Subject: Re: (NAT) requested terminology changes to

From: Graham Klyne <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 07 Jun 1999 12:46:06 +0100

At 10:21 28/05/99 -0500, Brian E Carpenter wrote:

>"Addressing realm" is precise and accurate; "Routing realm" isn't.

I agree that "addressing realm" is more apposite ...

>A NAT is the boundary between two address spaces; therefore what
>it separates is two addressing realms. It does not in any way
>need to run a routing protocol; therefore it is not a router.

... but I have a concern with the way this term "routing protocol" is used:
 I think what is meant is a "route discovery protocol".

I could argue that IP is a "routing protocol" in the sense that, given a
datagram with a destination address, it "routes" it to the indicated
destination.

#g

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Graham Klyne
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From: Ian King <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 7 Jun 1999 12:22:38 -0700

Hm, significant distinction: a "route discovery protocol" (e.g. BGP) is used
by systems to perform routing of "routable" protocols (such as IP).  (I'd
propose that IP itself doesn't "route", it is "routable".)  Is the
distinction "routable" redundant?  Not if you've ever worked with NetBEUI.
:-) But the bottom line is that "routing protocol" is actually an ambiguous
phrase, unless we define it as equivalent to "route discovery protocol"
(which does, indeed, seem to be common practice).    

Back to Topic A: NAT is clearly not a "route discovery protocol", nor does
it need to be.  However, its underlying platform may need to employ one, so
that local packets stay local (within the local "addressing realm") and
packets intended for another realm are handled appropriately.  I'd maintain
that these are two separate functional areas -- while trivial, one could
certainly do NAT from a single local address to a "global" address (for
instance, when I telnet from an account on my NAT box to an external
server).  

My point?  As I've said before, I suggest we keep these areas distinct, to
avoid complicating the problem.  And I like "addressing realm", too.  -- Ian

------------------
To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is
research. 	-- Mark Twain
Ian King/Internet Bill Delivery & Payment/Microsoft Corporation

-----Original Message-----
From: Graham Klyne [mailto:[email-masked]]
Sent: Monday, June 07, 1999 4:46 AM
To: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: (NAT) requested terminology changes to

#g

------------
Graham Klyne
([email-masked])

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