RFC 1273 (rfc1273) - Page 1 of 8
Measurement Study of Changes in Service-Level Reachability in the Global TCP/IP Internet: Goals, Experimental Design, Implementation, and Policy Considerations
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group M. Schwartz
Request for Comments: 1273 University of Colorado
November 1991
A Measurement Study of Changes in
Service-Level Reachability in the Global
TCP/IP Internet: Goals, Experimental Design,
Implementation, and Policy Considerations
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard. Distribution of this memo is
unlimited.
Abstract
In this report we discuss plans to carry out a longitudinal
measurement study of changes in service-level reachability in the
global TCP/IP Internet. We overview our experimental design,
considerations of network and remote site load, mechanisms used to
control the measurement collection process, and network appropriate
use and privacy issues, including our efforts to inform sites
measured by this study. A list of references and information on how
to contact the Principal Investigator are included.
Introduction
The global TCP/IP Internet interconnects millions of individuals at
thousands of institutions worldwide, offering the potential for
significant collaboration through network services and electronic
information exchange. At the same time, such powerful connectivity
offers many avenues for security violations, as evidenced by a number
of well publicized events over the past few years. In response, many
sites have imposed mechanisms to limit their exposure to security
intrusions, ranging from disabling certain inter-site services, to
using external gateways that only allow electronic mail delivery, to
gateways that limit remote interactions via access control lists, to
disconnection from the Internet. While these measures are preferable
to the damage that could occur from security violations, taken to an
extreme they could eventually reduce the Internet to little more than
a means of supporting certain pre-approved point-to-point data
transfers. Such diminished functionality could hinder or prevent the
deployment of important new types of network services, impeding both
research and commercial advancement.
To understand the evolution of this situation, we have designed a
Schwartz