Greetings. As a result of the IAB/IESG nomination/confirmation process
established by the POISED working group, I now find myself in the role of "Area
Director for Network Management" on the IESG.
The NM area has lacked an AD for approximately two months. Things have been
piling up. I am posting the following status report for two reasons:
- to inform the community as to where I think things stand; and,
- to find out if I've missed something
Please reply to me directly.
/mtr
Getting to know the new NM AD
-----------------------------
I am Principal of a consultancy corporation: 50% of my time is devoted to
clients, 50% to community service. The clients neither fund nor direct any
community service. The corporation supports my participation on the IESG
solely as a matter of community service.
For over a year now, I have been publishing a bi-monthly newsletter on SNMP
(with the help of several hard-working contributors). This activity, The
Simple Times, will continue. However, The Simple Times will remain independent
of my role as NM AD. I will continue to use the appropriate IETF mailing lists
in my role as NM AD. I will also use the SNMP mailing list for periodic
updates on the NM area.
There are many demands on my community service time. By taking the role of NM
AD, these other activities are going to suffer, e.g., I probably won't be
answering "random" questions on mailing lists.
The NM Area Directorate
-----------------------
The NM area has a Directorate. The role of the NM-Directorate is three-fold:
- to consider strategic evolution of the SNMP framework;
- to provide architectural and engineering guidance to working groups
which develop MIB modules, at the earliest possible stages; and,
- to help the NM AD in reviewing submitted I-Ds.
The current NM-Directorate membership is:
Fred Baker, Ted Brunner, Jeff Case, Keith McCloghrie, Dave Perkins,
Bob Stewart, and Steve Waldbusser
The NM-Directorate is an advisory entity and has no standards-setting powers.
The meetings of the NM-Directorate are closed. The members of the
NM-Directorate are appointed by the NM AD.
For the first role, strategic evolution, the NM-Directorate considers "what
needs to be done next". Of course, strategic issues may also be pursued in
BOF's at IETF meetings, independently of the NM-Directorate. Alternately, you
can send a message to me and I will forward it to the NM-Directorate.
For the second role, whenever a WG will be developing a MIB module as a part
of their chartered activities, a member of the NM-Directorate will be asked to
participate in that WG, to provide expert consultation with respect to SNMP,
MIB module design, and standards development. This assignment will be a
matter of record in the charter.
Finally, for the third role, once a MIB module is completed by a WG, the IESG
asks the NM-Directorate to review the document. My hope is that this will be
a pro-forma review--after all, a member of the NM-Directorate should
have been assigned to help the WG during their development effort.
The directorate is currently evaluating several I-Ds, prior to submission to
the IESG for standards evaluation:
draft-ietf-bridge-objects-01.txt
draft-ietf-dns-mibext-05.txt
draft-ietf-pppext-bridgemib-01.txt
draft-ietf-pppext-ipcpmib-01.txt
draft-ietf-pppext-lcpmib-01.txt
draft-ietf-pppext-secmib-01.txt
draft-ietf-x25mib-ipox25mib-04.txt
With the exception of the DNS MIB, which is much larger than the others,
I hope to have all of these before the IESG by month's end.
SNMPv2 and MIB modules
----------------------
This topic is being discussed by the NM-Directorate. Until such time as a
resolution is reached, here is the interim policy.
From now until August 2, 1993:
Any MIB module submitted by a WG must use the SNMPv1 SMI (RFCs 1155 and
1212), taking special care to minimize the transformation necessary to use
the SNMPv2 SMI.
From August 2, 1993 until the SNMPv2 SMI is a draft Internet-standard:
All new MIB modules submitted by a WG for standardization must use the
SNMPv2 SMI. However, the following SNMPv2 syntaxes may not be used: BIT
STRING, Counter64, or UInteger32 (either directly or through a textual
convention). Further, any existing MIB modules updated by a WG must be
evaluated and possibly changed to minimize the transformation necessary to
use the SNMPv2 SMI.
Once the SNMPv2 SMI is a draft Internet-standard:
All new MIB modules submitted by a WG for standardization must use the
SNMPv2 SMI, and are allowed to use any SNMPv2 syntax. Further, any MIB
existing modules on the standards-track which use the SNMPv1 SMI will be
modified to use the SNMPv2 SMI, making the smallest possible set of
changes. In most cases, this means that only the IMPORTS statement of the
MIB module will change.
In addition, from August 2, 1993 onward:
Whenever a WG works on a MIB module (either developing it or advancing it
along the standards-track), that WG will be responsible for producing a
conformance statement, in a separate document, for that MIB.
