Network Working Group                                             M. Day
Request for Comments: 3466                                         Cisco
Category: Informational                                          B. Cain
                                                               Storigen
                                                           G. Tomlinson
                                                        Tomlinson Group
                                                             P. Rzewski
                                                  Media Publisher, Inc.
                                                          February 2003


              A Model for Content Internetworking (CDI)

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 (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

  Content (distribution) internetworking (CDI) is the technology for
  interconnecting content networks, sometimes previously called
  "content peering" or "CDN peering".  A common vocabulary helps the
  process of discussing such interconnection and interoperation.  This
  document introduces content networks and content internetworking, and
  defines elements for such a common vocabulary.

Table of Contents

  1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
  2.  Content Networks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  2
      2.1   Problem Description  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  3
      2.2   Caching Proxies. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
      2.3   Server Farms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
      2.4   Content Distribution Networks. . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
            2.4.1 Historic Evolution of CDNs . . . . . . . . . . .  8
            2.4.2 Describing CDN Value: Scale and Reach. . . . . .  8
  3.  Content Network Model Terms  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
  4.  Content Internetworking  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  5.  Content Internetworking Model Terms  . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
  6.  Security Considerations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  7.  Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
  8.  Normative References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16



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  9.  Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
  10. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

1. Introduction

  Content networks are of increasing importance to the overall
  architecture of the Web.  This document presents a vocabulary for use
  in developing technology for interconnecting content networks, or
  "content internetworking".

  The accepted name for the technology of interconnecting content
  networks is "content internetworking".  For historical reasons, we
  abbreviate this term using the acronym CDI (from "content
  distribution internetworking").  Earlier names relied on analogy with
  peering and interconnection of IP networks; thus we had "content
  peering" and "CDN peering".  All of these other names are now
  deprecated, and we have worked to establish consistent usage of
  "content internetworking" and "CDI" throughout the documents of the
  IETF CDI group.

  The terminology in this document builds from the previous taxonomy of
  web caching and replication in RFC 3040 [3].  In particular, we have
  attempted to avoid the use of the common terms "proxies" or "caches"
  in favor of more specific terms defined by that document, such as
  "caching proxy".

  Section 2 provides background on content networks.  Section 3
  introduces the terms used for elements of a content network and
  explains how those terms are used.  Section 4 provides additional
  background on interconnecting content networks, following which
  Section 5 introduces additional terms and explains how those
  internetworking terms are used.

2. Content Networks

  The past several years have seen the evolution of technologies
  centered around "content".  Protocols, appliances, and entire markets
  have been created exclusively for the location, download, and usage
  tracking of content.  Some sample technologies in this area have
  included web caching proxies, content management tools, intelligent
  "web switches", and advanced log analysis tools.










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  When used together, these tools form new types of networks, dubbed
  "content networks".  Whereas network infrastructures have
  traditionally processed information at layers 1 through 3 of the OSI
  stack, content networks include network infrastructure that exists in
  layers 4 through 7.  Whereas lower-layer network infrastructures
  centered on the routing, forwarding, and switching of frames and
  packets, content networks deal with the routing and forwarding of
  requests and responses for content.  The units of transported data in
  content networks, such as images, movies, or songs, are often very
  large and may span hundreds or thousands of packets.

  Alternately, content networks can be seen as a new virtual overlay to
  the OSI stack: a "content layer", to enable richer services that rely
  on underlying elements from all 7 layers of the stack.  Whereas
  traditional applications, such as file transfer (FTP), relied on
  underlying protocols such as TCP/IP for transport, overlay services
  in content networks rely on layer 7 protocols such as HTTP or RTSP
  for transport.

  The proliferation of content networks and content networking
  capabilities gives rise to interest in interconnecting content
  networks and finding ways for distinct content networks to cooperate
  for better overall service.

2.1 Problem Description

  Content networks typically play some role in solving the "content
  distribution problem".  Abstractly, the goal in solving this problem
  is to arrange a rendezvous between a content source at an origin
  server and a content sink at a viewer's user agent.  In the trivial
  case, the rendezvous mechanism is that every user agent sends every
  request directly to the origin server named in the host part of the
  URL identifying the content.

