] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   13    Scalability .......................................... 18 
   14    Interoperability ..................................... 19 
   15    Security Considerations .............................. 20 
   16    IANA Considerations .................................. 21 
   17    Normative References ................................. 21 
   18    Informative References ............................... 22 
   19    Contributors and Acknowledgments ..................... 23 
   20    Authors' Addresses  .................................. 23 
 
 
1. Introduction 
 
   This document describes a network-based VPN architecture using 
   virtual routers. The objective is to provide per-VPN routing, 
   forwarding, quality of service, and service management capabilities. 
   The VPN service is based on the virtual router concept. The VR VPN 
   architecture is compatible with the Layer 3 PPVPN framework 
   described in [RFC-4110], as well as the generic PPVPN requirements 
   [RFC-3809] and the service requirements for Layer 3 PPVPNs [RFC-
   4031].  
    
   A virtual router (VR) has exactly the same mechanisms as a physical 
   router, and therefore can inherit all existing mechanisms and tools 
   for configuration, deployment, operation, troubleshooting, 
   monitoring, and accounting. Multiple VRs can exist in a single 
   physical device. Virtual routers can be deployed in various VPN 
   configurations. Direct VR to VR connectivity may be configured 
   through layer-2 links or through a variety of tunnel mechanisms, 
   using IP- or MPLS-based tunnels. Multiple VRs may be aggregated over 
   a "backbone VR." This architecture accommodates various backbone 
   deployment scenarios, including where the VPN service provider owns 
   the backbone, and where the VPN service provider obtains backbone 
   service from one or more other service providers.  
    
   This informational document does not specify a protocol, and 
   therefore does not specify the manner in which VRs interoperate. 
   Instead, VRs are interconnected using existing IETF specifications 
   for tunneling mechanisms such as IPsec [RFC-4301], GRE [RFC-2784] 
   (optionally with key and sequence number extensions [RFC-2890]), IP-
   in-IP [RFC-2003], and MPLS [RFC-3031] [RFC-3035] tunnels. 
   Interaction between VRs across these tunnels make use of the same 
   mechanisms and routing protocol standards  which would normally be 
   used for interoperation between physical routers [RFC-1812], such as 
   BGP [RFC-4271], OSPF [STD-54], IS-IS [RFC-1195] [RFC-3787], as well 
   as others. 
    
   There are several ways of implementing the VR architecture.  
   Although this document does not guarantee interoperability by 
   specifying explicit requirements, the nature of the VR approach 
   makes it likely that interoperability can be achieved among various 
   VR implementations, just as interoperability of VRs with normal 

 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 3] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   routers is straightforward. Section 14, "Interoperability," 
   addresses this in more detail. 
    
   In the VR architecture, an instance of routing is used to distribute 
   VPN reachability information among the VRs supporting each VPN. Any 
   routing protocol can be used, and no VPN-related modifications or 
   extensions are needed to the routing protocol for achieving VPN 
   reachability. VPN reachability information to and from customer 
   sites can be dynamically learned from the CE using standard routing 
   protocols, or it can be statically provisioned on the VR. The 
   routing protocol between the virtual routers and CEs is independent 
   of the routing used in the VPN backbone, between the VRs. That is, 
   the routing protocol between the VRs may be the same or it might be 
   different than the routing mechanism used between the CE and VR, or 
   it may be a different instance of the same protocol. Likewise, since 
   the VR-to-VR connectivity can use tunnels, the inter-VR routing 
   protocol can be independent of the routing used in the backbone 
   network(s) over which the VR-based VPN runs. 
    
   There are two fundamental architectures for implementing network-
   based IP VPNs: virtual routers (VR) and aggregated routing. The main 
   difference between the two architectures resides in the model used 
   to achieve VPN reachability and membership functions. 
    
   In the VR model, each VR in the VPN domain is running an instance of 
   routing protocol responsible for disseminating VPN reachability 
   information between VRs. Therefore, VPN membership and VPN 
   reachability are treated as separate functions, and separate 
   mechanisms are used to implement these functions. In [RFC-4110], 
   this is referred to as using per-VPN routing. VPN reachability is 
   carried out by a per-VPN instance of routing, and a range of 
   mechanisms is possible for determining membership (see section 6.0).  
    
   In the aggregated routing model [RFC-4110], the VPN site's routing 
   protocol is terminated at the edge of the backbone, and a backbone 
   routing protocol (i.e., extended BGP-4) is responsible for 
   disseminating the VPN membership and reachability information 
   between provider edge routers (PE) for all the VPNs configured on 
   the PE. "BGP/MPLS VPNs" [RFC-4364] describes an example of an 
   aggregated routing VPN architecture. 
    
   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]. 
    
    
2. Virtual Router VPN Architecture Guidelines 
    
   The following guidelines are intended for designers of VR 
   implementations.  Since this document does not describe a specific 
   interoperable protocol, there may be alternative ways to achieve 
   these guidelines. 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 4] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
 
2.1 Membership 
    
   The VR Architecture requires a way to determine VPN membership.  
   This can be accomplished by configuration, by the use of an 
   autodiscovery mechanism such as [VPN-BGP], or by other means. This 
   is discussed in detail in Section 6, "VPN Membership and Topology 
   Auto-Discovery". 
    
   The use of a VPN identifier (VPN-ID) provides a way to simplify most 
   VPN configuration and operational tasks.  All virtual routers that 
   are members of a specific VPN should share the same VPN-ID. This may 
   be the VPN-ID format defined in [RFC-2685].  
    
2.2 Scalability 
    
   In this architecture, the backbone internal nodes (e.g., P routers 
   [RFC-4110]) are not VPN- or VR-aware, and therefore they don't keep 
   any VPN state within the backbone. Thus the VR architecture avoids 
   any significant contribution to problems of backbone scalability.  
    
   The PE on which the VRs run (and the VRs themselves) should be able 
   to accommodate rapid growth in the number of routes per VR, since 
   this number can change suddenly as membership changes. The PE should 
   be able to accommodate substantial growth in the number of VRs and 
   CEs supported, to avoid reconfiguration that could disrupt existing 
   connectivity.  
    
   The optional use of the "backbone VR" improves the scalability of 
   the VR approach, since multiple VRs on a PE may share a single 
   backbone VR connection to their peer VRs on another PE, rather than 
   establishing multiple separate per-VR or per-VPN connections between 
   PEs. The backbone VR is described in more detail in section 5.3. 
    
