On Tue, 7 Dec 1999, Keith Moore wrote:
> OTOH, if you combine NAT with 6to4 for home networks, the
> picture starts to look a bit better. Think of 6to4 as the
> generic ALG that rids you of the need to have separate ALGs
> for most of the applications that NAT happens to break.
Mine is not a stand in favor of NATs, let me get that out first :-)
However, the arguments against NATs in the home all center around
end-to-end connectivity to various devices in the home (light bulbs,
toasters, VCRs, thermostats, etc).
Is this really the "right" model for that sort of interaction? Personally,
my home network (in which every light bulb *will* be on the 'net within
the year) is not something I want end-to-end connectivity to. I'm not
saying that's the right solution for everyone, but I think it's certainly
worth thinking about as we're designing VCR control and LBMP (Light Bulb
Management protocol).
That is, I think it's important to consider that folks (via their vendors)
will want to deploy ALGs at the boundary of the house, NAT or not. I know
I will be, even after the internal v6 infrastructure meets up with the
rest of the world in the far flung future.
I don't think NATs are architecturally "correct", but I think they're
teaching us an important lesson about the (initially valid) assumptions
about end to end connectivity. Even after we eradicate NATs through
wholesale migration to v6 (optimist hat on), the paranoid will still
deploy ALGs on their firewalls to mediate access to those globally
routable lightbulb and security camera addresses. After all, I wouldn't
want the world getting illicit shots of me in my underwear in the
evenings. Well, perhaps it's the world that wouldn't want to be getting
those shots, but you get my point...
--
Tripp Lilley * [EMAIL PROTECTED] * http://stargate.sg505.net/~tlilley/
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"There are plenty of things out there that people should be offended about.
Put your indignation into some more productive and appropriate fight."
- Larry Rosensweig
in http://www.cnn.com/1999/US/12/03/pokemon.swastika.ap/index.html
