Colin Perkins : Research : Post Sockets : Post Sockets at IETF 100

Colin Perkins

csperkins.org

Post Sockets at IETF 100

19 December 2017 / post-sockets

The Post Sockets cabal met at IETF 100 in Singapore in November 2017 to resolve some of the open issues with the API, and to participate in the TAPS working group.

We submitted an update to the Post Sockets draft just prior to IETF 100, expanding the discussion of the Carrier life cycle, the configuration and policy interfaces, and API dynamics. Then, we held a side meeting during IETF 100 to discuss and resolve some of the remaining open issues:

Whether resolution of a Remote is a one-to-one or one-to-many operation, that resolving a Remote depends on the corresponding Local (since, for example, the reachable DNS server depends on the interface on which the query is issued), and what Context is used to resolve a Remote. #19 #25
The relationship between system policy and the configuration of a Post Sockets stack, what policies might be specified and by whom (e.g., by the application, user, or system administrator). #15 #30
Whether we need an explicit signal that a Carrier is no longer needed, or whether this can be implicit. #22
How a Local in handled in the context of a Listener or the initiator of a Carrier. #29 #31
How an Endpoint is defined in the context of Post Sockets. #28

While we haven't yet resolved all of these issues, good progress was made on understanding the Post Sockets model.

In the TAPS working group, Brian Trammell presented a status update on our work (slides). The main discussion in TAPS, however, was around re-chartering the working group and next steps with the development of the API. There are several related proposals in the group including Post Sockets, NEAT, and Socket Intents, plus the minset of existing APIs, and the group needed to decide how to proceed with the work building on these. The two most complete of the proposals, NEAT and Post Sockets, are closely aligned (intentionally, as an outcome of the Post Sockets workshop in Zürich last year), so whilst a final decision is yet to be made, it seems likely that the working group will focus on an abstract API proposal that's compatible with these. The authors of the various proposals are planning a further workshop in Cambridge, UK, in early 2018 to further discuss and align the work.