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Re: Fwd: Re: OPES Draft Charter and Mailing INfo, please comment
2001-01-08 17:09:08
The latest revision of the ICAP specification attempts to address
many of these issues; I'd encourage Graham to have a look at it to
see if his opinion changes. That having been said, I don't disagree
with the main point he raises.
On Mon, Jan 08, 2001 at 07:44:40AM -0800, Michael W. Condry wrote:
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Date: Mon, 08 Jan 2001 11:52:32 +0000
To: "Michael W. Condry" <condry(_at_)intel(_dot_)com>
From: Graham Klyne <GK(_at_)dial(_dot_)pipex(_dot_)com>
Subject: Re: OPES Draft Charter and Mailing INfo, please comment
Cc: discuss(_at_)apps(_dot_)ietf(_dot_)org
While I think the goals of OPES are valuable, I have concerns about using
ICAP as a starting point for the HTTP-related work.
When I looked, a couple of months ago, ICAP seemed to me to exhibit the
characteristics of a protocol hacked together in a closed group (which the
ICAP forum was) -- lacking awareness of a wider range of protocol design
issues and concerns. I think the most productive way forward would be to
isolate the goals of the protocol, and revisit the overall design.
In my opinion, the ICAP specification is architecturally weak. It lacks a
clear separation between the ICAP protocol elements and HTTP protocol
elements that are the subject of ICAP protocol actions. It is also
unclear whether the protocol is intended to be an extension of HTTP (i.e.
defines new HTTP headers) or is a protocol that happens to look like
HTTP. Is ICAP intended to run on port 80?
When passing about HTTP protocol units for examination or modification, I
think the protocol should be designed to clearly separate the HTTP
protocol elements from the ICAP protocol elements; e.g. by wrapping in a
message/http MIME structure. In addition to architectural cleanliness,
this has the following specific advantages: (a) it provides some
insulation from possible future changes to HTTP; (b) it is more likely to
be usable if a new generation of web access protocol is deployed; (c) it
is more likely to have elements that are usable with other protocols (such
as SMTP suggested in the charter).
Therefore, my comments on the charter come down to this:
Rather than defining different protocols for different kinds of auxiliary
server, I think it would be better to design some common protocol elements
that can be used over a variety of underlying transfer services, and carry
information _about_ different protocols; i.e. common protocol elements to
deal with the common framework. Specific service definitions can then be
added to deal with specific protocol usage such as HTTP.
#g
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At 07:18 PM 12/17/00 -0800, Michael W. Condry wrote:
Orthogonal Protocol Extension Services(opes)
Co-chairs:
Michael Condry <condry(_at_)intel(_dot_)com>
Hilarie Orman <HORMAN(_at_)novell(_dot_)com>
Mailing Lists:
General Discussion: ietf-openproxy(_at_)imc(_dot_)org
To Subscribe: ietf-openproxy-request(_at_)imc(_dot_)org
Web: http://www.extproxy.org
Archive: ftp://ftp.ietf.org/ietf-mail-archive/opes
Description of Working Group:
The Orthogonal Protocol Extension Services architecture (OPES) enables
construction of services executed on application data by participating
transit intermediaries. Caching is the most basic intermediary service,
one that requires a basic understanding of application semantics by the
cache server. Because intermediaries divert data temporarily over a
pathway different from the transit pathway, one can think of the service
path as being orthogonal to the main transit path. The purpose of this
working group is to define the protocols and API's for a broad set of
services that facilitate efficient delivery of complex content or
services related to content. The advantage of standardizing these
protocols and API's is that the services can be re-used across vendor
products without modifying the transit intermediaries or services.
The architecture supports services that are either co-located with the
transit intermediary or located on other servers (referred to as
auxiliary servers in this charter). The ICAP protocol is being developed
for carrying HTTP headers and data to cooperating servers; other
protocols for carrying SMTP or other protocols to cooperating servers
will be supported by the framework, as they exist or become
available. This working group defines the supporting configuration data
and protocols for configuring services on the transit intermediaries;
this configuration makes it possible to administer collections of transit
intermediaries and content services as a coherent system.