2.3 Quality of Service 
    
   Existing quality of service mechanisms developed for physical 
   routers should all be available to be used on a per-VR basis. 
   Therefore, quality of service (policing, shaping, classification, 
   and scheduling) should be configurable on a per-VPN basis. 
     
2.4 Auto-discovery 
    
   It should be possible for the VRs to automatically discover each 
   other, set up tunnels to each other, and exchange private routing 
   information across the backbone. The auto-discovery mechanism must 
   take into consideration the case where the VPNs are implemented 
   across administrative domains. We assume in this document that an 
   auto-discovery mechanism which provides services similar to BGP (as 
   described in [VPN-BGP]) is used as the mechanism to distribute 
   membership, topology, and tunnel information among VRs which are 
   members of the same VPN.  
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 5] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
    
2.5 Routing 
    
2.5.1 Routing between CE and PE 
    
   Any existing routing protocol may be used between the CE and the VR 
   running on the PE. Typically, the routing protocol of the specific 
   VPN site will be used. Static routes may be used. The routing 
   protocol between the CE and the VR running on the PE may be 
   independent of the PE-to-PE routing.  That is, they may be different 
   routing protocols, or different instances of the same routing 
   protocol. 
    
2.5.2 Routing in the Service Provider Network (Backbone) 
    
   The choice of the backbone routing protocol should not be 
   constrained by the VPNs. This is one of the key attractions of the 
   VR model, since it does not require VPN service providers to run and 
   manage any specific backbone protocol or technology. 
    
2.5.3 Routing between VRs in a VPN 
    
   Any existing routing protocol may be used between VRs in a VPN. The 
   routing protocol between the VRs may be independent of the CE-to-PE 
   routing. 
    
   VRs belonging to the same VPN may construct tunnels providing 
   connections to each other, using information from the backbone 
   routing protocol. They may then exchange routing information and VPN 
   traffic over these tunnels. 
    
   A backbone VR network may be constructed among some or all PEs. VRs 
   of customer VPNs may use the backbone VR for routing across the 
   backbone. 
    
   It is strongly recommended that care be taken when multiple routing 
   protocols are used, due to differences in metrics, detail of 
   information, etc. 
    
2.5.4 Multicast routing using VRs 
    
   VR-based VPNs should provide the same mechanisms for IP multicast 
   routing as ordinary routers.  The processes of multicast tree 
   construction and packet replication should be configurable in the 
   same way as for ordinary routers.  In addition, VR-based VPNs may be 
   able to employ mechanisms to optimize multicast, depending on the 
   specific VPN configuration. 
 
2.6 Security 
    
   The VR architecture accommodates a variety of approaches to ensure 
   security for VPN data, routing, and other control information. 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 6] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   Different levels of security are possible, using the security 
   features of routing and tunneling protocols. The architecture should 
   provide authentication and encryption services for VPNs requiring 
   strong security capabilities. VR-based VPN implementations should 
   support the VPN Security Framework [RFC-4111]. 
 
2.7 Topology 
    
   VPN topologies such as a hub and spoke, and full mesh can be 
   supported by the VR architecture. It is also possible to build 
   arbitrary VPN topologies.  
    
   For example, a PE device with VRs supporting certain VPNs may be 
   able to act as a P (Provider backbone) device with respect to other 
   VPNs. This increases provisioning flexibility in many topologies.  
    
2.8 Tunneling 
    
   The VR architecture should not be limited to a single tunneling 
   mechanism. It may allow the use of IPsec [RFC-4301], GRE [RFC-2784], 
   IP in IP [RFC-2003], and MPLS [RFC-3031], [RFC-3035] tunnels. It 
   should also allow multiple VPNs to share a tunnel across a backbone.  
   Within a single VPN, different types of tunnels should be allowed. 
    
2.9 Management 
 
   The VR architecture should provide mechanisms to make it easy to 
   configure, deploy, operate and troubleshoot each VPN independently, 
   using existing mechanisms and tools. Tools commonly used for 
   operating, managing and debugging IP networks should be able to be 
   used without any modification.  
     
   Most aspects of the management of the multiple VRs on the PE by the 
   Service Provider are implementation-specific, and beyond the scope 
   of this document. 
    
2.10 Additional Characteristics 
    
   The following are some additional general characteristics of the VR 
   architecture: 
   1) The architecture accommodates different sizes of VPNs, and one 
     VPN should not impact other VPNs on the PE.  
   2) The architecture supports overlapping VPN address spaces in 
     separate VPNs. 
   3) The architecture supports direct paths between VPN sites that 
     bypass the service provider backbone (backdoor links). Traffic can 
     be directed to the backdoor link, or injected to the backbone with 
     the flexibility of using both the backbone access, and the 
     backdoor link as internal or external paths. 
   4) The architecture works over different deployment scenarios, e.g. 
     where the service provider owns its own backbone, and where the 

 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 7] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
     service provider obtains backbone service from one or more other 
     service providers. 
    
3. Network Reference Model 
    
   A VPN customer site is connected to the provider backbone by means 
   of a connection between a Customer Edge (CE) device, (which can be 
   one or more hosts and/or routers) and a virtual router (VR). CE 
   devices are preconfigured to connect to one or more VRs. Multiple VRs 
   may coexist on the same service provider edge device (PE). 
    
   CE devices can be attached to VRs over any type of access link (e.g. 
   ATM, frame relay, Ethernet, PPP [STD-51], L2TP [RFC-2661] or IP 
   tunneling mechanisms such as IPsec or GRE tunnels). 
    
 
                           +---+    +---+ 
                           | P |....| P | 
                           +---+    +---+ 
                     PE   /              \  PE 
          +----+  +------+               +------+  +---+ 
          | CEs|--|-{VRs}|               |{VRs}-|--|CEs| 
          +----+  +------+               +------+  +---+ 
                          \              / 
                           +---+    +---+ 
                           | P |....| P | 
                           +---+    +---+     
    
                Figure 1: Network Reference Model 
 
   CE sites can be statically connected to the provider network via 
   dedicated circuits, or can use dial-up links. Routing tables 
   associated with each virtual router define the site-to-site 
   reachability for each VPN. The internal backbone provider routers 
   (P) are not VPN aware and do not keep VPN state. 
 
3.1 Backbone 
    
   In general the backbone is a shared network infrastructure, which 
   represents either: 
   1) A layer-2 ATM or frame relay network. 
   2) An IP network.  
   3) An MPLS network. 
    
