RSerPool Overview: An Overview of Reliable Server Pooling Protocols

Network Working Group                                             P. Lei
Request for Comments: 5351                           Cisco Systems, Inc.
Category: Informational                                           L. Ong
                                                       Ciena Corporation
                                                               M. Tuexen
                                      Muenster Univ. of Applied Sciences
                                                            T. Dreibholz
                                            University of Duisburg-Essen
                                                          September 2008


            An Overview of Reliable Server Pooling Protocols

Status of This Memo

   This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
   not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of this
   memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   The Reliable Server Pooling effort (abbreviated "RSerPool") provides
   an application-independent set of services and protocols for building
   fault-tolerant and highly available client/server applications.  This
   document provides an overview of the protocols and mechanisms in the
   Reliable Server Pooling suite.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ....................................................3
   2. Aggregate Server Access Protocol (ASAP) Overview ................6
      2.1. Pool Initialization ........................................6
      2.2. Pool Entity Registration ...................................6
      2.3. Pool Entity Selection ......................................7
      2.4. Endpoint Keep-Alive ........................................7
      2.5. Failover Services ..........................................7
           2.5.1. Cookie Mechanism ....................................7
           2.5.2. Business Card Mechanism .............................8
   3. Endpoint Handlespace Redundancy Protocol (ENRP) Overview ........8
      3.1. Initialization .............................................8
      3.2. Server Discovery and Home Server Selection .................8
      3.3. Failure Detection, Handlespace Audit, and Synchronization ..9
      3.4. Server Takeover ............................................9
   4. Example Scenarios ...............................................9
      4.1. Example Scenario Using RSerPool Resolution Service .........9
      4.2. Example Scenario Using RSerPool Session Services ..........11
   5. Reference Implementation .......................................12
   6. Security Considerations ........................................12
   7. IANA Considerations ............................................12
   8. Acknowledgements ...............................................12
   9. References .....................................................13
      9.1. Normative References ......................................13
      9.2. Informative References ....................................13

1.  Introduction

   The Reliable Server Pooling (RSerPool) protocol suite is designed to
   provide client applications ("pool users") with the ability to select
   a server (a "pool element") from among a group of servers providing
   equivalent service (a "pool").  The protocols are currently targeted
   for Experimental Track.

   The RSerPool architecture supports high availability and load
   balancing by enabling a pool user to identify the most appropriate
   server from the server pool at a given time.  The architecture is
   defined to support a set of basic goals:

   o  application-independent protocol mechanisms

   o  separation of server naming from IP addressing

   o  use of the end-to-end principle to avoid dependencies on
      intermediate equipment

   o  separation of session availability/failover functionality from the
      application itself

   o  facilitation of different server selection policies

   o  facilitation of a set of application-independent failover
      capabilities

   o  peer-to-peer structure

   The basic components of the RSerPool architecture are shown in
   Figure 1 below:

                                           .......................
         ______          ______            .      +-------+      .
        / ENRP \        / ENRP \           .      |       |      .
        |Server| <----> |Server|<----------.----->|  PE 1 |      .
        \______/  ENRP  \______/  ASAP(1)  .      |       |      .
                           ^               .      +-------+      .
                           |               .                     .
                           | ASAP(2)       .     Server Pool     .
                           V               .                     .
                      +-------+            .      +-------+      .
                      |       |            .      |       |      .
                      |  PU   |<---------->.      |  PE 2 |      .
                      |       |  PU to PE  .      |       |      .
                      +-------+            .      +-------+      .
                                           .                     .
                                           .      +-------+      .
                                           .      |       |      .
                                           .      |  PE 3 |      .
                                           .      |       |      .
                                           .      +-------+      .
                                           .......................

                                 Figure 1

   A server pool is defined as a set of one or more servers providing
   the same application functionality.  The servers are called Pool
   Elements (PEs).  Multiple PEs in a server pool can be used to provide
   fault tolerance or load sharing, for example.  The PEs register into
   and de-register out of the pool at an entity called the Endpoint
   haNdlespace Redundancy Protocol (ENRP) server, using the Aggregate
   Server Access Protocol (ASAP) [RFC5352] (this association is labeled
   ASAP(1) in the figure).

   Each server pool is identified by a unique byte string called the
   pool handle (PH).  The pool handle allows a mapping from the pool to
   a specific PE located by its IP address (both IPv4 and IPv6 PE
   addresses are supported) and port number.  The pool handle is what is
   specified by the Pool User (PU) when it attempts to access a server
   in the pool.  To resolve the pool handle to the address necessary to
   access a PE, the PU consults an ENRP server using ASAP (this
   association is labeled ASAP(2) in the figure).  The space of pool
   handles is assumed to be a flat space with limited operational scope
   (see RFC 3237 [RFC3237]).  Administration of pool handles is not
   addressed by the RSerPool protocol documents at this time.  The
   protocols used between the PU and PE are application-specific.  It is
   assumed that the PU and PE are configured to support a common set of
   protocols for application layer communication, independent of the
   RSerPool mechanisms.

   RSerPool provides a number of tools to aid client migration between
   servers on server failure: it allows the client to identify
   alternative servers, either on initial discovery or in real time; it
   also allows the original server to provide a state cookie to the
   client that can be forwarded to an alternative server to provide
   application-specific state information.  This information is
   exchanged between the PE and PU directly, over the association
   labeled PU to PE in the figure.

   It is envisioned that ENRP servers provide a fully distributed and
   fault-tolerant registry service.  They use ENRP [RFC5353] to maintain
   synchronization of data concerning the pool handle mapping space.
   For PUs and PEs, the ENRP servers are functionally equal.  Due to the
   synchronization provided by ENRP, they can contact an arbitrary one
   for registration/de-registration (PE) or PH resolution (PU).  An
   illustration containing 3 ENRP servers is provided in Figure 2 below:

                          ______          _____
            ...          / ENRP \        / ENRP \          ...
          PEs/PUs  <---->|Server| <----> |Server|<---->  PEs/PUs
            ...     ASAP \______/  ENRP  \______/ ASAP     ...
                           ^                  ^
                           |                  |
                           |     / ENRP \     |
                           +---->|Server|<----+
                            ENRP \______/ ENRP
                                    ^
                                    | ASAP
                                    v
                                   ...
                                 PEs/PUs
                                   ...


                                    Figure 2

         The requirements for the Reliable Server Pooling framework are
         defined in RFC 3237 [RFC3237].  It is worth noting that the
         requirements on RSerPool in the area of load balancing
         partially overlap with grid computing/high-performance
         computing.  However, the scope of both areas is completely
         different: grid and high-performance computing also cover
         topics like managing different administrative domains, data
         locking and synchronization, inter-session communication, and
         resource accounting for powerful computation services, but the
         intention of RSerPool is simply a lightweight realization of
         load distribution and session management.  In particular, these
         functionalities are intended to be used on
         systems with small memory and CPU resources only.  Any further
         functionality is not in the scope of RSerPool and can -- if
         necessary -- be provided by the application itself.

         This document provides an overview of the RSerPool protocol
         suite, specifically the Aggregate Server Access Protocol (ASAP)
         [RFC5352] and the Endpoint Handlespace Redundancy Protocol
         (ENRP) [RFC5353].  In addition to the protocol specifications,
         there is a common parameter format specification [RFC5354] for
         both protocols, a definition of server selection rules (pool
         policies) [RFC5356], as well as a security threat analysis
         [RFC5355].

