Folks,
with the first two WG drafts being approved by the IESG (architecture,
protocol requirements), and three others under IESG review (scenarios,
threats, policy requirements), it's time to get started on the
protocol work!!
As a starting point, I'd suggest everyone to familiarize
herself/himself with the OPES Protocol Requirements Draft
(draft-ietf-opes-protocol-reqs-03). It will provide guidance on
fundamental questions we'll have to answer before trying to
settle/define a protocol, such as
- what type of interactions need to be supported (e.g. pure
request/response, or request with multiple replies, or...)
- what type of data is exchanged in requests and replies
- what are the security requirements
- etc.
We also need to keep performance expectations in mind, which might
impact the decision whether to go binary, text, highly structured
(e.g. XML) etc.
Based on the answers to these questions, we can then discuss and pick
the most suitable protocol. I'm hesitating to list "candidate
protocols" since it would *not* be a good idea to talk about specific
protocols without having discussed the answers to above questions, but
in the past the following options have been mentioned at some point
(without a specific order!!):
- ICAP
- ICAP "next generation"
- SOAP/XML
- "Something" over BEEP
- Binary protocol
- more...
I would expect that we'll have some lively discussion on the protocol
issue here on the mailing list, and that we continue and intensify the
discussions at a meeting in San Francisco.
Also consider this a call for agenda items for the next IETF meeting,
and send Marshall and myself agenda requests related to the protocol
issue.
So please, let's get started here on the mailing list, keep your
thoughts and opinions coming.
Thanks,
Markus