   Not all VPNs existing on the same PE are necessarily connected via 
   the same backbone. A single PE can be connected to multiple 
   backbones. Individual VRs on the PE may also connect to multiple 
   backbones. Thus a single VPN can be built from multiple transport 
   technologies in the VR architecture.  
    
    
 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 8] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
4. Virtual Router Definition 
    
   A virtual router (VR) is an emulation of a physical router at the 
   software and/or hardware levels. Virtual routers have independent IP 
   routing and forwarding tables, and they are isolated from each 
   other. This means that two VRs on a PE can serve two different VPNs 
   which may have overlapping address space. The addresses need only be 
   unique within a VPN domain. 
    
   A virtual router has two main functions: 
   1) Constructing routing tables for the paths between VPN sites using 
     any routing technologies (e.g., static, OSPF, RIP, or BGP). 
   2) Forwarding packets to the next hops within the VPN domain. 
    
   From the VPN user point of view, a virtual router provides the same 
   functionality as a physical router. Separate routing, and forwarding 
   capabilities provide each VR with the appearance of a dedicated 
   router that guarantees isolation from the traffic of other VPNs, 
   while running on shared forwarding and transmission resources. 
    
   Virtual routers belonging to the same VPN domain should have the 
   same Virtual Private Network Identifier (VPN-ID). The VPN-ID may use 
   the format described in [RFC-2685]. As noted in [VPN-BGP], when the 
   VRs in a given VPN use BGP as the backbone routing protocol, the 
   VPN-ID can be carried in the NLRI to make the addresses of VRs 
   globally unique. Since globally unique addresses are necessary if 
   BGP is used for auto-discovery, the use of a consistent VPN-ID is a 
   key element in supporting auto-discovery and improving scalability 
   of VR-based VPN services.  
    
   To the CE access device, the virtual router appears as a neighbor 
   router in the CE based network. The CE sends all traffic for non-
   local VPN destinations to the VR, unless the specific VPN topology 
   provides alternate routes. Each CE access device must learn the set 
   of destinations reachable through its connection to the virtual 
   router; this may be as simple as a default route. Virtual routers 
   participating in a single VPN domain are responsible for learning 
   and disseminating VPN reachability information among themselves. A 
   given VR holds the routes only for the specific VPN of which that VR 
   is a member. Any routing protocol can be used between the VRs and 
   the CEs.  
    
5. How VPNs are Built and Deployed using VRs 
    
   Three main VR deployment scenarios can be used for building VPNs: 
   1) VR to VR connectivity over a layer 2 connection. 
   2) VR to VR connectivity tunneled over an IP or MPLS network. 
   3) Aggregating multiple virtual routers over a "backbone virtual 
     router," which will provide connectivity over a layer 2, IP, or 
     MPLS network. 
    

 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 9] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   These VR deployment scenarios can coexist on a single PE or within a 
   single VPN.  
    
5.1 VR to VR Connectivity over Layer 2 Connections 
    
   As illustrated in Figure 2, virtual routers can be deployed over 
   direct layer-2 frame relay or ATM connections or other layer-2 
   transport technology. 
    
 
                 PE                             PE 
           +---------------+            +---------------+ 
   +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
   |VPN-A| | +----+        Layer-2 connections   +----+ | |VPN-A| 
   |sites|-|-|VR-A|<---------------------------->|VR-A|-|-|sites| 
   +-----+ | +----+        |  --------  |        +----+ | +-----+ 
           |               |-( Layer-2)-|               | 
   +-----+ | +----+        | (Backbone) |        +----+ | +-----+ 
   |VPN-B|-|-|VR-B|        |  --------  |        |VR-B|-|-|VPN-B| 
   |sites| | +----+<--------------------|------->+----+ | |sites| 
   +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
           +---------------+            +---------------+ 
            
        Figure 2: VR to VR connectivity over a layer-2 backbone 
 
   This type of VR deployment allows direct quality of service 
   engineering on a per-VPN connection basis. The connections can be 
   statically configured or dynamically established. 
    
5.2 VR to VR Connectivity through IP or MPLS tunnels  
 
   In addition to connecting via layer-2 transport technologies, 
   virtual routers can connect over an IP or MPLS backbone. In a manner 
   analogous to layer-2 transport, they can use the backbone to support 
   tunneled connections among the VRs. The topology can be described 
   similar to that for layer-2 transport, as in figure 2. 
    
   VPN data and routing information is tunneled through the use of IP 
   or MPLS based tunnels (e.g., IPsec, GRE, IP in IP, MPLS). The use of 
   tunnels between VRs is addressed in more detail in the discussion of 
   backbone VRs in the following section of this document. 
    
   Although it is clearly possible to use a topology similar to the 
   layer-2 model over an IP or MPLS backbone, the VR capability also 
   provides a highly scalable alternative to the use of individual 
   tunnels between VRs. This alternative is the creation (on each 
   participating PE) of another VR facing into the backbone network, 
   which is used to build a kind of backbone VPN that may be shared 
   among multiple customer VPNs. This is described below as the 
   "backbone VR." 
    
 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 10] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
5.3 Virtual Router Backbone Aggregation 
    
   Another typical VPN configuration consists of connecting multiple 
   virtual routers to the backbone through the use of a single virtual 
   router in each PE (figure 3). In the following sections we call this 
   single virtual router "the backbone virtual router" or "the backbone 
   VR." The backbone VR is a mechanism to enhance scalability.  The use 
   of backbone VRs is optional in VR-based VPNs. When backbone VRs are 
   used, they should be configured on all PEs which participate in VPNs 
   carried over the backbone VRs. 
    
   The backbone virtual router is not functionally different than other 
   virtual routers.  It is only a virtual router that is configured and 
   deployed in a special configuration. 
    
   The backbone VR connects each PE to a shared backbone 
   infrastructure. Backbone VRs can be deployed over ATM, FR, IP, or 
   MPLS networks. Since the backbone VR allows the aggregation of VRs 
   from multiple VPNs, backbone configuration can remain unaffected as 
   new VPNs or VPN sites are added. The relationship between the VRs 
   and the backbone VR is an overlay relationship.  
 
