> IP addresses currently serve two completely separate functions: they > identify *who* you are talking to, and they identify *where* they are. there's a tad more to it than that which is essential: in a non-NATted network, IP addresses identify where a host is in a way that is independent of the location in which they're being evaluated. in a NATted network, at least some IP addresses are location-dependent which removes the ability to hand those addresses to a host in a different part of the network. even if IP had identifiers for hosts that were independent of locators, they wouldn' t be worth very much without a way to map them to locators. and locators are a lot easier to deal with if they're location-independent. _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf