RFC 57 (rfc57) - Page 1 of 5

Thoughts and Reflections on NWG/RFC 54

Network Working Group                              Mike Kraley (Harvard)
Request for Comments #57                          John Newkirk (Harvard)

                                                   June 19, 1970


                Thoughts and Reflections on NWG/RFC #54


       In the course of writing NWG/RFC #54 several new ideas became
apparent.  Since these ideas had not previously been discussed by the
NWG, or were sufficiently imprecise, it was decided not to include them
in the official protocol proffering.  We thought, however, that they
might be proper subjects for discussion and later inclusion in the
second level protocol.

I.  Errors and Overflow

       In line with the discussion in NWG/RFC #48, we felt that two
types of errors should be distinguished.  One is a real error, such as
an RFC composed of two send sockets.  This type of error can only be
generated by a broken NCP.  In the absence of hardware and software
bugs, these events should never occur; the correct response upon
detection of such an event was outlined in the description of the ERR
command in NWG/RFC #54.
       The other "error" is an overflow condition arising because
finite system resources are exhausted.  An overflow condition could
occur if an RFC was received, but there was no room to create the
requisite tables and queues.  This is not a real error, in the sense
that no one has done anything incorrect (expect perhaps the system
planners in not providing sufficient table space, etc.)  Further, a