  As the audience for the content source grows, so do the demands on
  the origin server.  There are a variety of ways in which the trivial
  system can be modified for better performance.  The apparent single
  logical server may in fact be implemented as a large "farm" of server
  machines behind a switch.  Both caching proxies and reverse caching
  proxies can be deployed between the client and server, so that
  requests can be satisfied by some cache instead of by the server.

  For the sake of background, several sample content networks are
  described in the following sections that each attempt to address this
  problem.






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2.2 Caching Proxies

  A type of content network that has been in use for several years is a
  caching proxy deployment.  Such a network might typically be employed
  by an ISP for the benefit of users accessing the Internet, such as
  through dial or cable modem.

  In the interest of improving performance and reducing bandwidth
  utilization, caching proxies are deployed close to the users.  These
  users are encouraged to send their web requests through the caches
  rather than directly to origin servers, such as by configuring their
  browsers to do so.  When this configuration is properly done, the
  user's entire browsing session goes through a specific caching proxy.
  That caching proxy will therefore contain the "hot set" of all
  Internet content being viewed by all of the users of that caching
  proxy.

  When a request is being handled at a caching proxy on behalf of a
  user, other decisions may be made, such as:

  o  A provider that deploys caches in many geographically diverse
     locations may also deploy regional parent caches to further
     aggregate user requests and responses.  This may provide
     additional performance improvement and bandwidth savings.  When
     parents are included, this is known as hierarchical caching.

  o  Using rich parenting protocols, redundant parents may be deployed
     such that a failure in a primary parent is detected and a backup
     is used instead.

  o  Using similar parenting protocols, requests may be partitioned
     such that requests for certain content domains are sent to a
     specific primary parent.  This can help to maximize the efficient
     use of caching proxy resources.

















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  The following diagram depicts a hierarchical cache deployment as
  described above:

                    ^        ^
                    |        |   requests to
                    |        |   origin servers
                    |        |
                --------   --------
                |parent|   |parent|
                |cache |   |cache |
                |proxy |   |proxy |
                --------   --------
                     ^         ^
         requests for \       / requests for
              foo.com  \     /  bar.com
              content   \   /   content
                         \ /
     -------  -------  -------  -------
     |edge |  |edge |  |edge |  |edge |
     |cache|  |cache|  |cache|  |cache|
     |proxy|  |proxy|  |proxy|  |proxy|
     -------  -------  -------  -------
                         ^
                         | all content
                         | requests
                         | for this
                         | client
                         |
                      --------
                      |client|
                      --------

  Note that this diagram shows only one possible configuration, but
  many others are also useful.  In particular, the client may be able
  to communicate directly with multiple caching proxies.  RFC 3040 [3]
  contains additional examples of how multiple caching proxies may be
  used.

2.3 Server Farms

  Another type of content network that has been in widespread use for
  several years is a server farm.  A typical server farm makes use of a
  so-called "intelligent" or "content" switch (i.e., one that uses
  information in OSI layers 4-7).  The switch examines content requests
  and dispatches them among a (potentially large) group of servers.






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  Some of the goals of a server farm include:

  o  Creating the impression that the group of servers is actually a
     single origin site.

  o  Load-balancing of requests across all servers in the group.

  o  Automatic routing of requests away from servers that fail.

  o  Routing all requests for a particular user agent's session to the
     same server, in order to preserve session state.

  The following diagram depicts a simple server farm deployment:

     ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
     |content|  |content|  |content|  |content|
     |server |  |server |  |server |  |server |
     |       |  |       |  |       |  |       |
     ---------  ---------  ---------  ---------
                    ^          ^
        request from \        / request from
           client A   \      /    client B
                       \    /
                    -------------
                    |  L4-L7    |
                    |  switch   |
                    -------------
                       ^     ^
                      /       \
                     /         \
                    /           \
            request from     request from
              client A         client B

  A similar style of content network (that is, deployed close to
  servers) may be constructed with surrogates [3] instead of a switch.

