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+Network Working Group                                    Barry M. Leiner
+Request for Comments: 1017                                         RIACS
+                                                             August 1987
+
+              Network Requirements for Scientific Research
+
+              Internet Task Force on Scientific Computing
+
+STATUS OF THIS MEMO
+
+   This RFC identifies the requirements on communication networks for
+   supporting scientific research.  It proposes some specific areas for
+   near term work, as well as some long term goals.  This is an "idea"
+   paper and discussion is strongly encouraged.  Distribution of this
+   memo is unlimited.
+
+INTRODUCTION
+
+   Computer networks are critical to scientific research.  They are
+   currently being used by portions of the scientific community to
+   support access to remote resources (such as supercomputers and data
+   at collaborator's sites) and collaborative work through such
+   facilities as electronic mail and shared databases.  There is
+   considerable movement in the direction of providing these
+   capabilities to the broad scientific community in a unified manner,
+   as evidence by this workshop. In the future, these capabilities will
+   even be required in space, as the Space Station becomes a reality as
+   a scientific research resource.
+
+   The purpose of this paper is to identify the range of requirements
+   for networks that are to support scientific research.  These
+   requirements include the basic connectivity provided by the links and
+   switches of the network through the basic network functions to the
+   user services that need to be provided to allow effective use of the
+   interconnected network.  The paper has four sections.  The first
+   section discusses the functions a user requires of a network.  The
+   second section discusses the requirements for the underlying link and
+   node infrastructure while the third proposes a set of specifications
+   to achieve the functions on an end-to-end basis.  The fourth section
+   discusses a number of network-oriented user services that are needed
+   in addition to the network itself.  In each section, the discussion
+   is broken into two categories.  The first addresses near term
+   requirements: those capabilities and functions that are needed today
+   and for which technology is available to perform the function.  The
+   second category concerns long term goals: those capabilities for
+   which additional research is needed.
+
+   This RFC was produced by the IAB Task force a Scientific Computing,
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 1]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   which is chartered to investigate advanced networking requirements
+   that result from scientific applications.  Work reported herein was
+   supported in part by Cooperative Agreement NCC 2-387 from the
+   National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) to the
+   Universities Space Research Association (USRA).
+
+1.  NETWORK FUNCTIONS
+
+   This section addresses the functions and capabilities that networks
+   and particularly internetworks should be expected to support in the
+   near term future.
+
+Near Term Requirements
+
+   There are many functions that are currently available to subsets of
+   the user community.  These functions should be made available to the
+   broad scientific community.
+
+User/Resource Connectivity
+
+   Undoubtedly the first order of business in networking is to provide
+   interconnectivity of users and the resources they need.  The goal in
+   the near term for internetworking should be to extend the
+   connectivity as widely as possible, i.e. to provide ubiquitous
+   connectivity among users and between users and resources.  Note that
+   the existence of a network path between sites does not necessarily
+   imply interoperability between communities and or resources using
+   non-compatible protocol suites.  However, a minimal set of functions
+   should be provided across the entire user community, independent of
+   the protocol suite being used.  These typically include electronic
+   mail at a minimum, file transfer and remote login capabilities must
+   also be provided.
+
+Home Usage
+
+   One condition that could enhance current scientific computing would
+   be to extend to the home the same level of network support that the
+   scientist has available in his office environment.  As network access
+   becomes increasingly widespread, the extension to the home will allow
+   the user to continue his computing at home without dramatic changes
+   in his work habits, based on limited access.
+
+Charging
+
+   The scientific user should not have to worry about the costs of data
+   communications any more than he worries about voice communications
+   (his office telephone), so that data communications becomes an
+   integral and low-cost part of our national infrastructure.  This
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 2]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   implies that charges for network services must NOT be volume
+   sensitive and must NOT be charged back to the individual.  Either of
+   these conditions forces the user to consider network resources as
+   scarce and therefore requiring his individual attention to conserve
+   them.  Such attention to extraneous details not only detracts from
+   the research, but fundamentally impacts the use and benefit that
+   networking is intended to supply.  This does not require that
+   networking usage is free.  It should be either be low enough cost
+   that the individual does not have to be accountable for "normal"
+   usage or managed in such a manner that the individual does not have
+   to be concerned with it on a daily basis.
+
+Applications
+
+   Most applications, in the near term, which must be supported in an
+   internetwork environment are essentially extensions of current ones.