Working Groups
--------------
A working group is either active or inactive. Active working groups have
charters to develop documents. Inactive working groups have no charter --
typically because they have completed their previous charter. These inactive
working groups (and their mailing lists) serve as a forum for implementors.
When a standards-track document produced by a working group is ready for
further evaluation or new documents are appropriate, the working group is
re-chartered accordingly.
AToM MIB (atommib)
Chair(s): Kaj Tesink <kaj(_at_)cc(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com>
Consultant:Keith McCloghrie <kzm(_at_)hls(_dot_)com>
WG mail: atommib(_at_)thumper(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com
To Join: atommib-request(_at_)thumper(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com
Active: beginning
This working group is now chartered.
Bridge MIB (bridge)
Chair(s): Fred Baker <fbaker(_at_)acc(_dot_)com>
WG mail: bridge-mib(_at_)decwrl(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
To Join: bridge-mib-request(_at_)decwrl(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
Active: submitted draft-ietf-bridge-objects-01.txt for draft standard
The working group is developing a Source Routing MIB.
Character MIB (charmib)
Chair(s): Bob Stewart <rlstewart(_at_)eng(_dot_)xyplex(_dot_)com>
WG mail: char-mib(_at_)decwrl(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
To Join: char-mib-request(_at_)decwrl(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
Active: Re-activated
Re-activated to evaluate RFCs 1316-1318 with respect to the standards track.
Chassis MIB (chassis)
Chair(s): Bob Stewart <rlstewart(_at_)eng(_dot_)xyplex(_dot_)com>
Jeffrey Case <case(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: chassismib(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
To Join: chassismib-request(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
Active: editing draft-ietf-chassis-mib-00.txt
The working group met in Columbus and is developing the next version of
the draft.
DECnet Phase IV MIB (decnetiv)
Chair(s): Jon Saperia <saperia(_at_)tcpjon(_dot_)lkg(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com>
WG mail: phiv-mib(_at_)jove(_dot_)pa(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
To Join: phiv-mib-request(_at_)jove(_dot_)pa(_dot_)dec(_dot_)com
Active: Re-activated
Re-activated to evaluate RFC 1289 with respect to the standards track.
FDDI MIB (fddimib)
Chair(s): Jeffrey Case <case(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: fddi-mib(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
To Join: fddi-mib-request(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
Active: editing draft-ietf-fddimib-objects-01.txt
The working group met in Columbus and is developing the next version of the
draft.
Host Resources MIB (hostmib)
Chair(s): Steven Waldbusser <waldbusser(_at_)andrew(_dot_)cmu(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: hostmib(_at_)andrew(_dot_)cmu(_dot_)edu
To Join: hostmib-request(_at_)andrew(_dot_)cmu(_dot_)edu
Done: final I-D in preparation
Consensus reached in the working group, but draft not yet submitted.
IEEE 802.3 Hub MIB (hubmib)
Chair(s): Keith McCloghrie <kzm(_at_)hls(_dot_)com>
Donna McMaster <mcmaster(_at_)synoptics(_dot_)com>
WG mail: hubmib(_at_)synoptics(_dot_)com
To Join: hubmib-request(_at_)synoptics(_dot_)com
Active: editing draft-ietf-hubmib-mau-01.txt
The working group met in Columbus and is developing the next version of the
draft.
In addition, RFC 1368 is now eligible for further evaluation for the standards
track. Once the WG finishes the MAU MIB, I'll draft a revision to its charter
so that it can work on evaluating RFC 1368 for standards track advancement.
Modem Management (modemmgt)
Chair(s): Mark S. Lewis <Mark(_dot_)S(_dot_)Lewis(_at_)Telebit(_dot_)COM>
Consultant:Steven Waldbusser <waldbusser(_at_)andrew(_dot_)cmu(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: modemmgt(_at_)Telebit(_dot_)com
To Join: majordomo(_at_)Telebit(_dot_)com
Active: beginning
This working group is now chartered.
Remote Monitoring (rmonmib)
Chair(s): Michael Erlinger <mike(_at_)jarthur(_dot_)claremont(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: rmonmib(_at_)lexcel(_dot_)com
To Join: rmonmib-request(_at_)lexcel(_dot_)com
Inactive: awaiting the next stage for RFC 1271 (proposed standard)
The working group is eligible to re-activate now, a charter is being prepared.
SNMP Version 2 (snmpv2)
Chair(s): Bob Stewart <rlstewart(_at_)eng(_dot_)xyplex(_dot_)com>
WG mail: snmp2(_at_)thumper(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com
To Join: snmp2-request(_at_)thumper(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com
Inactive: awaiting the next stage for SNMPv2 RFCs (proposed standard)
The I-Ds produced by this WG and the SNMP Security WG were approved by
the IESG as proposed standards and are in the process of RFC
publication. Because of coordination problems, the SNMPv2 WG will be
given responsibility for all the I-Ds, and the SNMP Security WG will be
disbanded.
Due to demands on my time, I will be unable to continue as editor for these
documents. As such, Keith McCloghrie is designated as editor.
The working group should re-activate in September. Prior to this, Keith is
actioned to prepare re-writes of the ADMIN and SEC documents, to improve
readability, but not change technical content.
Token Ring Remote Monitoring (trmon)
Chair(s): Michael Erlinger <mike(_at_)jarthur(_dot_)claremont(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: rmonmib(_at_)lexcel(_dot_)com
To Join: rmonmib-request(_at_)lexcel(_dot_)com
Active: editing
The working group met in Columbus and is developing the next version of the
draft.
Trunk MIB (trunkmib)
Chair(s): Fred Baker <fbaker(_at_)acc(_dot_)com>
Tracy Cox <tacox(_at_)mail(_dot_)bellcore(_dot_)com>
WG mail: trunk-mib(_at_)saffron(_dot_)acc(_dot_)com
To Join: trunk-mib-request(_at_)saffron(_dot_)acc(_dot_)com
Inactive: awaiting the next stage for RFCs 1406, 1407 (proposed standard)
The working group should re-activate in June.
Uninterruptible Power Supply (upsmib)
Chair(s): Jeff Case <case(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu>
WG mail: ups-mib(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
To Join: ups-mib-request(_at_)cs(_dot_)utk(_dot_)edu
Active: editing
The working group met in Columbus and is developing the next version of the
draft.
X.25 Management Information Base (x25mib)
Chair(s): Dean Throop <throop(_at_)dg-rtp(_dot_)dg(_dot_)com>
WG mail: x25mib(_at_)dg-rtp(_dot_)dg(_dot_)com
To Join: x25mib-request(_at_)dg-rtp(_dot_)dg(_dot_)com
Done: submitted draft-ietf-x25mib-ipox25mib-04.txt for proposed standard
In May, RFCs 1381, 1382 will be available for further evaluation for the
standards track.
Other things awaiting work
--------------------------
Six NM-related BOFs met in Columbus. Five of the six concluded with
consensus that a WG should be formed:
ATM MIB (atommib)
Frame Relay Service MIB (frnetmib)
Mail and Directory Management (madman)
Modem Management (modemmgt)
SNA MIB (snamib)
Two of these have already been chartered (atommib and modemmgt). I am
in the process of preparing charters for the other three. I hope to
have the resulting charters approved by the IESG by month's end.
The sixth BOF is
E-Mail Management (emailmgt)
which is really an IFIP working group (WG6.5) that happens to meet when the
IETF meetings, so no further action is needed.
The following MIB modules are eligible for further evaluation for the standards
track. However, they lack a working group. I will consult with the IESG to
charter an "interfaces MIB" working group.
RFC 1229 - Extensions to the generic-interface MIB
RFC 1231 - IEEE 802.5 Token Ring Interface Type MIB
RFC 1304 - SMDS Interface Protocol (SIP) Interface Type MIB
I also expect that this WG could deal with evaluating the ether-like MIB
(RFC 1398) when it is eligible in July.
Here is a list of MIB modules defined by WGs outside of the NM area. This list
will be provided to the appropriate AD for action.
RFC MIB Module WG Eligible
---- ---------------------------------- ------- --------
1243 AppleTalk MIB appleip now
1253 OSPF version 2 MIB ospf now
1269 BGP version 3 MIB bgp now
1315 Frame Relay DTE Interface Type MIB iplpdn now
1354 SNMP IP Forwarding Table MIB rreq now
1389 RIPv2 MIB rip2 July
1414 Identification MIB ident August
Finally, the work of the multi-protocol SNMP WG will need to be advanced in
September.
RFC SNMPv1 Mapping WG Eligible
---- ---------------------------------- ------- --------
1418 SNMP over OSI mpsnmp September
1419 SNMP over AppleTalk mpsnmp September
1420 SNMP over IPX mpsnmp September