Document: draft-ietf-nmop-terminology Title: Some Key Terms for Network Fault and Problem Management Reviewer: Tim Bray Review result: On the Right Track This is the ART Area last-call review. I may not be the ideal reviewer as I'm not a networking specialist. I'm going to report lots of things that I didn't understand and it would be perfectly acceptable for almost any of them to just say that it'd be obvious to the intended audience of network specialists. But reporting can't hurt. I will make one general comment: I'm pretty sure that more examples would be helpful. 1. Introduction "Network management comprises a virtuous circle..." I've seen plenty of networks which were "managed" without any of this stuff. Not effectively or well. So Perhaps begin the sentence with "Effective Network management comprises…". Or, given the ending of the previous sentence, maybe just "This requires a virtuous circle..." 3.1 I didn't understand "categorized into network planes" 3.2 "Characteristic" - this subsection might benefit from an example? Also applies to other terms defined in 3.2. Does a Characteristic necessarily have a name or other identifier? Feels sort of necessary. And wouldn't it have an expected type? Numeric/boolean/enumerated-value? 3.2 "Event" - suppose I get a 4x packet-rate surge over the course of ten seconds. Per this definition, this could not constitute an Event? I guess that's a Change not an Event? This definition feels shaky because by definition you can't have a change at a moment in time, there has to be a delta-T to observe a change. Do you really need both Change and Event? Ah, upon reading section 4, I get the impression that an Event can be when a Change is noticed/reported? Maybe say that here? 3.2 "Condition" - "Thus, it is the output of a function". Hmm, the word "function" has a mathematical meaning (which I think works here) and a software meaning (which could also work here). Is the definition meant to constrain how the condition is detected/generated? I think "interpretation" in the 1st sentence is nice and clear and it's not obvious the second sentence adds value. 3.2 "State" - the border between State and Condition feels fuzzy. Is a State just a selection of Characteristics/Values? Also, an example of a Condition is "low available memory" and then the definition of State includes "that may determine the State of the router, such as shortage of memory." Problem? 3.2 "Fault" - I didn't understand the explanation of the difference betwen Fault and Problem. In particular the phrase "from the perspective of managing the network resources". 3.2 "Problem" - does the existence of a Problem regularly or even necessarily require human judgment? The language suggests so. 3.2 "Cause" - so a Change can't give rise to a Fault or Problem? Just Event(s)? 3.2 "Symptom" - a Change can't be a Symptom? -- last-call mailing list -- last-call@xxxxxxxx To unsubscribe send an email to last-call-leave@xxxxxxxx