2.  Aggregate Server Access Protocol (ASAP) Overview

   ASAP defines a straightforward set of mechanisms necessary to support
   the creation and maintenance of pools of redundant servers.  These
   mechanisms include:

   o  registration of a new server into a server pool

   o  de-registration of an existing server from a pool

   o  resolution of a pool handle to a server or list of servers

   o  liveness detection for servers in a pool

   o  failover mechanisms for handling a server failure

2.1.  Pool Initialization

   Pools come into existence when a PE registers the first instance of
   the pool name with an ENRP server.  They disappear when the last PE
   de-registers.  In other words, the starting of the first PE on some
   machine causes the creation of the pool when the registration reaches
   the ENRP server.

   It is assumed that information needed for RSerPool, such as the
   address of an ENRP server to contact, is configured into the PE
   beforehand.  Methods of automating this configuration process are not
   addressed at this time.

2.2.  Pool Entity Registration

   A new server joins an existing pool by sending a Registration message
   via ASAP to an ENRP server, indicating the pool handle of the pool
   that it wishes to join, a PE identifier for itself (chosen randomly),
   information about its lifetime in the pool, and what transport
   protocols and selection policy it supports.  The ENRP server that it
   first contacts is called its Home ENRP server, and maintains a list
   of subscriptions by the PE as well as performs periodic audits to
   confirm that the PE is still responsive.

   Similar procedures are applied to de-register itself from the server
   pool (or, alternatively, the server may simply let the lifetime that
   it previously registered with expire, after which it is gracefully
   removed from the pool).

2.3.  Pool Entity Selection

   When an endpoint wishes to be connected to a server in the pool, it
   generates an ASAP Handle Resolution message and sends this to its
   Home ENRP server.  The ENRP server resolves the handle based on its
   knowledge of pool servers and returns a Handle Resolution Response
   message via ASAP.  The response contains a list of the IP addresses
   of one or more servers in the pool that can be contacted.  The
   process by which the list of servers is created may involve a number
   of policies for server selection.  The RSerPool protocol suite
   defines a few basic policies and allows the use of external server
   selection input for more complex policies.

2.4.  Endpoint Keep-Alive

   ENRP servers monitor the status of pool elements using the ASAP
   Endpoint Keep-Alive message.  A PE responds to the ASAP Keep-Alive
   message with an Endpoint Keep-Alive Ack response.

   In addition, a PU can notify its Home ENRP server that the PE it used
   has become unresponsive by sending an ASAP Endpoint Unreachable
   message to the ENRP server.

2.5.  Failover Services

   While maintaining application-independence, the RSerPool protocol
   suite provides some simple hooks for supporting failover of an
   individual session with a pool element.  Generally, mechanisms for
   failover that rely on application state or transaction status cannot
   be defined without more specific knowledge of the application being
   supported.  However, some simple mechanisms supported by RSerPool
   allow some level of failover that any application can use.

2.5.1.  Cookie Mechanism

   Cookies may optionally be generated by the ASAP layer and
   periodically sent from the PE to the PU.  The PU only stores the last
   received cookie.  In case of failover, the PU sends this last
   received cookie to the new PE.  This method provides a simple way of
   state sharing between the PEs.  Please note that the old PE should
   sign the cookie, and the receiving PE should verify that signature.
   For the PU, the cookie has no structure and is only stored and
   transmitted to the new PE.

2.5.2.  Business Card Mechanism

   A PE can send a business card to its peer (PE or PU) containing its
   pool handle and guidance concerning which other PEs the peer should
   use for failover.  This gives a PE a means of telling a PU what it
   identifies as the "next best" PE to use in case of failure, which may
   be based on pool considerations, such as load balancing, or user
   considerations, such as PEs that have the most up-to-date state
   information.

3.  Endpoint Handlespace Redundancy Protocol (ENRP) Overview

   A set of server pools, which is denoted as a handlespace, is managed
   by ENRP servers.  Pools are not valid in the whole Internet but only
   in smaller domains, called the operational scope.  The ENRP servers
   use the ENRP protocol in order to maintain a distributed, fault-
   tolerant, real-time registry service.  ENRP servers communicate with
   each other for information exchange, such as pool membership changes,
   handlespace data synchronization, etc.

