CISCO-PFR-MIB
This MIB module defines objects that describe Performance Routing (PfR). Standard routing protocols base routing decisions on reachability and the number of hops between the source and destination networks. PfR collects and analyzes other performance data, such as delay, loss, jitter, MOS, and link utilization, which allows it to make routing decisions based on policies defined by the network administrator. Glossary ======== PfR Performance Routing. MC PfR Master Controller. BR PfR Border Router. DRIP Dynamic Router Interaction Protocol. TC PfR Traffic Class. IPSLA IP Service Level Agreement (active probing). Exit PfR external interface. Link Group PfR logical grouping of exits to narrow down potential exits for a TC to use. Cost Minimization PfR feature that assigns costs to exits and minimizes the overall monetary cost for a TC Rollup Data collection for monetary cost calculation for all available exits. DSCP Diff-Serv Control Point. PfR Policy Global PfR policy defined under PfR master. TC policy defined under PfR map. PfR Map Container for a PfR policy. MOS Mean opinion score PBR Policy based routing. PBR uses route map to enforce the routing decision made by PfR. PfR Elements ============ A PfR system consists of a Master Controller (MC) and one or more Border Routers (BRs). The MC is a hardware or software entity that is not in the data path. A BR is a software entity in the data path, typically running on an edge router. The MC and BRs communicate with each other over a socket interface using the Dynamic Router Interaction Protocol (DRIP). The MC sends commands to the BRs related to PfR Policies and the monitoring of PfR traffic classes (TCs). The BRs send performance data gathered using either 'passive data' provided by NetFlow, 'active data' provided by sending artificial probes that are created using IPSLA APIs, or both, depending on the PfR policies configured on the MC. This MIB module describes a MC object as a single row in the cpfrMCTable and the BR object as a single row in the cpfrBRTable. PfR Exits ========= A PfR system must have at least two interfaces (i.e., exits) configured as 'external interfaces' over which a TC's destination network is reachable in order for PfR to function. These two exits can be on the same BR or on different BRs. +------+ +------+ |----> Exit 1 | MC | ---- | BR | ---- | +------+ +------+ |----> Exit 2 **** OR **** +------+ | ---- | BR | ----> Exit 1 +------+ | +------+ | MC | ---- | +------+ | +------+ | ---- | BR | ----> Exit 2 +------+ PfR can assign these exits to different PfR Link Groups. A PfR exit can be in at most three Link Groups at one time. (See 'PfR Policies' below). This MIB module describes a PfR exit as a single row in the cpfrExitTable and a cost minimization policy of an exit as a single row of the cpfrExitCostTierTable. PfR Traffic Classes =================== A traffic class is a generic term for a set of traffic flows coming into or going out of a network that have a common characteristic, such as destination address, source address, application, or DSCP value. The simplest form of a TC is 'all traffic going to the same destination prefix'. Additional parameters defines more specific TCs. PfR monitors the TCs that are specified either by enabling PfR learn mode or by direct configuration in a PfR map. PfR can learn TCs with the highest throughput, with the highest delay, with a destination address inside the PfR network, or TCs that matches a configured PfR Learn List. The BRs use iBGP to obtain information about 'inside TCs'. A PfR map specifies TCs to which the policy applies by configuring match clause. This MIB module describes a PfR TC as a single row in the cpfrTrafficClassTable and current status of a TC as a single row of the cpfrTrafficClassStatusTable, and performance metrics gathered for a specific TC as a single row of the cpfrTrafficClassMetricsTable. PfR Policies ============ A PfR policy describes the performance metrics the router is to gather, how to gather these metrics, how frequently it should gather these metrics, and how these metrics influence routing decisions. Once enabled, PfR provides a global default PfR policy. A PfR policy can be configured to use one link group as a 'primary' and one as a 'fallback' link group. If PfR determines that a TC has gone 'Out of Policy' based on the current PfR policy, it attempts to move the TC to an exit in the same primary link group, and only moves it to an exit in the fallback link group, if configured, if no exit in the primary link group is 'In Policy'. This MIB module describes a PfR map policy in a single row of the cpfrMapTable and a match clause configured for a specific PfR map as a single row of the cpfrMatchTable.