Subject: RE: [midcom] WG scope/deliverables

From: "Christian Huitema" <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 31 Jan 2001 15:52:13 -0800

Well, maybe we should keep the Midcom discussion in Midcom without
spamming the whole IETF list...

I actually believe that Keith has a point. The point is not whether or
not we deal with NAT; we know we have to, at least in the short term.
The real point is that we have to aim for simplicity. Basically, Midcom
can do one of two things: study a grand design for a new Internet
architecture based on a patchwork of firewalled networks, or come out
with a short term fix for crossing the NAT and firewalls that we have
today. I have absolutely no confidence that an IETF working group could
solve the general problem in any reasonable time frame, and thus I
believe we should focus on a simple short term solution.

I believe that the short term requirements are quite simple. Many users
want to run real-time applications such as VoIP, or peer-to-peer
applications such as Napster. The real-time applications require that
one establish a "pin-hole" in the firewalls to let the media flow pass.
The peer-to-peer application require that the host behind the NAT can
publish an IP address and a port, and receive TCP connections to that
port.

Both requirements can actually be met by the current generation of
firewall and NAT products. Firewalls can open a hole based on a
"5-tuple"; NAT products all allow for some form of "DMZ" or "service
host" configuration that allow users to specify that an inside host will
serve a specific outside port. The problem is thus not to create a new
functionality, but to create a unified, standard way to exercize an
existing functionality. Now, that should be a problem that an IETF WG
can solve...

-- Christian Huitema

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From: Jiri Kuthan <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 01 Feb 2001 01:42:40 +0100

I absolutely second what Christian is saying. The requirement
to keep midcom simple should appear in the WG documents. 

Jiri

-- 
Jiri Kuthan         http://www.fokus.gmd.de/usr/kuthan
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