3.1.  Initialization

   Each ENRP server initially generates a 32-bit server ID that it uses
   in subsequent messaging and remains unchanged over the lifetime of
   the server.  It then attempts to learn all of the other ENRP servers
   within the scope of the server pool, either by using a pre-defined
   Mentor server or by sending out Presence messages on a well-known
   multicast channel in order to determine other ENRP servers from the
   responses and select one as Mentor.  A Mentor can be any peer ENRP
   server.  The most current handlespace data is requested by Handle
   Table Requests from the Mentor.  The received answer in the form of
   Handle Table Response messages is unpacked into the local database.
   After that, the ENRP server is ready to provide ENRP services.

3.2.  Server Discovery and Home Server Selection

   PEs can now register their presence with the newly functioning ENRP
   server by using ASAP messages.  They discover the new ENRP server
   after the server sends out an ASAP Server Announce message on the
   well-known ASAP multicast channel.  PEs only have to register with
   one ENRP server, as other ENRP servers supporting the pool will
   synchronize their knowledge about pool elements using the ENRP
   protocol.

   The PE may have a configured list of ENRP servers to talk to, in the
   form of a list of IP addresses, in which case it will start to set up
   associations with some number of them and assign the first one that
   responds to it as its Home ENRP server.

   Alternatively, it can listen on the multicast channel for a set
   period, and when it hears an ENRP server, start an association.  The
   first server it gets up can then become its Home ENRP server.

3.3.  Failure Detection, Handlespace Audit, and Synchronization

   ENRP servers send ENRP Presence messages to all of their peers in
   order to show their liveness.  These Presence messages also include a
   checksum computed over all PE identities for which the ENRP server is
   in the role of a Home ENRP server.  Each ENRP server maintains an up-
   to-date list of its peers and can also compute the checksum expected
   from a certain peer, according to its local handlespace database.  By
   comparing the expected sum and the sum reported by a peer (denoted as
   handlespace audit), an inconsistency can be detected.  In such a
   case, the handlespace -- restricted to the PEs owned by that peer --
   can be requested for synchronization, analogously to Section 3.2.

3.4.  Server Takeover

   If the unresponsiveness of an ENRP server is detected, the remaining
   ENRP servers negotiate which other server takes over the Home ENRP
   role for the PEs of the failed peer.  After reaching a consensus on
   the takeover, the ENRP server taking over these PEs sends a
   notification to its peers (via ENRP) as well as to the PEs taken over
   (via ASAP).

4.  Example Scenarios

4.1.  Example Scenario Using RSerPool Resolution Service

   RSerPool can be used in a 'standalone' manner, where the application
   uses RSerPool to determine the address of a primary server in the
   pool, and then interacts directly with that server without further
   use of RSerPool services.  If the initial server fails, the
   application uses RSerPool again to find the next server in the pool.

   For pool user ("client") applications, if an ASAP implementation is
   available on the client system, there are typically only three
   modifications required to the application source code:

   1.  Instead of specifying the hostnames of primary, secondary,
       tertiary servers, etc., the application user specifies a pool
       handle.

   2.  Instead of using a DNS-based service (e.g., the Unix library
       function getaddrinfo()) to translate from a hostname to an IP
       address, the application will invoke an RSerPool service
       primitive provisionally named GETPRIMARYSERVER that takes a pool
       handle as input, and returns the IP address of the primary
       server.  The application then uses that IP address just as it
       would have used the IP address returned by the DNS in the
       previous scenario.

   3.  Without the use of additional RSerPool services, failure
       detection and failover procedures must be designed into each
       application.  However, when failure is detected on the primary
       server, instead of invoking DNS translation again on the hostname
       of a secondary server, the application invokes a service
       primitive provisionally named GETNEXTSERVER, which performs two
       functions in a single operation.

       1.  First, it indicates to the RSerPool layer the failure of the
           server returned by a previous GETPRIMARYSERVER or
           GETNEXTSERVER call.

       2.  Second, it provides the IP address of the next server that
           should be contacted, according to the best information
           available to the RSerPool layer at the present time (e.g.,
           set of available pool elements, pool element policy in effect
           for the pool, etc.).

   Note: at the time of this document, a full API for use with RSerPool
   protocols has not yet been defined.

   For pool element ("server") applications where an ASAP implementation
   is available, two changes are required to the application source
   code:

   1.  The server should invoke the REGISTER service primitive upon
       startup to add itself into the server pool using an appropriate
       pool handle.  This also includes the address(es) protocol or
       mapping id, port (if required by the mapping), and pooling policy
       (or policies).

   2.  The server should invoke the DEREGISTER service primitive to
       remove itself from the server pool when shutting down.

   When using these RSerPool services, RSerPool provides benefits that
   are limited (as compared to utilizing all services), but nevertheless
   quite useful as compared to not using RSerPool at all.  First, the
   client user need only supply a single string, i.e., the pool handle,
   rather than a list of servers.  Second, the decision as to which
   server is to be used can be determined dynamically by the server
   selection mechanism (i.e., a "pool policy" performed by ASAP; see
   ASAP [RFC5352]).  Finally, when failures occur, these are reported to
   the pool via signaling present in ASAP [RFC5352] and ENRP [RFC5353];
   other clients will eventually know (once this failure is confirmed by
   other elements of the RSerPool architecture) that this server has
   failed.

4.2.  Example Scenario Using RSerPool Session Services

   When the full suite of RSerPool services is used, all communication
   between the pool user and the pool element is mediated by the
   RSerPool framework, including session establishment and teardown, and
   the sending and receiving of data.  Accordingly, it is necessary to
   modify the application to use the service primitives (i.e., the API)
   provided by RSerPool, rather than the transport layer primitives
   provided by TCP, Stream Control Transmission Protocol (SCTP), or
   whatever transport protocol is being used.

   As in the previous case, sessions (rather than connections or
   associations) are established, and the destination endpoint is
   specified as a pool handle rather than as a list of IP addresses with
   a port number.  However, failover from one pool element to another is
   fully automatic, and can be transparent to the application (so long
   as the application has saved enough state in a state cookie):

      The RSerPool framework control channel provides maintenance
      functions to keep pool element lists, policies, etc. current.

      Since the application data (e.g., data channel) is managed by the
      RSerPool framework, unsent data (data not yet submitted by
      RSerPool to the underlying transport protocol) is automatically
      redirected to the newly selected pool element upon failover.  If
      the underlying transport layer supports retrieval of unsent data
      (as in SCTP), retrieved unsent data can also be automatically
      re-sent to the newly selected pool element.

      An application server (pool element) can provide a state cookie
      (described in Section 2.5.1) that is automatically passed on to
      another pool element (by the ASAP layer at the pool user) in the
      event of a failover.  This state cookie can be used to assist the
      application at the new pool element in recreating whatever state
      is needed to continue a session or transaction that was
      interrupted by a failure in the communication between a pool user
      and the original pool element.

      The application client (pool user) can provide a callback function
      that is invoked on the pool user side in the case of a failover.
      This callback function can execute any application-specific
      failover code, such as generating a special message (or sequence
      of messages) that helps the new pool element construct any state
      needed to continue an in-process session.

      Suppose in a particular peer-to-peer application, PU A is
      communicating with PE B, and it so happens that PU A is also a PE
      in pool X.  PU A can pass a "business card" to PE B identifying it
      as a member of pool X.  In the event of a failure at A, or a
      failure in the communication link between A and B, PE B can use
      the information in the business card to contact an equivalent PE
      to PU A from pool X.

      Additionally, if the application at PU A is aware of some
      particular PEs of pool X that would be preferred for B to contact
      in the event that A becomes unreachable from B, PU A can provide
      that list to the ASAP layer, and it will be included in A's
      business card (see Section 2.5.2).

