What Is MF Classification

Multi-Field Classification

As networks rapidly develop, services on the Internet become increasingly diversified. Various services share limited network resources, especially when multiple services use port number 80. Because of this increasing demand, network devices are required to possess a high degree of sensitivity for services, including an in-depth parsing of packets and a comprehensive understanding of any packet field at any layer. This level of sensitivity rises far beyond what behavior aggregate (BA) classification can offer. Multi-field (MF) classification can be deployed to help address this sensitivity deficit.

MF classification allows a device to elaborately classify packets based on certain conditions, such as 5-tuple (source IP address, source port number, protocol number, destination address, and destination port number). To simplify configurations and facilitate batch modification, MF classification commands are designed based on a template. For details, see section Traffic Policy Based on MF Classification.

MF classification is implemented at the network edge. The following table shows four modes of MF classification on a NetEngine 8000 F.

MF Classification		Items	Remarks
Layer 2 (link layer) MF classification		802.1p value in the outer VLAN tag	Items can be jointly used as required.
		802.1p value in the inner VLAN tag
		Source MAC address
		Destination MAC address
		Protocol field encapsulated in Layer 2 headers
IP MF classification	IPv4	DSCP value	Items can be jointly used as required.
		IP precedence
		Source IPv4 address NOTE: The IPv4 address pool is also supported.
		Destination IPv4 address NOTE: The IPv4 address pool is also supported.
		IPv4 fragments
		TCP/UDP source port number
		TCP/UDP destination port number
		Protocol number
		TCP synchronization flag
	IPv6	DSCP value	Items can be jointly used as required.
		Protocol number
		Source IPv6 address NOTE: The IPv6 address pool is also supported.
		Destination IPv6 address NOTE: The IPv6 address pool is also supported.
		TCP/UDP source port number
		TCP/UDP destination port number
MPLS MF classification		EXP	A maximum of four labels can be identified. The three fields can be jointly used in each label as needed.
		Label
		TTL
UCL MF classification		DSCP value	Items can be jointly used as required.
		IPv4/IPv6 precedence
		Source IPv4/IPv6 address NOTE: The IPv4 address pool is also supported.
		Destination IPv4/IPv6 address NOTE: The IPv4 address pool is also supported.
		IPv4 fragments
		TCP/UDP source port number
		TCP/UDP destination port number
		Protocol number
		TCP synchronization flag
		User-group

In addition to the preceding items that can be used in MF classification, a NetEngine 8000 F can perform MF classification based on VLAN IDs, but does not use the VLAN ID solely. Instead, the MF classification policy is bound to a VLAN ID (the same as being bound to an interface). The MF classification modes shown in the preceding table support MF classification based on VLAN IDs.

In addition, a NetEngine 8000 F supports MF classification based on time periods for traffic control. MF classification based on time periods allows carriers to configure a policy for each time period so that network resources are optimized. For example, analysis on the usage habits of subscribers shows that the network traffic peaks from 20:00 to 22:00, during which large volumes of P2P and download services affect the normal use of other data services. Carriers can lower the bandwidths for P2P and download services during this time period to prevent network congestion.

Configuration example:

time-range test 20:00 to 22:00 daily

acl 2000
 rule permit source 10.9.0.0 0.0.255.255 time-range test       //Configure time-range in the ACL rule to specify the period during which the rule takes effect.
traffic classifier test
  if-match acl 2000

traffic behavior test
  car cir 100000

traffic policy test
  classifier test behavior test

interface xxx
  traffic-policy test inbound