RFC 4939, "Definitions of Managed Objects for iSNS (Internet Storage Name Service)", July 2007

Errata ID: 1641
Status: Held for Document Update
Type: Technical
Publication Format(s) : TEXT
Reported By: Alfred Hoenes
Date Reported: 2007-09-14
Held for Document Update by: Lars Eggert
Date Held: 2008-12-19

(2f)  isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable / isnsRegEntityNumObjectsEntry
      (page 44)

Studying the MIB module, it turns out that the
isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable is a (dense) augmentation
of the isnsRegEntityTable : a conceptual row in the former
must be instantiated if an only if the corresponding row
(with identical index values) is instantiated in the latter.

Therefore, according to the strong recommendation '(1)' given
in Section 7.8.1 of the first part of STD 58, RFC 2578, the
isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable should be formally represented
as an augmentation of the isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable.

This means that, in the isnsRegEntityNumObjectsEntry OBJECT-TYPE
declaration, where the RFC says ...

      isnsRegEntityNumObjectsEntry    OBJECT-TYPE
          [...]
|         INDEX   { isnsServerIndex,
|                   isnsRegEntityIndex }
          ::= { isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable 1 }

... it should have specified:

      isnsRegEntityNumObjectsEntry    OBJECT-TYPE
          [...]
|         AUGMENTS { isnsRegEntityEntry }
          ::= { isnsRegEntityNumObjectsTable 1 }

Note that the similar relationship between the isnsNumObjectsTable
and the isnsServerTable has correctly reflected in the RFC; the
isnsNumObjectsEntry OBJECT-TYPE declaration already contains the
clause:
          AUGMENTS { isnsServerEntry }


(2g)  isnsRegIscsiNodeAuthMethod  (page 55)

The DESCRIPTION clause of the isnsRegIscsiNodeAuthMethod OBJECT-TYPE
declaration says:

|     "This attribute contains a null-terminated string containing
       UTF-8 text listing the iSCSI authentication methods enabled
       for this iSCSI Node, in order of preference.  The text
       values used to identify iSCSI authentication methods are
       embedded in this string attribute and delineated by a
       comma.  The text values are identical to those found in
       RFC 3720 - iSCSI.  Additional vendor-specific text values
       are also possible."

This is very unusual.  'null-terminated' have been introduced
in some very popular programming languages in place of length
counts for string variables.  (Some people believe this has been
one of the most serious errors ever in the history of programming
languages, because it makes transparent strings (with 0x00 allowed)
impossible, and practice sadly has proven it is a pathway to the
hell of very many security flaws.)
ASN.1 OCTET-STRINGs are counted strings, and the SMIv2 *is* a qualified
subset of ASN.1.  SnmpAdminString is a proper subtype of OCTET-STRING.
Hence, there is no need to include a terminating null into an object
of type SnmpAdminString.
Apparently, this has been recognized throughout this MIB module,
with explicit explanations for all OCTET-STRING (SIZE (0..223))
typed objects.

This single deviation from standard practice is a significant
inconsistency in the MIB module and it might well lead to
interoperability problems if it is not recognized by implementors!


(2h)  object names in the isnsNotificationsInfo branch
      (pages 64/65, used later on as well)

It is common practice, and makes life easier, to have object names
built in a manner that reflects the OID tree: most significant
part(s) left, finer granularity right.

The object names introduced in most parts of the MIB module conform
to that rule.  But unfortunately, the object names in the
isnsNotificationsInfo branch are not built this way.

IMHO, it would have been much more preferable to have the
following name changes applied (unfortunately, it's too late
now for such modification):

   isnsAddressNotificationType   -->  isnsNotificationAddressType

   isnsAddressNotification       -->  isnsNotificationAddress

   isnsTcpPortNotification       -->  isnsNotificationTcpPort

   isnsUdpPortNotification       -->  isnsNotificationUdpPort

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