Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!van-bc!ubc-cs!mprgate.mpr.ca!newshost!morse From: morse@quark.mpr.ca (Daryl Morse) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso Subject: Transparent Distribution - Why no light-weight transport in OSI stack? Message-ID: Date: 12 Feb 91 15:25:47 GMT Sender: news@mprgate.mpr.ca Distribution: comp Organization: MPR Teltech Ltd., Burnaby, BC, Canada. Lines: 37 In all of the reading on OSI (both standards and otherwise) that I have done, I have noticed what seems to be an inconsistency in the conceptual model that forms the basis for the OSI. The seeming "inconsistency" is as follows: In both name, and in the actual protocols that are in the stack, OSI is pretty clearly aimed at the connection of systems. We can see this by virtue of the types of end to end communications that have been standardized. All are aimed at system to system communication. However, if you look at the structure of the application layer, the picture seems to change. Indeed, the name of the upper-most layer seems to verify that the OSI is also aimed at the connection of applications. This is reinforced by the preliminary work that I have reviewed on the ODP (Open Distributed Processing) Reference Model. This also seems to be clearly aimed providing transparent distribution at the application level. Why, then, is there no light-weight mechanism for applications to communicate with other applications that might happen to be located on the same system? If I don't want my application to know where it is, or where the applications that it communicates with are, shouldn't that be addressed (no pun intended) by the stack? Surely, I shouldn't be reasonably expected to use X.25, or FDDI, for IPC. (Something related to this is the lack of a decent performing name service. X.500 is clearly not a great name service for an RPC.) Am I all wet here, and it really isn't the intention of the OSI that application entities might reside on the same system? Perhaps I'm just impatient, and these issues will be addressed by the ODP work? If you have any thoughts on these matters, I would be most interested in hearing them. Thanks. -- Daryl Morse | Voice : (604) 293-5476 MPR Teltech Ltd. | Fax : (604) 293-5787 8999 Nelson Way, Burnaby, BC | E-Mail: morse@quark.mpr.ca Canada, V5A 4B5 | quark.mpr.ca!morse@uunet.uu.net