Criteria for Evaluating Roaming Protocols
RFC 2477
|
Document |
Type |
|
RFC - Informational
(January 1999; No errata)
|
|
Authors |
|
Glen Zorn
,
Bernard Aboba
|
|
Last updated |
|
2013-03-02
|
|
Stream |
|
IETF
|
|
Formats |
|
plain text
html
pdf
htmlized
bibtex
|
Stream |
WG state
|
|
(None)
|
|
Document shepherd |
|
No shepherd assigned
|
IESG |
IESG state |
|
RFC 2477 (Informational)
|
|
Consensus Boilerplate |
|
Unknown
|
|
Telechat date |
|
|
|
Responsible AD |
|
(None)
|
|
Send notices to |
|
(None)
|
Network Working Group B. Aboba
Request for Comments: 2477 G. Zorn
Category: Informational Microsoft Corporation
January 1999
Criteria for Evaluating Roaming Protocols
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (1999). All Rights Reserved.
1. Abstract
This document describes requirements for the provisioning of "roaming
capability" for dialup Internet users. "Roaming capability" is
defined as the ability to use multiple Internet service providers
(ISPs), while maintaining a formal, customer-vendor relationship with
only one.
2. Introduction
Operational roaming services are currently providing worldwide
roaming capabilities, and these services continue to grow in
popularity [1]. Interested parties have included:
Regional Internet Service Providers (ISPs) operating within a
particular state or province, looking to combine their efforts
with those of other regional providers to offer services over a
wider area.
National ISPs wishing to combine their operations with those of
one or more ISPs in another nation to provide greater coverage in
a group of countries or on a continent.
Businesses desiring to offer their employees a comprehensive
package of dialup services on a global basis. Those services can
include Internet access as well as secure access to corporate
intranets via a Virtual Private Network (VPN).
Aboba & Zorn Informational [Page 1]
RFC 2477 Evaluating Roaming Protocols January 1999
This document provides an architectural framework for the
provisioning of roaming capabilities, as well as describing the
requirements that must be met by elements of the architecture.
2.1. Requirements language
In this document, the key words "MAY", "MUST, "MUST NOT", "optional",
"recommended", "SHOULD", and "SHOULD NOT", are to be interpreted as
described in [4].
Please note that the requirements specified in this document are to
be used in evaluating protocol submissions. As such, the
requirements language refers to capabilities of these protocols; the
protocol documents will specify whether these features are required,
recommended, or optional for use in roaming. For example, requiring
that a protocol support confidentiality is NOT the same thing as
requiring that all protocol traffic be encrypted.
A protocol submission is not compliant if it fails to satisfy one or
more of the must or must not requirements for the capabilities that
it implements. A protocol submission that satisfies all the must,
must not, should and should not requirements for its capabilities is
said to be "unconditionally compliant"; one that satisfies all the
must and must not requirements but not all the should or should not
requirements for its protocols is said to be "conditionally
compliant."
2.2. Terminology
This document frequently uses the following terms:
phone book
This is a database or document containing data pertaining to
dialup access, including phone numbers and any associated
attributes.
phone book server
This is a server that maintains the latest version of the phone
book. Clients communicate with phone book servers in order to
keep their phone books up to date.
Network Access Server
The Network Access Server (NAS) is the device that clients dial in
order to get access to the network.
Authentication server
This is a server which provides for authentication/authorization
within the roaming architecture.
Aboba & Zorn Informational [Page 2]
RFC 2477 Evaluating Roaming Protocols January 1999
Accounting server
This is a server which provides for accounting within the roaming
architecture.
Authentication proxy
Authentication proxies may be deployed within the roaming
architecture for several purposes, including authentication
forwarding, policy implementation, shared secret management, and
attribute editing. To the NAS, the authentication proxy appears
to act as an authentication server; to the authentication server,
the proxy appears to act as an authentication client.
Accounting proxy
Accounting proxies may be deployed within the roaming architecture
for several purposes, including accounting forwarding, reliability
improvement, auditing, and "pseudo-transactional" capability. To
the NAS, the accounting proxy appears to act as an accounting
Show full document text