>No matter where the stabilization layer(s) live, using DNS as a >means to map from identity to locations simply won't work. It might be >good enough for initial connection (assuming that if a service exists on >multiple hosts, any of them will do), but it's not good enough for >re-establishing an already-open connection, because you might get a >different host the next time. This is exactly the point! >> But the real question here is: does this new "thing" have to be a >> layer? >It depends on which "thing" you are talking about. For the L3-L4 thing, >it's either a new layer or a change to an existing layer. If you >have both the L4-L7 thing and the L3-L4 thing, the former is either a >new layer or (my personal opinion) a new API that knowledgable apps >call explicitly. If L4-L7 thing is an API on top of the "socket" in its current form, then I believe that all limitations are still there. This is implemented and shown to be the fact. /Yuri