                     PE-1                          PE-2 
              +---------------+            +---------------+ 
              |               |            |               |  
      +-----+ | +----+     MPLS/IP based Tunnels    +----+ | +-----+ 
      |VPN-A| | |VR-A|........|<---------->|........|VR-A| | |VPN-A| 
      |sites|-|-|(1) |        |            |        |(2) |-|-|sites| 
      +-----+ | +----+\+----+ | ---------  | +----+/+----+ | +-----+ 
              |        |VR-1|-|-(IP/MPLS )-|-|VR-2|        | 
      +-----+ | +----+/+----+ |(Backbones) | +----+\+----+ | +-----+ 
      |VPN-B|-|-|VR-B|        | ---------  |        |VR-B|-|-|VPN-B| 
      |sites| | |(1) |        |            |        |(2) | | |sites| 
      +-----+ | +----+........|<---------->|........+----+ | +-----+ 
              |               |            |               | 
              +---------------+            +---------------+ 
    
               Figure 3: VR-1 and VR-2 used as backbone VRs 
 
   The relationship between the "ordinary" VPN VRs and the backbone VRs 
   is conceptually similar to the relationship between separate 
   routers, even though they coexist in the same device. The individual 
   VRs in a PE, representing different VPNs, can relate to the backbone 
   VR as if they were the CEs of a single VPN, with the backbone VR 
   acting as a PE to them. Thus the VPNs can be multiplexed in a 
   hierarchical fashion, using IP encapsulation or stacked labels, 
   depending on the tunnel technology used between the backbone VRs.  
    
   The use of the backbone VR provides multiplexing across the backbone 
   for multiple VPNs, while still allowing individually-engineered 
   connections where desired. Note that Figure 3 depicts both a 
   backbone connection between backbone VRs (VR-1 to VR-2) and also 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 11] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   connections between the customer VPN VRs (VR-A(1) to VR-A(2) and VR-
   B(1) to VR-B(2) ) which do not pass through the backbone VRs. Both 
   types of connections may be used simultaneously, e.g., to provide 
   differentiated services to different classes of traffic.  Best-
   effort traffic between VR-A(1) and VR-A(2) may be routed through the 
   shared backbone VRs, while high-priority traffic between these same 
   VRs might be routed through the direct connection, which could be 
   engineered with higher Quality-of-Service parameters. This 
   illustrates how a service provider can trade off greater scalability 
   offered by the backbone VR against higher value "personalized 
   service" for VPN customers. 
    
   Note that although the backbone VR concept is described above using 
   a single backbone VR per PE, there may be multiple backbone VRs per 
   PE. 
    
5.3.1 Tunneling 
    
   VPN data and routing information is tunneled through the use of IP 
   or MPLS based tunnels (e.g., IPsec, GRE, IP in IP, MPLS). Depending 
   on the tunnel technology used, the tunnels can be statically 
   configured or dynamically established. The tunnel appears to VRs as 
   a point-to-point link. Traffic sent through the tunnel and forwarded 
   by the backbone VR is opaque to the underlying backbone technology 
   used.  
    
   A tunnel can be established per VPN or shared among many VPNs (VRs). 
   The tunnel can originate from the backbone virtual router or from 
   the VRs. This can provide an opportunity for service 
   differentiation, in which a service provider can offer a higher 
   level of service (at a higher price point) for individually mapped 
   VPN connections among a customer's VRs. 
    
   The backbone VR makes it appear as if each VR within a VPN is 
   directly connected. It supports both full and partial mesh 
   configurations. Each VR within the VPN exchanges routing information 
   directly with the adjacent VRs in the VPN. Note that adjacency in 
   this case is determined by the overlay topology of the particular 
   VPN, as determined by configuration or discovery.  
    
   A single VR-based VPN may use different type of tunnels for inter-VR 
   connectivity. Some sites may use MPLS, while other sites (which 
   transit through non-secure domains) may choose to use IPsec to 
   encrypt their data. 
    
   The scalability and security of dynamic tunnel establishment between 
   VRs is enhanced by the ability to exchange a VPN-ID. [VPN-BGP] 
   supports auto-discovery of the VPN-ID within BGP-based networks. 
   Further work beyond the scope of this document is needed to 
   determine the requirements and usage of the VPN-ID exchange within 
   most tunneling scenarios.  
    
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 12] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
5.3.1.1 MPLS Tunnels 
    
   The VR architecture can use MPLS tunneling in various forwarding 
   scenarios. Individual VRs of some VPNs may be configured to 
   participate in BGP/MPLS IP VPNs as described in [RFC-4364]. 
    
   In some scenarios, a hierarchy of two labels can be used. One simple 
   forwarding scenario is where the inner label identifies the VR 
   intended to receive the private packet (to be forwarded to the CE).  
    
   Another forwarding scenario is to distribute the inner label on a 
   per-VPN basis across the tunnels, after the tunnel endpoints (VRs) 
   have been discovered. The label and reachability distribution is 
   done through the tunnels. In this case the inner label distribution 
   process can be achieved using BGP or an existing label distribution 
   protocol on a per-VPN basis. The inner label relates to the private 
   VPN prefixes. On the egress side traffic will be directed to the 
   egress interface by looking up the inner label.  
 
5.3.1.2 IPsec Tunnels 
    
   IPsec [RFC-4301] is needed when there is a requirement for strong 
   encryption or strong authentication. It also supports multiplexing 
   and a signaling protocol - IKE. IPsec tunnels can be established 
   between two VPN sites across the backbone (originating from the 
   backbone VRs).  
    
5.3.2 Routing 
    
   The backbone VR exchanges backbone routing information with other 
   backbone entities (P routers and possibly other backbone VRs). The 
   backbone routing is separated from the customer VPN routing. 
    
   Virtual routers can run any routing protocol on their local VPN 
   domain. Both static routes and dynamic routing protocols such as 
   RIP, OSPF, and BGP-4 can be used. The VRs of a given VPN exchange 
   routing information with adjacent VRs through the tunnels over the 
   backbone. 
    
   If a backdoor link is used between VPN sites running any IGP, then 
   by adjusting the backdoor link costs appropriately, the backbone 
   link can be favored for forwarding VPN traffic. By lowering the 
   weight, the backdoor link can be used as a backup link in case the 
   backbone path fails.  
 
5.3.3 Relationship between the VRs and the Backbone VR 
    
   The routing domain of a set of VRs participating in a single VPN has 
   no relation to the routing domain of the backbone VR. The backbone 
   VR is not necessarily aware of the routing instances running on each 
   private virtual router. However, because the backbone VR is also a 

 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 13] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   virtual router, it can build routing relationships with other VRs if 
   needed. 
 
5.3.4 Multiple Backbones Connected to a Single PE 
    
   Figure 4 illustrates an example where multiple backbones are 
   connected to the same PE. This type of configuration can be used 
   when the PE is connected to multiple service provider backbones, or 
   when the service provider offers different VPN services for 
   different types of backbones. 
    
                  PE                            PE 
             +---------------+            +---------------+ 
     +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
     |VPN-A|-|-+----+        |            |        +----+-|-|VPN-A| 
     |sites| | |VR-A|\       |            |        |VR-A| | |sites| 
     +-----+ | +----+ +----+ |  --------- | +----+/+----+ | +-----+ 
             |        |VR-1|-|-(Backbone )|-|VR-2|        | 
     +-----+ | +----+/+----+ | (    1    )| +----+\+----+ | +-----+ 
     |VPN-B|-|-|VR-B|        |  --------- |        |VR-B|-|-|VPN-B| 
     |sites| | +----+        |            |        +----+ | |sites| 
     +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
             |               |            |               | 
     +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
     |VPN-C| | +----+        |            |        +----+ | |VPN-C| 
     |sites|-|-|VR-C|\       |            |        |VR-C|-|-|sites| 
     +-----+ | +----+ +----+ |  --------  | +----+/+----+ | +-----+ 
             |        |VR-3|-|-(Backbone)-|-|VR-4|        | 
     +-----+ | +----+/+----+ | (  2 & 3 ) | +----+\+----+ | +-----+ 
     |VPN-D|-|-|VR-D|        |  --------  |        |VR-D|-|-|VPN-D| 
     |sites| | +----+        |            |        +----+ | |sites| 
     +-----+ |               |            |               | +-----+ 
             +---------------+            +---------------+ 
    
            Figure 4: Multiple Backbones Connected to a Single PE 
 
    
6. VPN Membership and Topology Auto-Discovery 
    
   The virtual router approach explicitly separates the mechanisms used 
   for distributing reachability information from mechanisms used for 
   distributing VPN topology and membership information. VPN membership 
   information refers to the set of PEs (and the VRs on those PEs) that 
   have customers in a particular VPN. VPN topology represents the set 
   of VRs configured on PEs and their interconnectivity within the VPN. 
   The topology can be a full-mesh of VRs, a hub and spoke, or anything 
   in between. Dynamic topology due to on-demand VPN customers can also 
   be handled. 
 
   VPN discovery can be achieved through a variety of different 
   mechanisms, for example: 
    
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 14] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   - Directory server approach, in which VRs query a server to 
   determine their neighbors. 
   - Explicit configuration via a management platform. 
   - Piggybacking VPN membership and topology information using 
   existing routing protocols (e.g., BGP) [VPN-BGP].  
   - Other VPN membership and topology auto-discovery approaches. 
 
   The above mechanisms can be combined on a single PE, with different 
   mechanisms used on a per-VPN basis. As an example, for some VPNs 
   topology discovery is done only through a management platform. For 
   others, dynamic topology discovery is achieved using existing 
   routing protocols.  
    
   In this document it is assumed that a mechanism that provides 
   services similar to BGP is used to achieve auto-discovery of VPN 
   members. A robust auto-discovery mechanism provides the scalability 
   needed in large provider-provisioned VPNs. In the approach described 
   in [VPN-BGP], VR addresses are exchanged, along with the information 
   needed to enable the PEs to determine which VRs are in the same VPN 
   ("membership"), and which of those VRs are to have VPN connectivity 
   ("topology"). Once the VRs are reachable through the tunnels, routes 
   ("reachability") are then exchanged by running existing routing 
   protocols on a per-VPN basis across the tunnels. 
    
   It is important to note that, for the VR architecture, the auto-
   discovery mechanism is only used to automatically exchange VPN 
   control information between VRs and/or PEs. It is not intended for 
   piggybacking VPN private reachability information onto the backbone 
   routing instance, as is done in [RFC-4364], for example. 
    
7. VRs and Extranets 
    
   Extranets are commonly used to refer to a scenario whereby a company 
   has network access to a limited part of another company's corporate 
   network. An important feature of extranets is the control of who can 
   access what data, and this is essentially a policy decision. Policy 
   decisions are enforced at the interconnection points between 
   different domains. The enforcement may be done via a firewall, a 
   router with access list functionality, or any device capable of 
   applying policy decisions to transit traffic. 
    
   In the VR architecture, policy can be enforced between two VPNs, or 
   between a VPN and the Internet, in exactly the same manner as is 
   done today without VPNs. For example, two VRs (of different VPNs) 
   could be interconnected, with each VR locally imposing its own 
   policy controls via a firewall or other enforcement mechanism on all 
   traffic that enters its VPN from the outside (whether from another 
   VR or from the Internet). Combining firewalls and exchanging private 
   routes between VRs (members of different VPNs) provide a flexible 
   mechanism to build different flavors of extranets. 
 
 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 15] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
8. VPNs across Domains 
    
   It is possible that a VPN may cross multiple domains administered by 
   different service providers. In the VR model, tunnels are used to 
   provide intra-VPN connectivity across the backbones. The main 
   requirement for the service provider in order to achieve end-to-end 
   cross-domain VPN connectivity is the ability for both domains to 
   support a common tunnel technology, plus the ability to support a 
   common membership and topology discovery technology. Once the tunnel 
   is established, private data (e.g., routing information, and private 
   customer data) can flow from one domain to the other with the same 
   level of security or isolation as that tunnel mechanism provides 
   when used within a single service provider network.  
    
   Another scenario for supporting VPNs with multiple service providers 
   is to use two virtual routers configured on PEs at the 
   interconnection points. Each VR will use policy decisions and 
   firewalling to control VPN traffic transiting from one domain to the 
   other. The two "gateway VRs" have some similarities to the "backbone 
   VRs," specifically with respect to being able to handle multiple 
   VPNs.  The individual VPN traffic is not terminated on these 
   "gateway VRs".  They provide ingress/egress filtering for any or all 
   the bidirectional tunneled VPN traffic crossing the boundary.  The 
   VPN traffic will normally be opaque at the boundary, and typical 
   inter-provider agreements apply to all traffic within individual 
   VPNs, so the inter-provider VPN traffic is typically filtered all-
   or-nothing (by VPN) based on the visible packet identifiers or 
   labels. 
    
   When there are VPN links crossing intervening domains which are not 
   VPN-aware, tunnels should be configured across the intervening 
   domains, and the "gateway VR" approach can be employed at the tunnel 
   endpoints to provide security services appropriate to the 
   circumstances. Some aspects of this are discussed in more detail in 
   the "Carrier's Carrier" section. 
    
   The ability to use a standard, globally-unique VPN-ID format also 
   supports the implementation of unambiguous VPN traffic 
   identification mechanisms across domains.  
    
9. Internet Access 
  
   The same link attaching the CE to the VR can be used to provide 
   Internet access to the VPN sites. The VR operations can be decoupled 
   from the mechanisms used by the customer sites to access the 
   Internet. 
    
   There are a number of ways to provide Internet access to a VPN using 
   the VR model. One way of providing VPN Internet access is to 
   configure a "backbone VR" to steer private traffic to the VPN VR, 
   and Internet traffic to the normal backbone/Internet forwarding 
   table. The backbone VR can hold the Internet routes (so it will not 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 16] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   be necessary for the VPN VRs to handle them). Firewall functionality 
   should be used to secure the Internet backbone VR access. Network 
   address translation services can also be configured on the backbone 
   VR or on VPN VRs where needed for Internet access. 
    
   There are a number of other options, since the VR architecture 
   reflects the flexibility of normal router architecture. An 
   additional approach is to configure a particular VR to handle 
   Internet access only (rather than going to the backbone VR). Another 
   approach is to use a default route to an Internet gateway (which 
   could be a VR). 
    
10. Carrier's Carrier Case 
    
   In some cases, the customer of a VPN is a service provider or 
   carrier offering VPN services for its own customers.  We can 
   describe this as a VPN hierarchy, with the "carrier's carrier" 
   providing backbone services to a "sub-carrier." This is sometimes 
   called "VPN wholesaling." The carrier's carrier may support multiple 
   sub-carriers within a single PE device. The VR model provides 
   several approaches to implement this VPN hierarchy.  
    
   In one approach, tunnels are built from the VRs of the carrier's 
   carrier to the CEs of the customers of the sub-carrier ("remote 
   CEs"). In this case, the VRs of the carrier's carrier provide VPN 
   service to the remote CEs. The sub-carrier provides transport but 
   does not participate in the VPN services. This can be particularly 
   useful in cases where the sub-carrier's PE or P devices are 
   themselves VRs (which may be instantiated within the same device as 
   the VRs of the carrier's carrier, handling the connections from the 
   remote CEs) and where the sub-carrier is outsourcing the management 
   of its customers' VPN services. 
    
   Another approach is where the sub-carrier's VPN services are 
   completely transparent to the VRs of the carrier's carrier. This is 
   the default case. It is up to the sub-carrier's VPN service to 
   distribute VPN reachability among the CEs of its customers. 
    
11. Operations and Management 
    
   Each VR operates independently, and can be individually reconfigured 
   without affecting other VRs on the same PE.  In some 
   implementations, it may be possible for a VR to be "rebooted" 
   without affecting other VRs. In case of PE failure (e.g., migration, 
   upgrades, etc.), the service provider may want to control and decide 
   what VPN services get reestablished first. This particular point is 
   important when a large number of VPNs is supported on the PE where 
   each VPN service has different service availability requirements.  
    
   Since each VR operates as an independent router, it is possible for 
   the management of the VRs to be outsourced.  VPN customers may 
   choose to configure (or perhaps only to monitor) the VRs that make 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 17] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   up their VPN.  It is also possible that the backbone VRs could be 
   managed by a separate entity.  
    
11.1 Backbone Migration 
    
   One benefit in using multiple backbone virtual routers is the 
   ability for the backbone network administrator to migrate its 
   backbone from one core technology to another with minimal disruption 
   to VPN services. Conversely, a VPN configuration change or a VPN-
   software upgrade is totally transparent to the backbone protocol and 
   policies (this is due to decoupling the VPN routing protocol from 
   the provider backbone routing protocol).  
    
11.2 Troubleshooting 
    
   The service provider or the VPN customer can use all existing 
   troubleshooting tools on a per-VPN basis (e.g. ping and traceroute). 
   As an example, a VPN customer may be able to perform some 
   troubleshooting operations on its own VR. In this particular case, 
   the service provider can configure restricted privileges for each 
   VPN customer over the VR associated with the customer's VPN network. 
   This access may provide only the privilege to monitor (with no 
   privilege to change) the layer 3 status of the customer's VPN, as 
   seen by the VR. The service provider may be able to offer VPN 
   customers an SNMP-based method for read-only access to information 
   about their own VPN. However, backbone topology information is 
   completely hidden to the VPN VR, and therefore to the service 
   provider's customer. 
    
12. Quality of Service 
    
   This architecture can utilize a variety of Quality of Service 
   mechanisms. QoS mechanisms developed for physical routers can be 
   used with VRs, on a per-VR basis, including classification, 
   policing, drop policies, traffic shaping and scheduling/bandwidth 
   reservation. The architecture allows separate quality of service 
   engineering of the VPNs and the backbone. 
    
13. Scalability 
    
   The VR VPN architecture shares the scalability advantages of other 
   provider-provisioned VPN architectures. Only the PEs need to handle 
   the VPN type information. The internal backbone routers (the P 
   routers) are not VPN aware. Virtual routers allow multiple private 
   CE-based networks to connect to a single PE.  
    
   One advantage of the ability to contain the VPN address space and 
   VPN routing and forwarding capabilities within the virtual router 
   entity is the possibility to distribute PE system resources on a 
   per-VPN basis. Indeed, as an example, different scheduling 
   mechanisms can be used for processing each VPN activity within the 
   PE. This type of per-VPN resource management contributes to 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 18] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   establishing a wide range of priority schemes among the VPNs within 
   the PE, and contributes to the ability to support a wide range of 
   VPN scales (high traffic and/or many member sites) in the VR 
   architecture. 
    
   As noted earlier in this document, the use of the "backbone VR" 
   provides significant scalability advantages, allowing very 
   straightforward multiplexing of multiple VPNs across PE-PE tunnels 
   or connections.  The individual VPNs and their VRs need not 
   participate in the discovery and maintenance of the topology of the 
   backbone network, essentially seeing the backbone as a single large 
   router to which they are all connected. 
    
14. Interoperability 
    
   There are several ways of implementing the VR architecture.  
   Although this document does not guarantee interoperability by 
   specifying explicit requirements, the nature of the VR approach 
   makes it likely that interoperability can be achieved among various 
   VR implementations, just as interoperability of VRs with normal 
   routers is straightforward. 
    
   The VR architecture doesn't specify any protocol. Rather it defines 
   how one physical device (a router) can support multiple logical 
   devices (virtual routers), where each virtual router is 
   interconnected with other normal routers or virtual routers either 
   via physical links or by tunnels (of pretty much any kind defined by 
   other IETF standards). Thus interoperation between a virtual router 
   and other routers (whether virtual or logical) makes use of the same 
   IETF standards (and proposed standards) that are used to allow 
   interoperation between normal routers. 
    
   VR implementations will either interoperate or not interoperate 
   depending upon their implementation of other IETF standards. In 
   particular, for two VR implementations to interoperate, they simply 
   need a common data link or tunnel technology to link them together 
   and common routing protocols. If they are using MPLS, then MPLS has 
   to work over the common link or tunnels, and they need compatible 
   MPLS signaling. 
    
   Given that normal physical links terminating on a physical router 
   can be assigned to a specific VR, and given that routers can in 
   general interoperate at the data link level, then finding a common 
   link to hook VRs with VRs, or VRs with routers, is straightforward. 
   Also, there is a short list of relatively well known tunneling 
   techniques (MPLS, IPsec, IP-in-IP tunnels, GRE, etc.) which are 
   commonly used in multi-vendor networks. 
    
   Naturally VRs will also interoperate with normal physical routers in 
   almost any case. Even the "backbone VR" mechanism can be terminated 
   at the other end on normal routers. This would involve one remote 
   "backbone router" which would be the last node of a tunnel, inside 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 19] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   of which multiple other tunnels are multiplexed, with these multiple 
   tunnels terminating on multiple real routers, each of which 
   terminates a tunnel which it treats as a normal link. These real 
   routers can run routing protocols over the tunnel, with the VR on 
   the other end of the tunnel being the peer router for the routing 
   protocol. 
    
15. Security Considerations 
    
   From a security viewpoint, the virtual router VPN architecture is an 
   extension of existing router architectures in which multiple VRs, 
   each with the same mechanisms of a physical router, can be 
   configured in a PE device.  Thus the VRs inherit the security 
   concerns and security capabilities of individual routers, which are 
   largely beyond the scope of this document. Many of those elements 
   are discussed in some detail in the routing protocol security 
   document [RP-SEC]. The provider-provisioned VPN framework in general 
   also has a number of security considerations due to the shared 
   infrastructure, which are addressed in the PPVPN security framework 
   document [RFC-4111]. This section addresses security considerations 
   which are more specific to the VR architecture. 
    
   The VR architecture provides an inherently high level of security 
   against many types of attacks against individual VPNs, since 
   individual VPN routing information does not propagate throughout the 
   backbone network. The VRs usually do not exchange routing 
   information directly through the backbone routing protocol, but 
   through tunnels, through layer 2 connections, or (in the case of 
   backbone VRs supporting ordinary VRs) through communication internal 
   to the PE device. The tunnels can use the security mechanisms 
   available to the backbone network, such as IPsec in an IP backbone 
   network, to protect both the routing exchange and the VPN data. 
    
   Since the VR architecture concentrates multiple VRs in a single 
   device, there is a potential for disruption of one VR to affect 
   other VRs within the same device. It is highly desirable for 
   implementations to provide mechanisms to isolate problems to a 
   single VR within a PE, or to a single VPN.  
    
   If physical or logical network links are shared among VRs, it is 
   possible that bandwidth depletion attacks against one VPN may affect 
   other VPNs. VR implementations should provide mechanisms to mitigate 
   the effect of excessive traffic being received for individual VPNs 
   on shared links. In addition, VR implementations should provide 
   mechanisms to control the bandwidth usage on a per-VPN basis for 
   traffic transmitted by the PE device. The VPN service provider 
   should ensure that both access networks and backbone networks are 
   engineered to reduce the likelihood of this kind of attack. 
    
   Since the backbone VR(s) may carry traffic from multiple VPNs, the 
   implementation of backbone VR mechanisms should provide redundancy 
   mechanisms. They should provide protection against hostile or 
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 20] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   inadvertent resource exhaustion attacks, originating either within 
   or outside the VPNs. 
    
   If the auto-discovery mechanism used in determining membership to 
   the VPN is subverted, it could potentially be possible for an 
   attacker to join a VPN without authorization. Likewise, if the VPN-
   ID of a VR is erroneously configured, a VPN site could potentially 
   be joined to the wrong VPN. These issues can both be addressed by 
   the use of tunnel mechanisms between VRs which include other means 
   of authentication, such as a shared secret. Other proposals for VPN 
   membership verification, such as [MPLSVPN-AUTH], offer mechanisms 
   which may also be useful to mitigate this potential issue. 
     
   Various levels of data, routing and configuration security can be 
   implemented in the VR architecture. Any existing security-related 
   mechanisms supported by existing routing protocols (e.g. 
   authentication) can be used unmodified. If IPsec tunneling is used 
   as the tunneling protocol, then both the control and data traffic 
   that travels over the tunnel can be secured; so that routing 
   specific security enhancements are not needed. Any private routing, 
   forwarding and addressing manipulation is done within the virtual 
   router context. Direct layer-2 connections (ATM, FR), or specific 
   tunneling mechanisms can also provide various levels of data 
   security. 
 
16. IANA Considerations 
    
   This document has no actions for IANA. 
 
17. Normative References 
    
   [RFC-1812] F. Baker, Ed., "Requirements for IP Version 4 Routers",  
      RFC 1812, June 1995. 
    
   [RFC-2119] Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate 
      Requirement Levels", RFC 2119, BCP 14, March 1997. 
    
   [RFC-3031] E. Rosen, A. Viswanathan, R. Callon, "Multiprotocol Label 
      Switching Architecture", RFC 3031, January 2001. 
    
   [RFC-3035] B. Davie, J. Lawrence, K. McCloghrie, E. Rosen, G. 
      Swallow, Y. Rekhter, P. Doolan, "MPLS using LDP and ATM VC 
      Switching", RFC 3035, January 2001. 
    
   [RFC-3809] Nagarajan, A., Ed., "Generic Requirements for Provider 
      Provisioned Virtual Private Networks (PPVPN)", RFC 3809, June 
      2004. 
    
   [RFC-4031] Carugi, M., Ed. and D. McDysan, Ed., "Service 
      Requirements for Layer 3 Provider Provisioned Virtual Private 
      Networks (PPVPNs)", RFC 4031, April 2005. 
    
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 21] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   [RFC-4110] R. Callon, M. Suzuki, "A Framework for Layer 3 Provider-
      Provisioned Virtual Private Networks (PPVPNs)", RFC 4110, July 
      2005. 
    
   [RFC-4111] Fang, L., Ed., "Security Framework for Provider 
      Provisioned Virtual Private Networks", RFC 4111, July 2005. 
    
   [RFC-4271] Y. Rekhter, Ed., T. Li, Ed., S. Hares, Ed., "A Border 
      Gateway Protocol 4 (BGP-4)", RFC 4271, January 2006. 
    
   [RFC-4301] Kent, S., Seo, K., "Security Architecture for the 
      Internet Protocol", RFC 4301, December 2005. 
    
   [RFC-4364] Rosen, E., et al, "BGP/MPLS IP Virtual Private networks 
      (VPNs)", RFC 4364, February, 2006. 
    
   [STD-54] Moy, J., "OSPF Version 2", STD 54, RFC 2328, April 1998. 
    
18. Informative References 
    
   [MPLSVPN-AUTH] Behringer, M., Guichard, J., Marques, P. R., "Layer-3 
      VPN Import/Export Verification" (draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-
      verification-00.txt), work in progress. 
    
   [RFC-1195] Callon, R., "OSI IS-IS for IP and Dual Environment," RFC 
      1195, December 1990. 
    
   [RFC-2003] Perkins, C., "IP Encapsulation within IP", RFC 2003, 
      October 1996. 
    
   [RFC-2661] Townsley, W., et al, "Layer Two Tunneling Protocol L2TP", 
      RFC 2661, August 1999. 
    
   [RFC-2685] Fox, B., et al, "Virtual Private Networks Identifier", 
      RFC 2685, September 1999. 
    
   [RFC-2784] Hanks, S., Li, T., Farinacci, D. and P. Traina, "Generic 
      Routing Encapsulation (GRE)", RFC 2784, March 2000. 
    
   [RFC-2890] Dommety, G., "Key and Sequence Number Extensions to GRE", 
      RFC 2890, September 2000. 
    
   [RFC-3787] Parker, J., Ed., "Interoperable IP Networks using IS-IS", 
      RFC 3787, May 2004 
    
   [RP-SEC] Barbir, A., Murphy, S., and Yang, Y., "Generic Threats to 
      Routing Protocols" (draft-ietf-rpsec-routing-threats-07.txt), 
      work in progress. 
    
   [STD-51] Simpson, W., "The Point-to-Point Protocol (PPP)", STD 51, 
      RFC 1661, July 1994. 
    
 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 22] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
   [VPN-BGP] Ould-Brahim, H., et al., "Using BGP as an Auto-Discovery 
      Mechanism for Layer-3 and Layer-2 VPNs" (draft-ietf-l3vpn-bgpvpn-
      auto-06.txt), work in progress. 
    
19. Contributors and Acknowledgments 
    
   The authors would like to acknowledge the active contributions of 
   the following individuals, all of whom would be included as authors 
   if allowed by IETF processes: 
   Rainer Bach 
   Rick Bubenik 
   Luyuan Fang 
   Isaac Negusse 
   Chandru Sargor 
   Timon Sloan 
   Dr. Christian Weber 
   Gregory Wright 
   Abraham Young 
   Jieyun Jessica Yu 
    
   The authors would also like to acknowledge the following individuals 
   for their helpful comments and suggestions: Peter Ashwood-Smith, Ron 
   Bonica, Ross Callon, David Drynan, Mark Duffy, Don Fedyk, David 
   Hudson, Bilel Jamoussi, Ahmad Khalid, Scott Larrigan, Keerti 
   Melkote, Martin Pepin, Benson Schliesser, Jerry Sydir, and Ru 
   Wadasinghe. 
    
20. Authors' Addresses 
    
   (change /at/ to @ for email) 
    
   Paul Knight (Editor) 
   Nortel Networks 
   600 Technology Park Drive 
   Billerica, MA  01821  USA 
   paul.knight/at/nortel.com 
   Phone:  +1 (978) 288 6414 
 
   Hamid Ould-Brahim 
   Nortel Networks 
   P O Box 3511 Station C 
   Ottawa, ON K1Y 4H7  Canada 
   Phone: +1 (613) 765 3418 
   Email: hbrahim/at/nortel.com 
    
   Bryan Gleeson  
   Nokia 
   313 Fairchild Drive 
   Mountain View CA 94043  USA 
   bryan.gleeson/at/nokia.com 
    

 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 23] 
 
 
Internet-Draft       draft-ietf-l3vpn-vpn-vr-03.txt        March 2006 
 
 
Intellectual Property Statement 
 
   The IETF takes no position regarding the validity or scope of any 
   Intellectual Property Rights or other rights that might be claimed 
   to pertain to the implementation or use of the technology described 
   in this document or the extent to which any license under such 
   rights might or might not be available; nor does it represent that 
   it has made any independent effort to identify any such rights.  
   Information on the procedures with respect to rights in RFC 
   documents can be found in BCP 78 and BCP 79. 
 
   Copies of IPR disclosures made to the IETF Secretariat and any 
   assurances of licenses to be made available, or the result of an 
   attempt made to obtain a general license or permission for the use 
   of such proprietary rights by implementers or users of this 
   specification can be obtained from the IETF on-line IPR repository 
   at http://www.ietf.org/ipr. 
 
   The IETF invites any interested party to bring to its attention any 
   copyrights, patents or patent applications, or other proprietary 
   rights that may cover technology that may be required to implement 
   this standard.  Please address the information to the IETF at ietf-
   ipr@ietf.org. 
    
 
Disclaimer of Validity 
 
   This document and the information contained herein are provided on 
   an "AS IS" basis and THE CONTRIBUTOR, THE ORGANIZATION HE/SHE 
   REPRESENTS OR IS SPONSORED BY (IF ANY), THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE 
   INTERNET ENGINEERING TASK FORCE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR 
   IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF 
   THE INFORMATION HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED 
   WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. 
 
 
Copyright Statement 
 
   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2006).  This document is subject 
   to the rights, licenses and restrictions contained in BCP 78, and 
   except as set forth therein, the authors retain all their rights. 
    
 
Acknowledgment 
 
   Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the 
   Internet Society. 




 
Knight, et al.       Expires September 2006          [Page 24]