Diameter Overload Control Requirements

When a Diameter server or agent becomes overloaded, it needs to be able to gracefully reduce its load, typically by advising clients to reduce traffic for some period of time. Otherwise, it must continue to expend resources parsing and responding to Diameter messages, possibly resulting in a progressively severe overload condition. The existing Diameter mechanisms are not sufficient for managing overload conditions. This document describes the limitations of the existing mechanisms. Requirements for new overload management mechanisms are also provided. Status of This Memo This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is published for informational purposes. This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF). It represents the consensus of the IETF community. It has received public review and has been approved for publication by the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG). Not all documents approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741. Information about the current status of this document, any errata, and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained a