It is interesting to see how the goal of scalable application and
service deployment is being addressed in two completely different
models. On one hand we have OPES which will promote scalability by
following the mindset of the mid-90s that has continuously eroded the
end to end nature of the Internet. And which in turn is scaring
several members of the IETF due to the resulting issues of trust and
power concentration.
On the other hand we have peer to peer development efforts such as
Project JXTA and APEX which can very well be seen trying to restore
the end to end model in an effort to enhance scalability and improve
the efficiency of use of bandwidth, storage and computing power. (As
we are all aware, the majority of all three now reside on the edges
and no longer in the middle of the cloud.)
If I was forced to make a choice, it would not be a difficult one.
I would restore the end to end model.
Jeffrey Altman * Sr.Software Designer C-Kermit 7.1 Alpha available
The Kermit Project @ Columbia University includes Secure Telnet and FTP
http://www.kermit-project.org/ using Kerberos, SRP, and
kermit-support(_at_)kermit-project(_dot_)org OpenSSL. SSH soon to
follow.