Reflections on Internet Transparency
RFC 4924
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(July 2007; No errata)
Was draft-iab-net-transparent (iab)
|
|
---|---|---|---|
Authors | Bernard Aboba , Elwyn Davies , Elwyn Davies | ||
Last updated | 2015-10-14 | ||
Stream | IAB | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized bibtex | ||
Reviews | |||
Stream | IAB state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
RFC Editor Note | (None) |
Network Working Group B. Aboba, Ed. Request for Comment: 4924 E. Davies Category: Informational Internet Architecture Board July 2007 Reflections on Internet Transparency Status of This Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The IETF Trust (2007). Abstract This document provides a review of previous IAB statements on Internet transparency, as well a discussion of new transparency issues. Far from having lessened in relevance, technical implications of intentionally or inadvertently impeding network transparency play a critical role in the Internet's ability to support innovation and global communication. This document provides some specific illustrations of those potential impacts. Table of Contents 1. Introduction ....................................................2 2. Additional Transparency Issues ..................................4 2.1. Application Restriction ....................................4 2.2. Quality of Service (QoS) ...................................6 2.3. Application Layer Gateways (ALGs) ..........................7 2.4. IPv6 Address Restrictions ..................................8 2.4.1. Allocation of IPv6 Addresses by Providers ...........8 2.4.2. IKEv2 ...............................................8 2.5. DNS Issues .................................................9 2.5.1. Unique Root .........................................9 2.5.2. Namespace Mangling ..................................9 2.6. Load Balancing and Redirection ............................10 3. Security Considerations ........................................11 4. References .....................................................11 4.1. Informative References ....................................11 Acknowledgments ...................................................13 Appendix A - IAB Members at the Time of Approval ..................14 Aboba & Davies Informational [Page 1] RFC 4924 Reflections on Internet Transparency July 2007 1. Introduction In the past, the IAB has published a number of documents relating to Internet transparency and the end-to-end principle, and other IETF documents have also touched on these issues as well. These documents articulate the general principles on which the Internet architecture is based, as well as the core values that the Internet community seeks to protect going forward. This document reaffirms those principles, describes the concept of "oblivious transport" as developed in the DARPA NewArch project [NewArch], and addresses a number of new transparency issues. A network that does not filter or transform the data that it carries may be said to be "transparent" or "oblivious" to the content of packets. Networks that provide oblivious transport enable the deployment of new services without requiring changes to the core. It is this flexibility that is perhaps both the Internet's most essential characteristic as well as one of the most important contributors to its success. "Architectural Principles of the Internet" [RFC1958], Section 2 describes the core tenets of the Internet architecture: However, in very general terms, the community believes that the goal is connectivity, the tool is the Internet Protocol, and the intelligence is end to end rather than hidden in the network. The current exponential growth of the network seems to show that connectivity is its own reward, and is more valuable than any individual application such as mail or the World-Wide Web. This connectivity requires technical cooperation between service providers, and flourishes in the increasingly liberal and competitive commercial telecommunications environment. "The Rise of the Middle and the Future of End-to-End: Reflections on the Evolution of the Internet Architecture" [RFC3724], Section 4.1.1 describes some of the desirable consequences of this approach: One desirable consequence of the end-to-end principle is protection of innovation. Requiring modification in the network in order to deploy new services is still typically more difficult than modifying end nodes. The counterargument - that many end nodes are now essentially closed boxes which are not updatable and that most users don't want to update them anyway - does not apply to all nodes and all users. Many end nodes are still user configurable and a sizable percentage of users are "earlyShow full document text