5.  Reference Implementation

   A reference implementation of RSerPool is available at [RSerPoolPage]
   and described in [Dre2006].

6.  Security Considerations

   This document does not identify security requirements beyond those
   already documented in the ENRP and ASAP protocol specifications.  A
   security threat analysis of RSerPool is provided in THREATS
   [RFC5355].

7.  IANA Considerations

   This document does not require additional IANA actions beyond those
   already identified in the ENRP [RFC5353] and ASAP [RFC5352] protocol
   specifications.

8.  Acknowledgements

   The authors wish to thank Maureen Stillman, Qiaobing Xie, Randall
   Stewart, Scott Bradner, and many others for their invaluable
   comments.

9.  References

9.1.  Normative References

   [RFC3237]       Tuexen, M., Xie, Q., Stewart, R., Shore, M., Ong, L.,
                   Loughney, J., and M. Stillman, "Requirements for
                   Reliable Server Pooling", RFC 3237, January 2002.

   [RFC5352]       Stewart, R., Xie, Q., Stillman, M., and M. Tuexen,
                   "Aggregate Server Access Protocol (ASAP)", RFC 5352,
                   September 2008.

   [RFC5353]       Xie, Q., Stewart, R., Stillman, M., Tuexen, M., and
                   A. Silverton, "Endpoint Handlespace Redundancy
                   Protocol (ENRP)", RFC 5353, September 2008.

   [RFC5354]       Stewart, R., Xie, Q., Stillman, M., and M. Tuexen,
                   "Aggregate Server Access Protocol (ASAP) and Endpoint
                   Handlespace Redundancy Protocol (ENRP) Parameters",
                   RFC 5354, September 2008.

   [RFC5355]       Stillman, M., Ed., Gopal, R., Guttman, E., Holdrege,
                   M., and S. Sengodan, "Threats Introduced by Reliable
                   Server Pooling (RSerPool) and Requirements for
                   Security in Response to Threats", RFC 5355,
                   September 2008.

   [RFC5356]       Dreibholz, T. and M. Tuexen, "Reliable Server Pooling
                   Policies", RFC 5356, September 2008.

9.2.  Informative References

   [RSerPoolPage]  Dreibholz, T., "Thomas Dreibholz's RSerPool Page",
                   <http://tdrwww.iem.uni-due.de/dreibholz/rserpool/>.

   [Dre2006]       Dreibholz, T., "Reliable Server Pooling --
                   Evaluation, Optimization and Extension of a Novel
                   IETF Architecture", Ph.D. Thesis University of
                   Duisburg-Essen, Faculty of Economics, Institute for
                   Computer Science and Business Information Systems,
                   March 2007, <http://duepublico.uni-duisburg-essen.de/
                   servlets/DerivateServlet/Derivate-16326/
                   Dre2006-final.pdf>.

Authors' Addresses

   Peter Lei
   Cisco Systems, Inc.
   955 Happfield Dr.
   Arlington Heights, IL  60004
   US

   Phone: +1 773 695-8201
   EMail: peterlei@cisco.com


   Lyndon Ong
   Ciena Corporation
   PO Box 308
   Cupertino, CA  95015
   US

   EMail: Lyong@Ciena.com


   Michael Tuexen
   Muenster Univ. of Applied Sciences
   Stegerwaldstr. 39
   48565 Steinfurt
   Germany

   EMail: tuexen@fh-muenster.de


   Thomas Dreibholz
   University of Duisburg-Essen, Institute for Experimental Mathematics
   Ellernstrasse 29
   45326 Essen, Nordrhein-Westfalen
   Germany

   Phone: +49 201 183-7637
   Fax:   +49 201 183-7673
   EMail: dreibh@iem.uni-due.de
   URI:   http://www.iem.uni-due.de/~dreibh/

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