2.4 Content Distribution Networks

  Both hierarchical caching and server farms are useful techniques, but
  have limits.  Server farms can improve the scalability of the origin
  server.  However, since the multiple servers and other elements are
  typically deployed near the origin server, they do little to improve
  performance problems that are due to network congestion.  Caching
  proxies can improve performance problems due to network congestion
  (since they are situated near the clients) but they cache objects
  based on client demand.  Caching based on client demand performs
  poorly if the requests for a given object, while numerous in



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  aggregate, are spread thinly among many different caching proxies.
  (In the worst case, an object could be requested n times via n
  distinct caching proxies, causing n distinct requests to the origin
  server -- or exactly the same behavior that would occur without any
  caching proxies in place.)

  Thus, a content provider with a popular content source can find that
  it has to invest in large server farms, load balancing, and high-
  bandwidth connections to keep up with demand.  Even with those
  investments, the user experience may still be relatively poor due to
  congestion in the network as a whole.

  To address these limitations, another type of content network that
  has been deployed in increasing numbers in recent years is the CDN
  (Content Distribution Network or Content Delivery Network).  A CDN
  essentially moves server-farm-like configurations out into network
  locations more typically occupied by caching proxies.  A CDN has
  multiple replicas of each content item being hosted.  A request from
  a browser for a single content item is directed to a "good" replica,
  where "good" usually means that the item is served to the client
  quickly compared to the time it would take fetch it from the origin
  server, with appropriate integrity and consistency.  Static
  information about geographic locations and network connectivity is
  usually not sufficient to do a good job of choosing a replica.
  Instead, a CDN typically incorporates dynamic information about
  network conditions and load on the replicas, directing requests so as
  to balance the load.

  Compared to using servers and surrogates in a single data center, a
  CDN is a relatively complex system encompassing multiple points of
  presence, in locations that may be geographically far apart.
  Operating a CDN is not easy for a content provider, since a content
  provider wants to focus its resources on developing high-value
  content, not on managing network infrastructure.  Instead, a more
  typical arrangement is that a network service provider builds and
  operates a CDN, offering a content distribution service to a number
  of content providers.

  A CDN enables a service provider to act on behalf of the content
  provider to deliver copies of origin server content to clients from
  multiple diverse locations.  The increase in number and diversity of
  location is intended to improve download times and thus improve the
  user experience.  A CDN has some combination of a content-delivery
  infrastructure, a request-routing infrastructure, a distribution
  infrastructure, and an accounting infrastructure.  The content-
  delivery infrastructure consists of a set of "surrogate" servers [3]
  that deliver copies of content to sets of users.  The request-routing
  infrastructure consists of mechanisms that move a client toward a



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  rendezvous with a surrogate.  The distribution infrastructure
  consists of mechanisms that move content from the origin server to
  the surrogates.  Finally, the accounting infrastructure tracks and
  collects data on request-routing, distribution, and delivery
  functions within the CDN.

  The following diagram depicts a simple CDN as described above:

              ----------          ----------
              |request-|          |request-|
              |routing |          |routing |
              | system |          | system |
              ----------          ----------
                ^ |
   (1) client's | | (2) response
       content  | |     indicating
       request  | |     location of       -----------
                | |     content           |surrogate|
                | |                       -----------
  -----------   | |
  |surrogate|   | |      -----------
  -----------   | |      |surrogate|
                | |      -----------
                | |      ^
                | v     / (3) client opens
               client---      connection to
                              retrieve content

2.4.1 Historic Evolution of CDNs

  The first important use of CDNs was for the distribution of heavily-
  requested graphic files (such as GIF files on the home pages of
  popular servers).  However, both in principle and increasingly in
  practice, a CDN can support the delivery of any digital content --
  including various forms of streaming media.  For a streaming media
  CDN (or media distribution network or MDN), the surrogates may be
  operating as splitters (serving out multiple copies of a stream).
  The splitter function may be instead of, or in addition to, a role as
  a caching proxy.  However, the basic elements defined in this model
  are still intended to apply to the interconnection of content
  networks that are distributing streaming media.

2.4.2 Describing CDN Value: Scale and Reach

  There are two fundamental elements that give a CDN value: outsourcing
  infrastructure and improved content delivery.  A CDN allows multiple
  surrogates to act on behalf of an origin server, therefore removing
  the delivery of content from a centralized site to multiple and



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  (usually) highly distributed sites.  We refer to increased aggregate
  infrastructure size as "scale".  In addition, a CDN can be
  constructed with copies of content near to end users, overcoming
  issues of network size, network congestion, and network failures.  We
  refer to increased diversity of content locations as "reach".

