[6bone] pTLA for Teredo testing - review closes 7 August 2002

[Michel Py]

Thomas,

> Thomas Narten wrote:
> Let me step back a bit and summarize my general concern.
> [SNIP]

I generally agree with your posting, save for the following, to be
placed in the context of generic 6bone testing prefixes, _not_ of the
Teredo case.

> But until the draft has received adequate review and there
> is consensus that the work should go forward, I do not believe
> we (either IANA and 6bone) should be giving out a prefix for
> testing

I would make a difference between the 6bone and the IANA here. The 6bone
is for experimental purposes, and experimental means testing things that
we don't know if they are working or not.

More specifically, there are things such as new operational practices or
new ways to allocate addresses that are extremely difficult or
impossible to simulate in a lab environment and require larger scale
testing.


> If the experiment were designed to better understand some
> aspects that can only be determined through actual testing
> (while folks were generally in agreement that the testing
> itself poses no dangers), that would be one thing.

This is what I mean by testing, and I fully agree with attaching strings
to test prefixes, such as the ones you mentioned:

> how it will be terminated in a reasonable time frame,
> what the criteria is for deciding whether the experiment
  is a success or failure,
> how the scope of the experiment will be limited to some
  known size
> how we can ensure that the experiment doesn't just become
  actual deployment even if the experiment produces
  negative results.

And I would add that:

- Milestones, deadlines and/or periodic reviews/reassessments are
reasonable requirements to me.

- Depending on the consequences of the experiment on the global routing
table (or on the percept danger of testing), the experiment can be made
optional, which means that it would be OK for anyone to block the
experimental/test prefix.

- The experiment can't be considered a success if it does not end up
with IANA allocating a permanent prefix to replace the 6bone test
prefix.

In other words, there is a lot of unknown in front of us at this time,
and it would be a shame to miss something that never succeeded because
it was not possible to test it.

It is in line with the 6bone spirit, and there is value in a fast track
to perishable prefixes for testing purposes, if the testing occurs in a
controlled fashion, and if in the end the decision to allocate a
permanent prefix and therefore the success of the test/experiment is in
the hands of the IANA.


Michel.