There are four parts of a good service definition for transit-based
extensions to an application protocol. The first part defines the
protocol processing point or points in the intermediary that could detect
an application data event of interest to the auxiliary service. The
second part defines the server, the access method for the server, and the
marshaled form for arguments added when delivering the application data
to the auxiliary server. The third defines the post processing of the
data returned by the auxiliary. The fourth element of the definition is
an encoding of the above information combined with the service extension
itself, defined as some form of loadable code or access method for
invoking the code. The working group will define an information model
and realization of the model into repository and protocol elements.
These service definitions must be standardized in ways that are
compatible with the policy framework of the Policy working group. The
definitions constitute configuration information that can come from
repositories or runtime protocols; for example, and ICAP server coming
on-line can notify its clients of the services it offers, and it can
update their status ("up", "changed", "suspended", "moved") while it is
running. A namespace for services and a means for registering names will
be considered.
Some crucial data must be communicated from the intermediary to the
auxiliary server in standardized semantics. Identification and
authentication information for the application connection may be
important to the auxiliary processing, for example. The working group
will define a core set of information necessary for supporting generic
application needs.
Postprocessing the result from the auxiliary processor is done at the
option of the intermediary, but instructions from the auxiliary server
must be communicated in a standardized manner. Generic directives
("drop", "hold", "assign attribute", are examples. The working group
will define postprocessing directives and the rules for their interaction
with the configuration policy.
The security model for intermediary services involves defining the
administrator roles and privileges for the application client,
application server, intermediary, and auxiliary server. The working
group will use the Policy Configuration Information Model to define the
security attributes and the enforceable policy.
The working group items for delivery are
1. A "side transit" protocol (ICAP) for use with HTTP
2. A policy-based configuration and definition model for orthogonal
service extensions
a. To include representation of conditions leading to invocation of
extension services, common data items (identities, authentication state,
etc.), postprocessing directives, and the access method for the service
or a representation of a loadable service (URL or encoded executable or
interpretable code, for example).
b. A specific repository-based embodiment of the model
c. A delivery protocol embodying the elements of the model as a
language; the protocol may be embedded in HTTP and/or ICAP.
d. Recommended procedures for registering service names and
repositories for extensions
3. A security model and security configuration policy definitions,
i.e. roles, privileges, and enforcement point responsibilities.
After these items have been delivered, the working group can examine the
progress in this area and, if appropriate, re-charter to with more
general work items in the OPES framework.
Existing Internet-Drafts
Basic Requirements:
http://draft-tomlinson-epsfw-00.txt
Initial iCAP Callout Server:
http://draft-elson-opes-icap-00.txt
A Rule Specification Language for Proxy Services:
http://draft-beck-opes-psrl-00.txt
General Use Cases:
http://draft-beck-opes-esfnep-01.txt
Goals and Milestones:
Feb 01: Requirements and roadmap documents for WG
Feb 01: First draft of HTTP orthogonal protocol; first draft of policy
information model
Mar 01: Meet at Minneapolis IETF
Mar 01: OPES architecture and requirements documents
Jun 01: Submission of security model and configuration policy to IETF
Jul 15: Draft of policy rules, enforcement semantics, standard data
items, and post processing
Aug 01: Meet at London IETF
Aug 01: Final submission of HTTP orthogonal protocol.
Oct 01: Submission of repository specific and ICAP-based policy rule
deliver protocol
Dec 01: Salt Lake City IETF.
Dec 01: Review charter, if necessary, amend for additional orthogonal
protocol definitions, standard data items, postprocessing directives.
Michael W. Condry
Director, Internet Strategy
2111 N.E. 25th Ave.
JF3-206
Hillsboro, OR 97124-5961
Phone: (503) 264-9019
FAX: (503) 264-3483
Email: condry(_at_)intel(_dot_)com
------------
Graham Klyne
(GK(_at_)ACM(_dot_)ORG)
Michael W. Condry
Director, Internet Strategy
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Mark Nottingham, Research Scientist
Akamai Technologies (San Mateo, CA)
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