|
Middleboxes
A middlebox is a computer networking device that transforms, inspects, filters, and manipulates traffic for purposes other than packet forwarding. Examples of middleboxes include firewall (networking), firewalls, network address translation, network address translators (NATs), load balancers, and deep packet inspection (DPI) devices. The term ''middlebox'' was coined in 1999 by University of California, Los Angeles, UCLA computer science professor Lixia Zhang. Usage Middleboxes are widely deployed across both private and public networks. Dedicated middlebox hardware is widely deployed in enterprise networks to improve network network security, security and performance; however, even home network routers often have integrated firewall, NAT, or other middlebox functionality. One 2017 study counted more than 1,000 deployments in Autonomous system (Internet), autonomous systems, in both directions of traffic flows, and across a wide range networks, including mobile operators and data ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Protocol Ossification
Protocol ossification is the loss of flexibility, extensibility and evolvability of network protocols. This is largely due to middleboxes that are sensitive to the wire image (networking), wire image of the protocol, and which can interrupt or interfere with messages that are valid but which the middlebox does not correctly recognise. This is a violation of the end-to-end principle. Secondary causes include inflexibility in endpoint implementations of protocols. Ossification is a major issue in Internet protocol design and deployment, as it can prevent new protocols or extensions from being deployed on the Internet, or place strictures on the design of new protocols; new protocols may have to be encapsulation (networking), encapsulated in an already-deployed protocol or mimic the wire image of another protocol. Because of ossification, the Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and User Datagram Protocol (UDP) are the only practical choices for transport protocols on the Internet, an ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |