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Re: TCP/IP Terms

2002-09-28 15:19:20
On Sat, 28 Sep 2002 10:37:33 PDT, Dave Crocker said:

particular set of protocols.  The current context of the terms is tied to 
the TCP/IP suite, rather than claiming to be generic to all data networking.

That's a feature, not a bug.

We're the *INTERNET* Engineering Task Force.  The few places where traffic
is being carried in non-IP networks (for instance, the uglyness involved
in connecting the serial port of this laptop connected to the port of the
terminal server over a 56K modem, or carrying IP over an ATM cloud), we
write an encapsulation and get on with our lives.

We have definitions for things like "packet" that work for *our* purposes.
I fear that if we try to devise a definition of "packet" that makes
sense for *all* data networking (I suspect ATM cells will be fun in this
context), we will end up with something so fuzzy that the only use for it
will be to make a cashmere sweater....


-- 
                                Valdis Kletnieks
                                Computer Systems Senior Engineer
                                Virginia Tech

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