





Network Working Group                                       A. Emberson
Request for Comments: 2090                   Lanworks Technologies Inc.
Category: Experimental                                    February 1997


                         TFTP Multicast Option

Status of this Memo

   This memo defines an Experimental Protocol for the Internet
   community.  This memo does not specify an Internet standard of any
   kind.  Discussion and suggestions for improvement are requested.
   Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Abstract

   The Trivial File Transfer Protocol [1] is a simple, lock-step, file
   transfer protocol which allows a client to get or put a file onto a
   remote host.

   This document describes a new TFTP option. This new option will allow
   the multiple clients to receive the same file concurrently through
   the use of Multicast packets. The TFTP Option Extension mechanism is
   described in [2].

   Often when similar computers are booting remotely they will each
   download the same image file. By adding multicast into the TFTP
   option  set,  two  or  more  computers  can  download  a  file
   concurrently, thus increasing network efficiency.

   This document assumes that the reader is familiar with the
   terminology and notation of both [1] and [2].

Multicast Option Specification

   The TFTP Read Request packet is modified to include the multicast
   option as follows:

      +--------+----~~----+---+--~~--+---+-----------+---+---+
      |  opc=1 | filename | 0 | mode | 0 | multicast | 0 | 0 |
      +--------+----~~----+---+--~~--+---+-----------+---+---+

   opc
      The opcode field contains a 1, for Read Requests, as defined
      in [1].






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RFC 2090                 TFTP Multicast Option             February 1997


   filename
      The name of the file to be read, as defined in [1]. This is a
      NULL-terminated field.

   mode
      The mode of the file transfer: "netascii", "octet", or
      "mail", as defined in [1]. This is a NULL-terminated field.

   multicast
      Request  for  multicast  transmission  of  the  file  option,
      "multicast" (case insensitive). This is a NULL-terminated
      field. The value for this option request is a string of zero
      length.

   If the server is willing to accept the multicast option, it
   sends an Option Acknowledgment (OACK) to the client including
   the multicast option, as defined in [2]. The OACK to the client
   will specify the multicast address and flag to indicate whether
   that client should send block acknowledgments (ACK).

     +-------+-----------+---+-------~~-------+---+
     |  opc  | multicast | 0 | addr, port, mc | 0 |
     +-------+-----------+---+-------~~-------+---+

   opc
      The  opcode  field  contains  the  number  6,  for  Option
      Acknowledgment, as defined in [2].

   multicast
      Acknowledges the multicast option. This is a NULL-terminated
      field.

   addr
      The addr field contains the multicast IP address. This field
      is terminated with a comma.

   port
      The port field contains the destination port of the multicast
      packets. The use of Registered Port number 1758 (tftp-mcast)
      is recommended. This field is terminated with a comma.

   mc
      This field will be either 0 or 1, to tell the client whether
      it is the master client, that is, it is responsible for
      sending ACKs to the server. This is NULL-terminated field.






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Data Transfer

   After the OACK is received by the client it will send an ACK for
   packet zero, as in [2]. With the multicast option being accepted this
   ACK will indicate to the server that the client wants the first
   packet. In other words the ACKs may now be seen as a request for the
   n+1th block of data. This enables each a client to request any block
   within the file that it may be missing.

   To manage the data transfer the server will maintain a list of
   clients. Typically the oldest client on the list, from here on
   referred to as the Master Client, will be responsible for sending
   ACKs. When the master client is finished, the server will send
   another OACK to the next oldest client, telling it to start sending
   ACKs. Upon receipt of this OACK the new master client will send an
   ACK for the block immediately before the first block required to
   complete its download.

   Any subsequent clients can start receiving blocks of a file during a
   transfer and then request any missing blocks when that client becomes
   the master client. When the current master client is finished, the
   server will notify the next client with an OACK making it the new
   master client. The new master client can start requesting  missed
   packets.  Each  client  must  terminate  the transfer by sending an
   acknowledgment of the last packet or by sending an error message to
   server. This termination can occur even if the client is not the
   master client.

   Any subsequent OACKs to a client may have an empty multicast address
   and port fields, since this information will already be held by that
   client. In the event a client fails to respond in a timely manner to
   a OACK enabling it as the master client, the server shall select the
   next oldest client to be the master client. The server shall
   reattempt to send a OACK to the non- responding client when the new
   master client is finished. The server may cease communication with a
   client after a reasonable number of attempts.

   Each transfer will be given a multicast address for use to distribute
   the data packets. Since there can be multiple servers on a given
   network or a limited number of addresses available to a given server,
   it is possible that their might be more than one transfer using a
   multicast address. To ensure that a client only accepts the correct
   packets, each transfer must use a unique port on the server. The
   source IP address and port number will identify the data packets for
   the transfer. Thus the server must send the unicast OACK packet to
   the client using the same port as will be used for sending the
   multicast data packets.




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   At any point if a client, other than the master client, sends a ACK
   to the server, the server will respond with another OACK with the mc
   field holding a value of zero. If this client persists in sending
   erroneous ACKs, the server may send an error packet to the client,
   discontinuing the file transfer for that client.

   The server may also send unicast packets to a lone client to reduce
   adverse effects on other machines. As it is possible that machines
   may be forced to process many extraneous multicast packets when
   attempting to receive a single multicast address.

Example

           clients                                      server  message
           ------------------------------------------------------------
    1  C1  |1|afile|0|octet|0|multicast|0|0| ->                  RRQ
    2                C1 <- |6|multicast|224.100.100.100,1758,1|  OACK
    3  C1  |4|0| ->                                              ACK
    4                          M <- |3|1|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
    5  C1  |4|1| ->                                              ACK
    6                          M <- |3|2|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
    7  C2  |1|afile|0|octet|0|multicast|0|0| ->                  RRQ
    8                C2 <- |6|multicast|224.100.100.100,1758,0|  OACK
    9  C2  |4|0| ->                                              ACK
   10  C1  |4|2| ->                                              ACK
   11                          M <- |3|3|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   12  C3  |1|afile|0|octet|0|multicast|0|0| ->                  RRQ
   13                C3 <- |6|multicast|224.100.100.100,1758,0|  OACK
   14  C1  |4|3| ->                                              ACK
   15  C2  |4|0| ->                                              ACK
   16              M (except C2) <- |3|4|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   17  C1  |4|4| ->                                              ACK
   18                          M <- |3|5|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   19  C1  |4|5| ->                                              ACK
   20                          M <- |3|6|1| 100 octets of data|  DATA
   21  C1  |4|6| ->                                              ACK
   22                                   C2 <- |6|multicast|,,1|  OACK
   23  C2  |4|0| ->                                              ACK
   24                          M <- |3|1|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   25  C2  |4|1| ->                                              ACK
   26                          M <- |3|2|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   27  C2  |4|3| ->                                              ACK
   28                          M <- |3|4|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   29  C2  |4|6| ->                                              ACK
   30                                   C3 <- |6|multicast|,,1|  OACK
   31  C3  |4|2| ->                                              ACK
   32                          M <- |3|3|1| 512 octets of data|  DATA
   33  C3  |4|6| ->                                              ACK



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      Comments:
         1  request from client 1
         2  option acknowledgment
         3  acknowledgment for option acknowledgment,
            or request for first block of data
         4  first data packet sent to the multicast address
         7  request from client 2
         8  option acknowledgment to client 2,
            send no acknowledgments
         9  OACK acknowledgment from client 2
         15 OACK acknowledgment from client 3
         16 client 2 fails to receive a packet
         21 client 1 acknowledges receipt of the last block,
            telling the server it is done
         23 option acknowledgment to client 2,
            now the master client
         25 client 2 acknowledging with request for first block
         27 client 2 acknowledges with request for missed block
         29 client 2 signals it is finished
         31 client 3 is master client and asks for missing blocks
         33 client 3 signals it is finished

Conclusion

   With the use of the multicast and blocksize[3] options TFTP will be
   capable of fast and efficient downloads of data. Using TFTP with the
   multicast option will maintain backward compatibility for both
   clients and servers.

Security Considerations

   Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

References

   [1] Sollins, K., "The TFTP Protocol (Revision 2)", STD 33, RFC
       1350, MIT, July 1992.

   [2] Malkin, G., and A. Harkin, "TFTP Option Extension", RFC
       1782, Xylogics, Inc., Hewlett Packard Co., March 1995.

   [3] Malkin, G., and A. Harkin, "TFTP Blocksize Option", RFC
       1783, Xylogics, Inc., Hewlett Packard Co., March 1995.








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RFC 2090                 TFTP Multicast Option             February 1997


Author's Address

   A. Thomas Emberson
   Lanworks Technologies, Inc.
   2425 Skymark Avenue
   Mississauga, Ontario
   Canada L4W 4Y6


   Phone: (905) 238-5528
   EMail: tom@lanworks.com








































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