  In a typical (non-internetworked) CDN, a single service provider
  operates the request-routers, the surrogates, and the content
  distributors.  In addition, that service provider establishes
  (business) relationships with content publishers and acts on behalf
  of their origin sites to provide a distributed delivery system.  The
  value of that CDN to a content provider is a combination of its scale
  and its reach.

3. Content Network Model Terms

  This section consists of the definitions of a number of terms used to
  refer to roles, participants, and objects involved in content
  networks.  Although the following uses many terms that are based on
  those used in RFC 2616 [1] or RFC 3040 [3], there is no necessary
  connection to HTTP or web caching technology.  Content
  internetworking and this vocabulary are applicable to other protocols
  and styles of content delivery.

  Phrases in upper-case refer to other defined terms.

  ACCOUNTING
     Measurement and recording of DISTRIBUTION and DELIVERY activities,
     especially when the information recorded is ultimately used as a
     basis for the subsequent transfer of money, goods, or obligations.

  ACCOUNTING SYSTEM
     A collection of CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS that supports ACCOUNTING
     for a single CONTENT NETWORK.

  AUTHORITATIVE REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM
     The REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM that is the correct/final authority for
     a particular item of CONTENT.

  CDN
     Content Delivery Network or Content Distribution Network.  A type
     of CONTENT NETWORK in which the CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS are
     arranged for more effective delivery of CONTENT to CLIENTS.
     Typically a CDN consists of a REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM, SURROGATES,
     a DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM, and an ACCOUNTING SYSTEM.






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  CLIENT
     A program that sends CONTENT REQUESTS and receives corresponding
     CONTENT RESPONSES.  (Note: this is similar to the definition in
     RFC 2616 [1] but we do not require establishment of a connection.)

  CONTENT
     Any form of digital data, CONTENT approximately corresponds to
     what is referred to as an "entity" in RFC 2616 [1].  One important
     form of CONTENT with additional constraints on DISTRIBUTION and
     DELIVERY is CONTINUOUS MEDIA.

  CONTENT NETWORK
     An arrangement of CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS, controlled by a common
     management in some fashion.

  CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENT
     A network device that performs at least some of its processing by
     examining CONTENT-related parts of network messages.  In IP-based
     networks, a CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENT is a device whose processing
     depends on examining information contained in IP packet bodies;
     network elements (as defined in RFC 3040) examine only the header
     of an IP packet.  Note that many CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS do not
     examine or even see individual IP packets, instead receiving the
     body of one or more packets assembled into a message of some
     higher-level protocol.

  CONTENT REQUEST
     A message identifying a particular item of CONTENT to be
     delivered.

  CONTENT RESPONSE
     A message containing a particular item of CONTENT, identified in a
     previous CONTENT REQUEST.

  CONTENT SIGNAL
     A message delivered through a DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM that specifies
     information about an item of CONTENT.  For example, a CONTENT
     SIGNAL can indicate that the ORIGIN has a new version of some
     piece of CONTENT.

  CONTINUOUS MEDIA
     CONTENT where there is a timing relationship between source and
     sink; that is, the sink must reproduce the timing relationship
     that existed at the source.  The most common examples of
     CONTINUOUS MEDIA are audio and motion video.  CONTINUOUS MEDIA can
     be real-time (interactive), where there is a "tight" timing





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     relationship between source and sink, or streaming (playback),
     where the relationship is less strict.  [Note: This definition is
     essentially identical to the definition of continuous media in
     [2]]

  DELIVERY
     The activity of providing a PUBLISHER's CONTENT, via CONTENT
     RESPONSES, to a CLIENT.  Contrast with DISTRIBUTION and REQUEST-
     ROUTING.

  DISTRIBUTION
     The activity of moving a PUBLISHER's CONTENT from its ORIGIN to
     one or more SURROGATEs.  DISTRIBUTION can happen either in
     anticipation of a SURROGATE receiving a REQUEST (pre-positioning)
     or in response to a SURROGATE receiving a REQUEST (fetching on
     demand).  Contrast with DELIVERY and REQUEST-ROUTING.

  DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM
     A collection of CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS that support DISTRIBUTION
     for a single CONTENT NETWORK.  The DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM also
     propagates CONTENT SIGNALs.

  ORIGIN
     The point at which CONTENT first enters a DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.
     The ORIGIN for any item of CONTENT is the server or set of servers
     at the "core" of the distribution, holding the "master" or
     "authoritative" copy of that CONTENT.  (Note: We believe this
     definition is compatible with that for "origin server" in RFC 2616
     [1] but includes additional constraints useful for CDI.)

  PUBLISHER
     The party that ultimately controls the CONTENT and its
     distribution.

  REACHABLE SURROGATES
     The collection of SURROGATES that can be contacted via a
     particular DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM or REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM.

  REQUEST-ROUTING
     The activity of steering or directing a CONTENT REQUEST from a
     USER AGENT to a suitable SURROGATE.

  REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM
     A collection of CONTENT NETWORK ELEMENTS that support REQUEST-
     ROUTING for a single CONTENT NETWORK.






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  SERVER
     A program that accepts CONTENT REQUESTS and services them by
     sending back CONTENT RESPONSES.  Any given program may be capable
     of being both a client and a server; our use of these terms refers
     only to the role being performed by the program.  [Note: this is
     adapted from a similar definition in RFC 2616 [1].]

  SURROGATE
     A delivery server, other than the ORIGIN.  Receives a CONTENT
     REQUEST and delivers the corresponding CONTENT RESPONSE.  [Note:
     this is a different definition from that in RFC 3040 [3], which
     appears overly elaborate for our purposes.  A "CDI surrogate" is
     always an "RFC 3040 surrogate"; we are not sure if the reverse is
     true.]

  USER AGENT
     The CLIENT which initiates a REQUEST.  These are often browsers,
     editors, spiders (web-traversing robots), or other end user tools.
     [Note: this definition is identical to the one in RFC 2616 [1].]

4. Content Internetworking

  There are limits to how large any one network's scale and reach can
  be.  Increasing either scale or reach is ultimately limited by the
  cost of equipment, the space available for deploying equipment,
  and/or the demand for that scale/reach of infrastructure.  Sometimes
  a particular audience is tied to a single service provider or a small
  set of providers by constraints of technology, economics, or law.
  Other times, a network provider may be able to manage surrogates and
  a distribution system, but may have no direct relationship with
  content providers.  Such a provider wants to have a means of
  affiliating their delivery and distribution infrastructure with other
  parties who have content to distribute.

  Content internetworking allows different content networks to share
  resources so as to provide larger scale and/or reach to each
  participant than they could otherwise achieve.  By using commonly
  defined protocols for content internetworking, each content network
  can treat neighboring content networks as "black boxes", allowing
  them to hide internal details from each other.

5. Content Internetworking Model Terms

  This section consists of the definitions of a number of terms used to
  refer to roles, participants, and objects involved in internetworking
  content networks.  The purpose of this section is to identify common
  terms and provide short definitions.




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  ACCOUNTING INTERNETWORKING
     Interconnection of two or more ACCOUNTING SYSTEMS so as to enable
     the exchange of information between them.  The form of ACCOUNTING
     INTERNETWORKING required may depend on the nature of the
     NEGOTIATED RELATIONSHIP between the peering parties -- in
     particular, on the value of the economic exchanges anticipated.

  ADVERTISEMENT
     Information about resources available to other CONTENT NETWORKS,
     exchanged via CONTENT INTERNETWORKING GATEWAYS.  Types of
     ADVERTISEMENT include AREA ADVERTISEMENTS, CONTENT ADVERTISEMENTS,
     and DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISEMENTS.

  AREA ADVERTISEMENT
     ADVERTISEMENT from a CONTENT NETWORK's REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM
     about aspects of topology, geography and performance of a CONTENT
     NETWORK.  Contrast with CONTENT ADVERTISEMENT, DISTRIBUTION
     ADVERTISEMENT.

