> SSL is layered on top of TCP, and then one layers one's > actual protocol on top of SSL, with the result that a > transaction involves a painfully large number of round > trips.
Perhaps theoretically painful, but in practice this is not the case; commerce on the web is the counter-example. The benefits of layering for outweigh the perceived gains of just merging it all together into one glob. For example, the ability to replace layers, or replace them by just dropping in a new library. /r$ -- STSM, DataPower Chief Programmer WebSphere DataPower SOA Appliances http://www.ibm.com/software/integration/datapower/ --------------------------------------------------------------------- The Cryptography Mailing List Unsubscribe by sending "unsubscribe cryptography" to [EMAIL PROTECTED]