+   Particularly:
+
+      Electronic Mail
+
+         Electronic mail will increase in value as the extended
+         interconnectivity provided by internetworking provides a much
+         greater reachability of users.
+
+      Multimedia Mail
+
+         An enhancement to text based mail which includes capabilities
+         such as figures, diagrams, graphs, and digitized voice.
+
+      Multimedia Conferencing
+
+         Network conferencing is communication among multiple people
+         simultaneously.  Conferencing may or may not be done in "real
+         time", that is all participants may not be required to be on-
+         line at the same time.  The multimedia supported may include
+         text, voice, video, graphics, and possibly other capabilities.
+
+      File Transfer
+
+         The ability to transfer data files.
+
+      Bulk Transfer
+
+         The ability to stream large quantities of data.
+
+      Interactive Remote Login
+
+         The ability to perform remote terminal connections to hosts.
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 3]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+      Remote Job Entry
+
+         The ability to submit batch jobs for processing to remote hosts
+         and receive output.
+
+         Applications which need support in the near term but are NOT
+         extensions of currently supported applications include:
+
+      Remote Instrument Control
+
+         This normally presumes to have a human in the "control loop".
+         This condition relaxes the requirements on the (inter)network
+         somewhat as to response times and reliability.  Timing would be
+         presumed to be commensurate with human reactions and
+         reliability would not be as stringent as that required for
+         completely automatic control.
+
+      Remote Data Acquisition
+
+         This supports the collection of experimental data where the
+         experiment is remotely located from the collection center.
+         This requirement can only be satisfied when the bandwidth,
+         reliability, and predictability of network response are
+         sufficient.  This cannot be supported in the general sense
+         because of the enormous bandwidth, very high reliability,
+         and/or guaranteed short response time required for many
+         experiments.
+
+   These last two requirements are especially crucial when one considers
+   remote experimentation such as will be performed on the Space
+   Station.
+
+Capabilities
+
+   The above applications could be best supported on a network with
+   infinite bandwidth, zero delay, and perfect reliability.
+   Unfortunately, even currently feasible approximations to these levels
+   of capabilities can be very expensive. Therefore, it can be expected
+   that compromises will be made for each capability and between them,
+   with different balances struck between different networks.  Because
+   of this, the user must be given an opportunity to declare which
+   capability or capabilities is/are of most interest-most likely
+   through a "type-of-service" required declaration.  Some examples of
+   possible trade-offs: File Transport Normally requires high
+   reliability primarily and high bandwidth secondarily. Delay is not as
+   important.
+
+
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 4]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+      Bulk Transport
+
+         Some applications such as digitized video might require high
+         bandwidth as the most important capability.  Depending on the
+         application, delay would be second, and reliability of lesser
+         importance.  Image transfers of scientific data sometimes will
+         invert the latter two requirements.
+
+      Interactive Traffic
+
+         This normally requires low delay as a primary consideration.
+         Reliability may be secondary depending on the application.
+         Bandwidth would usually be of least importance.
+
+Standards
+
+    The use of standards in networking is directed toward
+    interoperability and availability of commercial equipment.  However,
+    as stated earlier, full interoperability across the entire
+    scientific community is probably not a reasonable goal for
+    internetworking in the near term because of the protocol mix now
+    present.  That is not to say, though, that the use of standards
+    should not be pursued on the path to full user interoperability.
+    Standards, in the context of near term goal support, include:
+
+Media Exchange Standards
+
+   Would allow the interchange of equations, graphics, images, and data
+   bases as well as text.
+
+Commercially Available Standards
+
+   Plug compatible, commercially available standards will allow a degree
+   of interoperability prior to the widespread availability of the ISO
+   standard protocols.
+
+Long Term Goals
+
+   In the future, the internetwork should be transparent communications
+   between users and resources, and provide the additional network
+   services required to make use of that communications.  A user should
+   be able to access whatever resources are available just as if the
+   resource is in the office.  The same high level of service should
+   exist independent of which network one happens to be on.  In fact,
+   one should not even be able to tell that the network is there!
+
+   It is also important that people be able to work effectively while at
+   home or when traveling.  Wherever one may happen to be, it should be
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 5]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   possible to "plug into" the internetwork and read mail, access files,
+   control remote instruments, and have the same kind of environment one
+   is used to at the office.
+
+   Services to locate required facilities and take advantage of them
+   must also be available on the network.  These range from the basic
+   "white" and "yellow" pages, providing network locations (addresses)
+   for users and capabilities, through to distributed data bases and
+   computing facilities.  Eventually, this conglomeration of computers,
+   workstations, networks, and other computing resources will become one
+   gigantic distributed "world computer" with a very large number of
+   processing nodes all over the world.
+
+2.  NETWORK CONNECTIVITY
+
+   By network connectivity, we mean the ability to move packets from one
+   point to another.
+
+   Note that an implicit assumption in this paper is that packet
+   switched networks are the preferred technology for providing a
+   scientific computer network.  This is due to the ability of such
+   networks to share the available link resources to provide
+   interconnection between numerous sites and their ability to
+   effectively handle the "bursty" computer communication requirement.
+
+   Note that this need not mean functional interoperability, since the
+   endpoints may be using incompatible protocols.  Thus, in this
+   section, we will be addressing the use of shared links and
+   interconnected networks to provide a possible path.  In the next
+   section, the exploitation of these paths to achieve functional
+   connectivity will be addressed.
+
+   In this section, we discuss the need for providing these network
+   paths to a wide set of users and resources, and the characteristics
+   of those paths.  As in other sections, this discussion is broken into
+   two major categories.  The first category are those goals which we
+   believe to be achievable with currently available technology and
+   implementations.  The second category are those for which further
+   research is required.
+
+Near Term Objectives
+
+   Currently, there are a large number of networks serving the
+   scientific community, including Arpanet, MFEnet, SPAN, NASnet, and
+   the NSFnet backbone.  While there is some loose correlation between
+   the networks and the disciplines they serve, these networks are
+   organized more based on Federal funding.  Furthermore, while there is
+   significant interconnectivity between a number of the networks, there
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 6]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   is considerable room for more sharing of these resources.
+
+   In the near term, therefore, there are two major requirement areas;
+   providing for connectivity based on discipline and user community,
+   and providing for the effective use of adequate networking resources.
+
+Discipline Connectivity
+
+   Scientists in a particular community/discipline need to have access
+   to many common resources as well as communicate with each other.  For
+   example, the quantum physics research community obtains funding from
+   a number of Federal sources, but carries out its research within the
+   context of a scientific discourse.  Furthermore, this discourse often
+   overlaps several disciplines.  Because networks are generally
+   oriented based on the source of funding, this required connectivity
+   has in the past been inhibited.  NSFnet is a major step towards
+   satisfying this requirement, because of its underlying philosophy of
+   acting as an interconnectivity network between supercomputer centers
+   and between state, regional, and therefore campus networks.  This
+   move towards a set of networks that are interconnected, at least at
+   the packet transport level, must be continued so that a scientist can
+   obtain connectivity between his/her local computing equipment and the
+   computing and other resources that are needed, independently of the
+   source of funds.
+
+   Obviously, actual use of those resources will depend on obtaining
+   access permission from the appropriate controlling organization.  For
+   example, use of a supercomputer will require permission and some
+   allocation of computing resources.  The lack of network access should
+   not, however, be the limiting factor for resource utilization.
+
+Communication Resource Sharing
+
+   The scientific community is always going to suffer from a lack of
+   adequate communication bandwidth and connections.  There are
+   requirements (e.g. graphic animation from supercomputers) that
+   stretch the capabilities of even the most advanced long-haul
+   networks.  In addition, as more and more scientists require
+   connection into networks, the ability to provide those connections on
+   a network-centric basis will become more and more difficult.
+
+   However, the communication links (e.g. leased lines and satellite
+   channels) providing the underlying topology of the various networks
+   span in aggregate a very broad range of the scientific community
+   sites.  If, therefore, the networks could share these links in an
+   effective manner, two objectives could be achieved:
+
+      The need to add links just to support a particular network
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 7]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+      topology change would be decreased, and
+
+      New user sites could be connected more readily.
+
+   Existing technology (namely the DARPA-developed gateway system based
+   on the Internet Protocol, IP) provides an effective method for
+   accomplishing this sharing.  By using IP gateways to connect the
+   various networks, and by arranging for suitable cost-sharing, the
+   underlying connectivity would be greatly expanded and both of the
+   above objectives achieved.
+
+Expansion of Physical Structure
+
+   Unfortunately, the mere interconnectivity of the various networks
+   does not increase the bandwidth available.  While it may allow for
+   more effective use of that available bandwidth, a sufficient number
+   of links with adequate bandwidth must be provided to avoid network
+   congestion.  This problem has already occurred in the Arpanet, where
+   the expansion of the use of the network without a concurrent
+   expansion in the trunking and topology has resulted in congestion and
+   consequent degradation in performance.
+
+   Thus, it is necessary to augment the current physical structure
+   (links and switches) both by increasing the bandwidth of the current
+   configuration and by adding additional links and switches where
+   appropriate.
+
+Network Engineering
+
+   One of the major deficiencies in the current system of networks is
+   the lack of overall engineering.  While each of the various networks
+   generally is well supported, there is woefully little engineering of
+   the overall system.  As the networks are interconnected into a larger
+   system, this need will become more severe.  Examples of the areas
+   where engineering is needed are:
+
+   Topology engineering-deciding where links and switches should be
+   installed or upgraded.  If the interconnection of the networks is
+   achieved, this will often involve a decision as to which networks
+   need to be upgraded as well as deciding where in the network those
+   upgrades should take place.
+
+   Connection Engineering-when a user site desires to be connected,
+   deciding which node of which network is the best for that site,
+   considering such issues as existing node locations, available
+   bandwidth, and expected traffic patterns to/from that site.
+
+   Operations and Maintenance-monitoring the operation of the overall
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 8]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   system and identifying corrective actions when failures occur.
+
+Support of Different Types of Service
+
+   Several different end user applications are currently in place, and
+   these put different demands on the underlying structure.  For
+   example, interactive remote login requires low delay, while file
+   transfer requires high bandwidth.  It is important in the
+   installation of additional links and switches that care be given to
+   providing a mix of link characteristics.  For example, high bandwidth
+   satellite channels may be appropriate to support broadcast
+   applications or graphics, while low delay will be required to support
+   interactive applications.
+
+Future Goals
+
+   Significant expansion of the underlying transport mechanisms will be
+   required to support future scientific networking.  These expansions
+   will be both in size and performance.
+
+Bandwidth
+
+   Bandwidth requirements are being driven higher by advances in
+   computer technology as well as the proliferation of that technology.
+   As high performance graphics workstations work cooperatively with
+   supercomputers, and as real-time remote robotics and experimental
+   control become a reality, the bandwidth requirements will continue to
+   grow.  In addition, as the number of sites on the networks increase,
+   so will the aggregate bandwidth requirement.  However, at the same
+   time, the underlying bandwidth capabilities are also increasing.
+   Satellite bandwidths of tens of megabits are available, and fiber
+   optics technologies are providing extremely high bandwidths (in the
+   range of gigabits).  It is therefore essential that the underlying
+   connectivity take advantage of these advances in communications to
+   increase the available end-to-end bandwidth.
+
+Expressway Routing
+
+   As higher levels of internet connectivity occur there will be a new
+   set of problems related to lowest hop count and lowest delay routing
+   metrics. The assumed internet connectivity can easily present
+   situations where the highest speed, lowest delay route between two
+   nodes on the same net is via a route on another network.  Consider
+   two sites one either end of the country, but both on the same
+   multipoint internet, where their network also is gatewayed to some
+   other network with high speed transcontinental links.  The routing
+   algorithms must be able to handle these situations gracefully, and
+   they become of increased importance in handling global type-of-
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                          [Page 9]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   service routing.
+
+3.  NETWORK SPECIFICATIONS
+
+    To achieve the end-to-end user functions discussed in section 2, it
+    is not adequate to simply provide the underlying connectivity
+    described in the previous section.  The network must provide a
+    certain set of capabilities on an end-to-end basis.  In this
+    section, we discuss the specifications on the network that are
+    required.
+
+Near Term Specifications
+
+   In the near term, the requirements on the networks are two-fold.
+   First is to provide those functions that will permit full
+   interoperability, and second the internetwork must address the
+   additional requirements that arise in the connection of networks,
+   users, and resources.
+
+Interoperability
+
+   A first-order requirement for scientific computer networks (and
+   computer networks in general) is that they be interoperable with each
+   other, as discussed in the above section on connectivity.  A first
+   step to accomplish this is to use IP.  The use of IP will allow
+   individual networks built by differing agencies to combine resources
+   and minimize cost by avoiding the needless duplication of network
+   resources and their management.  However, use of IP does not provide
+   end-to-end interoperability.  There must also be compatibility of
+   higher level functions and protocols.  At a minimum, while commonly
+   agreed upon standards (such as the ISO developments) are proceeding,
+   methods for interoperability between different protocol suites must
+   be developed.  This would provide interoperability of certain
+   functions, such as file transfer, electronic mail and remote login.
+   The emphasis, however, should be on developing agreement within the
+   scientific community on use of a standard set of protocols.
+
+Access Control
+
+   The design of the network should include adequate methods for
+   controlling access to the network by unauthorized personnel.  This
+   especially includes access to network capabilities that are reachable
+   via the commercial phone network and public data nets.  For example,
+   terminal servers that allow users to dial up via commercial phone
+   lines should have adequate authentication mechanisms in place to
+   prevent access by unauthorized individuals.  However, it should be
+   noted that most hosts that are reachable via such networks are also
+   reachable via other "non-network" means, such as directly dialing
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 10]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   over commercial phone lines.  The purpose of network access control
+   is not to insure isolation of hosts from unauthorized users, and
+   hosts should not expect the network itself to protect them from
+   "hackers".
+
+Privacy
+
+   The network should provide protection of data that traverses it in a
+   way that is commensurate with the sensitivity of that data.  It is
+   judged that the scientific requirements for privacy of data traveling
+   on networks does not warrant a large expenditure of resources in this
+   area.  However, nothing in the network design should preclude the use
+   of link level or end-to-end encryption, or other such methods that
+   can be added at a later time.  An example of this kind of capability
+   would be use of KG-84A link encryptors on MILNET or the Fig Leaf
+   DES-based end-to-end encryption box developed by DARPA.
+
+Accounting
+
+   The network should provide adequate accounting procedures to track
+   the consumption of network resources.  Accounting of network
+   resources is also important for the management of the network, and
+   particularly the management of interconnections with other networks.
+   Proper use of the accounting database should allow network management
+   personnel to determine the "flows" of data on the network, and the
+   identification of bottlenecks in network resources.  This capability
+   also has secondary value in tracking down intrusions of the network,
+   and to provide an audit trail if malicious abuse should occur.  In
+   addition, accounting of higher level network services (such as
+   terminal serving) should be kept track of for the same reasons.
+
+Type of Service Routing
+
+   Type of service routing is necessary since not all elements of
+   network activity require the same resources, and the opportunities
+   for minimizing use of costly network resources are large.  For
+   example, interactive traffic such as remote login requires low delay
+   so the network will not be a bottleneck to the user attempting to do
+   work.  Yet the bandwidth of interactive traffic can be quite small
+   compared to the requirements for file transfer and mail service which
+   are not response time critical.  Without type of service routing,
+   network resources must sized according to the largest user, and have
+   characteristics that are pleasing to the most finicky user.  This has
+   major cost implications for the network design, as high-delay links,
+   such as satellite links, cannot be used for interactive traffic
+   despite the significant cost savings they represent over terrestrial
+   links.  With type of service routing in place in the network
+   gateways, and proper software in the hosts to make use of such
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 11]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   capabilities, overall network performance can be enhanced, and
+   sizable cost savings realized.  Since the IP protocol already has
+   provisions for such routing, such changes to existing implementations
+   does not require a major change in the underlying protocol
+   implementations.
+
+Administration of Address Space
+
+   Local administration of network address space is essential to provide
+   for prompt addition of hosts to the network, and to minimize the load
+   on backbone network administrators.  Further, a distributed name to
+   address translation service also has similar advantages.  The DARPA
+   Name Domain system currently in use on the Internet is a suitable
+   implementation of such a name to address translation system.
+
+Remote Procedure Call Libraries
+
+   In order to provide a standard library interface so that distributed
+   network utilities can easily communicate with each other in a
+   standard way, a standard Remote Procedure Call (RPC) library must be
+   deployed.  The computer industry has lead the research community in
+   developing RPC implementations, and current implementations tend to
+   be compatible within the same type of operating system, but not
+   across operating systems.  Nonetheless, a portable RPC implementation
+   that can be standardized can provide a substantial boost in present
+   capability to write operating system independent network utilities.
+   If a new RPC mechanism is to be designed from scratch, then it must
+   have enough capabilities to lure implementors away from current
+   standards.  Otherwise, modification of an existing standard that is
+   close to the mark in capabilities seems to be in order, with the
+   cooperation of vendors in the field to assure implementations will
+   exist for all major operating systems in use on the network.
+
+Remote Job Entry (RJE)
+
+   The capabilities of standard network RJE implementations are
+   inadequate, and are implemented prolifically among major operating
+   systems.  While the notion of RJE evokes memories of dated
+   technologies such as punch cards, the concept is still valid, and is
+   favored as a means of interaction with supercomputers by science
+   users.  All major supercomputer manufacturers support RJE access in
+   their operating systems, but many do not generalize well into the
+   Internet domain.  That is, a RJE standard that is designed for 2400
+   baud modem access from a card reader may not be easily modifiable for
+   use on the Internet.  Nonetheless, the capability for a network user
+   to submit a job from a host and have its output delivered on a
+   printer attached to a different host would be welcomed by most
+   science users.  Further, having this capability interoperate with
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 12]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   existing RJE packages would add a large amount of flexibility to the
+   whole system.
+
+Multiple Virtual Connections
+
+   The capability to have multiple network connections open from a
+   user's workstation to remote network hosts is an invaluable tool that
+   greatly increases user productivity.  The network design should not
+   place limits (procedural or otherwise) on this capability.
+
+Network Operation and Management Tools
+
+   The present state of internet technology requires the use of
+   personnel who are, in the vernacular of the trade, called network
+   "wizards," for the proper operation and management of networks.
+   These people are a scarce resource to begin with, and squandering
+   them on day to day operational issues detracts from progress in the
+   more developmental areas of networking.  The cause of this problem is
+   that a good part of the knowledge for operating and managing a
+   network has never been written down in any sort of concise fashion,
+   and the reason for that is because networks of this type in the past
+   were primarily used as a research tool, not as an operational
+   resource.  While the usage of these networks has changed, the
+   technology has not adjusted to the new reality that a wizard may not
+   be nearby when a problem arises.  To insure that the network can
+   flexibly expand in the future, new tools must be developed that allow
+   non-wizards to monitor network performance, determine trouble spots,
+   and implement repairs or 'work-arounds'.
+
+Future Goals
+
+   The networks of the future must be able to support transparent access
+   to distributed resources of a variety of different kinds.  These
+   resources will include supercomputer facilities, remote observing
+   facilities, distributed archives and databases, and other network
+   services.  Access to these resources is to be made widely available
+   to scientists, other researchers, and support personnel located at
+   remote sites over a variety of internetted connections.  Different
+   modes of access must be supported that are consonant with the sorts
+   of resources that are being accessed, the data bandwidths required
+   and the type of interaction demanded by the application.
+
+   Network protocol enhancements will be required to support this
+   expansion in functionality; mere increases in bandwidth are not
+   sufficient.  The number of end nodes to be connected is in the
+   hundreds of thousands, driven by increasing use of microprocessors
+   and workstations throughout the community.  Fundamentally different
+   sorts of services from those now offered are anticipated, and dynamic
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 13]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   bandwidth selection and allocation will be required to support the
+   different access modes.  Large-scale internet connections among
+   several agency size internets will require new approaches to routing
+   and naming paradigms.  All of this must be planned so as to
+   facilitate transition to the ISO/OSI standards as these mature and
+   robust implementations are placed in service and tuned for
+   performance.
+
+   Several specific areas are identified as being of critical importance
+   in support of future network requirements, listed in no particular
+   order:
+
+      Standards and Interface Abstractions
+
+         As more and different services are made available on these
+         various networks it will become increasingly important to
+         identify interface standards and suitable application
+         abstractions to support remote resource access.  These
+         abstractions may be applicable at several levels in the
+         protocol hierarchy and can serve to enhance both applications
+         functionality and portability.  Examples are transport or
+         connection layer abstractions that support applications
+         independence from lower level network realizations or interface
+         abstractions that provide a data description language that can
+         handle a full range of abstract data type definitions.
+         Applications or connection level abstractions can provide means
+         of bridging across different protocol suites as well as helping
+         with protocol transition.
+
+      OSI Transition and Enhancements
+
+         Further evolution of the OSI network protocols and realization
+         of large-scale networks so that some of the real protocol and
+         tuning issues can be dealt with must be anticipated.  It is
+         only when such networks have been created that these issues can
+         be approached and resolved.  Type-of-service and Expressway
+         routing and related routing issues must be resolved before a
+         real transition can be contemplated.  Using the interface
+         abstraction approach just described will allow definition now
+         of applications that can transition as the lower layer networks
+         are implemented.  Applications gateways and relay functions
+         will be a part of this transition strategy, along with dual
+         mode gateways and protocol translation layers.
+
+      Processor Count Expansion
+
+         Increases in the numbers of nodes and host sites and the
+         expected growth in use of micro-computers, super-micro
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 14]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+         workstations, and other modest cost but high power computing
+         solutions will drive the development of different network and
+         interconnect strategies as well as the infrastructure for
+         managing this increased name space.  Hierarchical name
+         management (as in domain based naming) and suitable transport
+         layer realizations will be required to build networks that are
+         robust and functional in the face of the anticipated
+         expansions.
+
+      Dynamic Binding of Names to Addresses
+
+         Increased processor counts and increased usage of portable
+         units, mobile units and lap-top micros will make dynamic
+         management of the name/address space a must.  Units must have
+         fixed designations that can be re-bound to physical addresses
+         as required or expedient.
+
+4.  USER SERVICES
+
+   The user services of the network are a key aspect of making the
+   network directly useful to the scientist.  Without the right user
+   services, network users separate into artificial subclasses based on
+   their degree of sophistication in acquiring skill in the use of the
+   network.  Flexible information dissemination equalizes the
+   effectiveness of the network for different kinds of users.
+
+Near Term Requirements
+
+   In the near term, the focus is on providing the services that allow
+   users to take advantage of the functions that the interconnected
+   network provides.
+
+Directory services
+
+   Much of the information necessary in the use of the network is for
+   directory purposes.  The user needs to access resources available on
+   the network, and needs to obtain a name or address.
+
+White Pages
+
+   The network needs to provide mechanisms for looking up names and
+   addresses of people and hosts on the network.  Flexible searches
+   should be possible on multiple aspects of the directory listing.
+   Some of these services are normally transparent to the user/host name
+   to address translation for example.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 15]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+Yellow Pages
+
+   Other kinds of information lookup are based on cataloging and
+   classification of information about resources on the networks.
+
+Information Sharing Services
+
+      Bulletin Boards
+
+         The service of the electronic bulletin board is the one-to-many
+         analog of the one-to-one service of electronic mail.  A
+         bulletin board provides a forum for discussion and interchange
+         of information.  Accessibility is network-wide depending on the
+         definition of the particular bulletin board.  Currently the
+         SMTP and UUCP protocols are used in the transport of postings
+         for many bulletin boards, but any similar electronic mail
+         transport can be substituted without affecting the underlying
+         concept.  An effectively open-ended recipient list is specified
+         as the recipient of a message, which then constitutes a
+         bulletin board posting.  A convention exists as to what
+         transport protocols are utilized for a particular set of
+         bulletin boards.  The user agent used to access the Bulletin
+         Board may vary from host to host.  Some number of host
+         resources on the network provide the service of progressively
+         expanding the symbolic mail address of the Bulletin Board into
+         its constituent parts, as well as relaying postings as a
+         service to the network.  Associated with this service is the
+         maintenance of the lists used in distributing the postings.
+         This maintenance includes responding to requests from Bulletin
+         Board readers and host Bulletin Board managers, as well as
+         drawing the appropriate conclusions from recurring
+         automatically generated or error messages in response to
+         distribution attempts.
+
+      Community Archiving
+
+         Much information can be shared over the network.  At some point
+         each particular information item reaches the stage where it is
+         no longer appropriately kept online and accessible.  When
+         moving a file of information to offline storage, a network can
+         provide its hosts a considerable economy if information of
+         interest to several of them need only be stored offline once.
+         Procedures then exist for querying and retrieving from the set
+         of offline stored files.
+
+      Shared/distributed file system
+
+         It should be possible for a user on the network to look at a
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 16]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+         broadly defined collection of information on the network as one
+         useful whole.  To this end, standards for accessing files
+         remotely are necessary.  These standards should include means
+         for random access to remote files, similar to the generally
+         employed on a single computer system.
+
+      Distributed Databases and Archives
+
+         As more scientific disciplines computerize their data archives
+         and catalogs, mechanisms will have to be provided to support
+         distributed access to these resources.  Fundamentally new kins
+         of collaborative research will become possible when such
+         resources and access mechanisms are widely available.
+
+      Resource Sharing Services
+
+         In sharing the resources or services available on the network,
+         certain ancillary services are needed depending on the
+         resource.
+
+Access Control
+
+   Identification and authorization is needed for individuals, hosts or
+   subnetworks permitted to make use of a resource available via the
+   network.  There should be consistency of procedure for obtaining and
+   utilizing permission for use of shared resources.  The identification
+   scheme used for access to the network should be available for use by
+   resources as well.  In some cases, this will serve as sufficient
+   access control, and in other cases it will be a useful adjunct to
+   resource-specific controls.  The information on the current network
+   location of the user should be available along with information on
+   user identification to permit added flexibility for resources.  For
+   example, it should be possible to verify that an access attempt is
+   coming from within a state.  A state agency might then grant public
+   access to its services only for users within the state.  Attributes
+   of individuals should be codifiable within the access control
+   database, for example membership in a given professional society.
+
+Privacy
+
+   Users of a resource have a right to expect that they have control
+   over the release of the information they generate.  Resources should
+   allow classifying information according to degree of access, i.e.
+   none, access to read, access according to criteria specified in the
+   data itself, ability to change or add information.  The full range of
+   identification information described under access control should be
+   available to the user when specifying access.  Access could be
+   granted to all fellow members of a professional society, for example.
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 17]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+Accounting
+
+   To permit auditing of usage, accounting information should be
+   provided for those resources for which it is deemed necessary.  This
+   would include identity of the user of the resource and the
+   corresponding volume of resource components.
+
+Legalities of Interagency Research Internet
+
+   To make the multiply-sponsored internetwork feasible, the federal
+   budget will have to recognize that some usage outside a particular
+   budget category may occur.  This will permit the cross-utilization of
+   agency funded resources.  For example, NSFnet researchers would be
+   able to access supercomputers over NASnet.  In return for this, the
+   total cost to the government will be significantly reduced because of
+   the benefits of sharing network and other resources, rather than
+   duplicating them.
+
+Standards
+
+   In order for the networking needs of scientific computing to be met,
+   new standards are going to evolve.  It is important that they be
+   tested under actual use conditions, and that feedback be used to
+   refine them.  Since the standards for scientific communication and
+   networking are to be experimented with, they are more dynamic than
+   those in other electronic communication fields.  It is critical that
+   the resources of the network be expended to promulgate experimental
+   standards and maximize the range of the community utilizing them.  To
+   this end, the sharing of results of the testing is important.
+
+User-oriented Documentation
+
+   The functionality of the network should be available widely without
+   the costly need to refer requests to experts for formulation.  A
+   basic information facility in the network should therefore be
+   developed.  The network should be self-documenting via online help
+   files, interactive tutorials, and good design.  In addition, concise,
+   well-indexed and complete printed documentation should be available.
+
+Future Goals
+
+   The goal for the future should be to provide the advanced user
+   services that allow full advantage to be taken of the interconnection
+   of users, computing resources, data bases, and experimental
+   facilities.  One major goal would be the creation of a national
+   knowledge bank.  Such a knowledge bank would capture and organize
+   computer-based knowledge in various scientific fields that is
+   currently available only in written/printed form, or in the minds of
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 18]
+
+RFC 1017          Requirements for Scientific Research       August 1987
+
+
+   experts or experienced workers in the field.  This knowledge would be
+   stored in knowledge banks which will be accessible over the network
+   to individual researchers and their programs.  The result will be a
+   codification of scientific understanding and technical know-how in a
+   series of knowledge based systems which would become increasingly
+   capable over time.
+
+CONCLUSION
+
+   In this paper, we have tried to describe the functions required of
+   the interconnected national network to support scientific research.
+   These functions range from basic connectivity through to the
+   provision for powerful distributed user services.
+
+   Many of the goals described in this paper are achievable with current
+   technology.  They require coordination of the various networking
+   activities, agreement to share costs and technologies, and agreement
+   to use common protocols and standards in the provision of those
+   functions.  Other goals require further research, where the
+   coordination of the efforts and sharing of results will be key to
+   making those results available to the scientific user.
+
+   For these reasons, we welcome the initiative represented by this
+   workshop to have the government agencies join forces in providing the
+   best network facilities possible in support of scientific research.
+
+APPENDIX
+
+                Internet Task Force on Scientific Computing
+
+
+             Rick Adrion     University of Massachusetts
+             Ron Bailey      NASA Ames Research Center
+             Rick Bogart     Stanford University
+             Bob Brown       RIACS
+             Dave Farber     University of Delaware
+             Alan Katz       USC Information Science Institute
+             Jim Leighton    Lawrence Livermore Laboratories
+             Keith Lantz     Stanford University
+             Barry Leiner    (chair) RIACS
+             Milo Medin      NASA Ames Research Center
+             Mike Muuss      US Army Ballistics Research Laboratory
+             Harvey Newman   California Institute of Technology
+             David Roode     Intellicorp
+             Ari Ollikainen  General Electric
+             Peter Shames    Space Telescope Science Institute
+             Phil Scherrer   Stanford University
+
+
+
+
+Leiner                                                         [Page 19]
+
\ No newline at end of file