  BILLING ORGANIZATION
     An entity that operates an ACCOUNTING SYSTEM to support billing
     within a NEGOTIATED RELATIONSHIP with a PUBLISHER.

  CONTENT ADVERTISEMENT
     ADVERTISEMENT from a CONTENT NETWORK's REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM
     about the availability of one or more collections of CONTENT on a
     CONTENT NETWORK.  Contrast with AREA ADVERTISEMENT, DISTRIBUTION
     ADVERTISEMENT

  CONTENT DESTINATION
     A CONTENT NETWORK or DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM that is accepting CONTENT
     from another such network or system.  Contrast with CONTENT
     SOURCE.

  CONTENT INTERNETWORKING GATEWAY (CIG)
     An identifiable element or system through which a CONTENT NETWORK
     can be interconnected with others.  A CIG may be the point of
     contact for DISTRIBUTION INTERNETWORKING, REQUEST-ROUTING
     INTERNETWORKING, and/or ACCOUNTING INTERNETWORKING, and thus may
     incorporate some or all of the corresponding systems for the
     CONTENT NETWORK.

  CONTENT REPLICATION
     The movement of CONTENT from a CONTENT SOURCE to a CONTENT
     DESTINATION.  Note that this is specifically the movement of
     CONTENT from one network to another.  There may be similar or
     different mechanisms that move CONTENT around within a single
     network's DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM.



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  CONTENT SOURCE
     A CONTENT NETWORK or DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM that is distributing
     CONTENT to another such network or system.  Contrast with CONTENT
     DESTINATION.

  DISTRIBUTION ADVERTISEMENT
     An ADVERTISEMENT from a CONTENT NETWORK's DISTRIBUTION SYSTEM to
     potential CONTENT SOURCES, describing the capabilities of one or
     more CONTENT DESTINATIONS.  Contrast with AREA ADVERTISEMENT,
     CONTENT ADVERTISEMENT.

  DISTRIBUTION INTERNETWORKING
     Interconnection of two or more DISTRIBUTION SYSTEMS so as to
     propagate CONTENT SIGNALS and copies of CONTENT to groups of
     SURROGATES.

  ENLISTED
     Describes a CONTENT NETWORK that, as part of a NEGOTIATED
     RELATIONSHIP, has accepted a DISTRIBUTION task from another
     CONTENT NETWORK, has agreed to perform REQUEST-ROUTING on behalf
     of another CONTENT NETWORK, or has agreed to provide ACCOUNTING
     data to another CONTENT NETWORK.  Contrast with ORIGINATING.

  INJECTION
     A "send-only" form of DISTRIBUTION INTERNETWORKING that takes
     place from an ORIGIN to a CONTENT DESTINATION.

  INTER-
     Describes activity that involves more than one CONTENT NETWORK
     (e.g., INTER-CDN).  Contrast with INTRA-.

  INTRA-
     Describes activity within a single CONTENT NETWORK (e.g., INTRA-
     CDN).  Contrast with INTER-.

  NEGOTIATED RELATIONSHIP
     A relationship whose terms and conditions are partially or
     completely established outside the context of CONTENT NETWORK
     internetworking protocols.

  ORIGINATING
     Describes a CONTENT NETWORK that, as part of a NEGOTIATED
     RELATIONSHIP, submits a DISTRIBUTION task to another CONTENT
     NETWORK, asks another CONTENT NETWORK to perform REQUEST-ROUTING
     on its behalf, or asks another CONTENT NETWORK to provide
     ACCOUNTING data.  Contrast with ENLISTED.





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  REMOTE CONTENT NETWORK
     A CONTENT NETWORK able to deliver CONTENT for a particular REQUEST
     that is not the AUTHORITATIVE REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEM for that
     REQUEST.

  REQUEST-ROUTING INTERNETWORKING
     Interconnection of two or more REQUEST-ROUTING SYSTEMS so as to
     increase the number of REACHABLE SURROGATES for at least one of
     the interconnected systems.

6. Security Considerations

  This document defines terminology and concepts for content
  internetworking.  The terminology itself does not introduce any
  security-related issues.  The implementation of content
  internetworking concepts does raise some security-related issues,
  which we identify in broad categories below.  Other CDI documents
  will address their specific security-related issues in more detail.

