RFC 8517 · INFORMATIONAL · 2019

An Inventory of Transport-Centric Functions Provided by Middleboxes: An Operator Perspective

Overview

RFC 8517, “An Inventory of Transport-Centric Functions Provided by Middleboxes: An Operator Perspective”, is an Informational document published in February 2019 by D. Dolson, J. Snellman, M. Boucadair, C. Jacquenet. The canonical text is published by the RFC Editor.

Abstract

This document summarizes an operator's perception of the benefits that may be provided by intermediary devices that execute functions beyond normal IP forwarding. Such intermediary devices are often called "middleboxes".

RFC 3234 defines a taxonomy of middleboxes and issues in the Internet. Most of those middleboxes utilize or modify application- layer data. This document primarily focuses on devices that observe and act on information carried in the transport layer, and especially information carried in TCP packets.

Abstract as published in the RFC, via rfc-editor.org.

What “Informational” means

Published for the general information of the community. It does not define an IETF standard and carries no standards-track status.

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