RBFS Operation, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM)

Overview

OAM (Operations, Administration, and Management) refers to a collection of functions, standards, and tools designed for network diagnostics, fault indication, performance monitoring, and more. The primary purpose of OAM is to enable effective monitoring and rapid restoration of a network in the event of a failure.

RBFS offers various OAM features which include:

  • IP Ping

  • IP Traceroute

  • IP Ping over an MPLS Transport

  • IP Traceroute over an MPLS Transport

  • MPLS LSP Ping

  • Ethernet Connectivity Fault Management

MPLS LSP Ping

RBFS supports MPLS LSP (Label Switched Path) Ping that enables administrators to verify an LSP. LSP Ping works by sending packets through chosen LSP to a specific destination (remote endpoint) and checks for a response. It helps to identify if a Label Switched Path is disrupted.

A labeled packet (echo request) is sent towards a destination FEC to verify that this packet terminates at the correct egress LSR that services the FEC. If the egress node’s Echo Reply message is recieved, it confirms that the LSP is established successfully.

MPLS LSP ping currently supports IS-IS for both IPv4 and IPv6 SID-Index, as well as LDP protocol for IPv4 and IPv6 FECs.

Ethernet Connectivity Fault Management

RBFS supports Connectivity Fault Management (CFM) that functions as an Ethernet layer Operations, Administration, and Maintenance (OAM) protocol. This feature enables connectivity monitoring, fault verification, and isolation, thereby ensuring network reliability.

CFM is used to detect, verify, and isolate connectivity issues within Ethernet networks. It operates over Ethernet, and utilizes Ethernet frames for communication.

Nexthop Tracking

RBFS supports nexthop tracking functionality based on CFM (Connectivity Fault Management) session status. It tracks the reachability of nexthop devices on a network path when CFM is enabled. The functionality enables detection of routing failures by continuously monitoring the availability and responsiveness of nexthop nodes.

CFM next-hop tracking is not supported for MPLS, VPN, IPv4 and IPv6 labeled unicast address families.

Supported Platforms

Not all features are necessarily supported on each hardware platform. Refer to the Platform Guide for the features and the sub-features that are or are not supported by each platform.