  Secure relationship establishment: CONTENT INTERNETWORKING GATEWAYS
  must ensure that CONTENT NETWORKS are internetworking only with other
  CONTENT NETWORKS as intended.  It must be possible to prevent
  unauthorized internetworking or spoofing of another CONTENT NETWORK's
  identity.

  Secure content transfer: CONTENT INTERNETWORKING GATEWAYS must
  support CONTENT NETWORK mechanisms that ensure both the integrity of
  CONTENT and the integrity of both DISTRIBUTION and DELIVERY, even
  when both ORIGINATING and ENLISTED networks are involved.  CONTENT
  INTERNETWORKING GATEWAYS must allow for mechanisms to prevent theft
  or corruption of CONTENT.

  Secure meta-content transfer: CONTENT INTERNETWORKING GATEWAYS must
  support the movement of accurate, reliable, auditable ACCOUNTING
  information between CONTENT NETWORKS.  CONTENT INTERNETWORKING
  GATEWAYS must allow for mechanisms to prevent the diversion or
  corruption of ACCOUNTING data and similar meta-content.

7. Acknowledgements

  The authors acknowledge the contributions and comments of Fred
  Douglis (AT&T), Don Gilletti (CacheFlow), Markus Hoffmann (Lucent),
  Barron Housel (Cisco), Barbara Liskov (Cisco), John Martin (Network
  Appliance), Nalin Mistry (Nortel Networks) Raj Nair (Cisco), Hilarie
  Orman (Volera), Doug Potter (Cisco), and Oliver Spatscheck (AT&T).






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8.  Normative References

  [1]  Fielding, R., Gettys, J., Mogul, J., Frystyk, H., Masinter, L.,
       Leach, P. and T. Berners-Lee, "Hypertext Transfer Protocol --
       HTTP/1.1", RFC 2616, June 1999.

  [2]  Schulzrinne, H., Rao, A. and R. Lanphier, "Real Time Streaming
       Protocol", RFC 2326, April 1998.

  [3]  Cooper, I., Melve, I. and G. Tomlinson, "Internet Web
       Replication and Caching Taxonomy", RFC 3040, June 2000.

9.  Authors' Addresses

  Mark Stuart Day
  Cisco Systems
  1414 Massachusetts Avenue
  Boxborough, MA  01719
  US

  Phone: +1 978 936 1089
  EMail: [email protected]

  Brad Cain
  Storigen Systems
  650 Suffolk Street
  Lowell, MA  01854
  US

  Phone: +1 978 323 4454
  EMail: [email protected]

  Gary Tomlinson
  Tomlinson Group
  14324 227th Ave NE
  Woodinville, WA 98072

  Phone: +1 425 503 0881
  EMail: [email protected]

  Phil Rzewski
  30 Jennifer Place
  San Francisco, CA  94107
  US

  Phone: +1 650 303 3790
  EMail: [email protected]




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10.  Full Copyright Statement

  Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003).  All Rights Reserved.

  This document and translations of it may be copied and furnished to
  others, and derivative works that comment on or otherwise explain it
  or assist in its implementation may be prepared, copied, published
  and distributed, in whole or in part, without restriction of any
  kind, provided that the above copyright notice and this paragraph are
  included on all such copies and derivative works.  However, this
  document itself may not be modified in any way, such as by removing
  the copyright notice or references to the Internet Society or other
  Internet organizations, except as needed for the purpose of
  developing Internet standards in which case the procedures for
  copyrights defined in the Internet Standards process must be
  followed, or as required to translate it into languages other than
  English.

  The limited permissions granted above are perpetual and will not be
  revoked by the Internet Society or its successors or assigns.

  This document and the information contained herein is provided on an
  "AS IS" basis and THE INTERNET SOCIETY AND THE INTERNET ENGINEERING
  TASK FORCE DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING
  BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTY THAT THE USE OF THE INFORMATION
  HEREIN WILL NOT INFRINGE ANY RIGHTS OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF
  MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

Acknowledgement

  Funding for the RFC Editor function is currently provided by the
  Internet Society.



















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