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RE: ietf.org end-to-end principle

2016-03-18 10:02:56
 E2e places the cost of interoperability on the ends, where it belongs.

The basic principle (it's NOT an argument) is that functions should go where
they most efficiently belong.

Yes. I think that's a fine restatement in terms of architectural optimisation. 
Personally I prefer to think about this in terms of costs, because it's all too 
easy to conflate "efficient" with "cost effective". There is often a 
correlation, but not always, and of course it is the latter that actually 
drives procurement and so deployment.

(The actor bearing the cost isn't necessarily the one performing the 
architectural function. I pay my ISP to run BGP; in principal I could make 
alternative arrangements myself that could yield greater efficiency, but it 
would be wildly less cost effective).
 
A corollary to this is that designing successfully for systemic efficiency is 
really hard if you don't understand how the costs will be bourn throughout the 
system.

Josh.

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