Subject: VPN Device

From: Charles Nzerem <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 28 Aug 2000 10:28:04 -0400

Hello,

I am in the planning stage of a VPN implementation solution, and I have
chosen to do a hardware solution type. The current network flow is

         Users -------
Switches--------Firewall--------Router-------Internet.

I want to know at what point in the network flow will be the best to place
the VPN device without compromising data security, and at the same time
achieve minimal reduction in transmission performance.

Thanks for your help

Charles

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From: "RL 'Bob' Morgan" <[email-masked]>
Date: Tue, 29 Aug 2000 11:40:16 -0700 (PDT)

> achieve minimal reduction in transmission performance.

While the last thing I want to do is promote the use of the IETF list as a
network help line, let me note that we are asked this question regularly
by folks at our campus who have heard that VPNs are cool, and that we find
them rather to be of very little (or even negative) value in most cases.  
We have (which is to say, my colleague Terry Gray has) written up the
arguments supporting this position at:

  http://staff.washington.edu/gray/papers/credo-long.txt
  http://staff.washington.edu/gray/papers/credo-short.txt

which are respectively the exhaustive and more-readable versions.

I think our arguments are consistent with other rants on the benefits of
end-to-end communication which have become a staple of this list.  
Comments welcome.

 - RL "Bob"

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From: Beni Arazi <[email-masked]>
Date: Wed, 30 Aug 2000 00:32:06 +0300 (IDT)

Somebody just made a comment:
"While the last thing I want to do is promote the use of the IETF list as
a network help line..."

There is nothing wrong in giving, for free, good professional advices to
research students and start-up personnel, as a service to the community.

This is especially true when observing that many of us have all the time
in the world to discuss, in dozens of mails, much more important issues
like how to number elevator buttons.

Beni

---

From: Lixia Zhang <[email-masked]>
Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 15:38:08 -0700

>like how to number elevator buttons.

That might be true for some, but I believe that is NOT true for many more 
others.

For those research students: at the SIGCOMM executive committee meeting 
yesterday we talked about exactly this need for developing an online 
community to help students, and anyone else interested, with 
information/discussion/advice on networking and related research. I hope 
that will help remove the "help-line" function away from ietf list.

Actions will be taken quickly, stay tuned.

Lixia

(when we are ready, would we be allowed for just one announcement on ietf 
list? :-)

---

From: Marc Horowitz <[email-masked]>
Date: 29 Aug 2000 19:43:31 -0400

>> research students and start-up personnel, as a service to the community.

In principle, no.

But there is something wrong with doing this on a list which is
supposed to be used for discussing technical issues pertaining to IETF
standards activities.

If you (or Lixia, or someone else) wants to create another forum for
this purpose, that's great.

>> like how to number elevator buttons.

There is a lot of excess noise on this list.  I'm sure I'm not the
only one annoyed by off-topic flamage, and I wish more people would
consider this before contributing to the nearly constant flame wars
here.

That's all I'm going to say on this topic.

		Marc