Sam, I believe if we move 'quickly' in this WG we will be able to meet interoperability goals to certain extent atleast. The bottom-line is this technology is already being deployed by different vendors in academia and enterprises. The question is should IETF get involved in standardizing this or leave it to the individual vendors. I believe the IETF should and that standardization will certainly help the community, if we can move fast enough. The recent email by Jari Arkko to standardize some of the EAP methods which are being used and deployed today but no RFCs exist for them, is certainly a step in the right direction. My 2 cents, Hormuzd -----Original Message----- From: Sam Hartman [mailto:hartmans-ietf@xxxxxxx] Sent: Friday, October 13, 2006 12:43 PM To: Frank Yeh Jr Cc: Ted Hardie; nea@xxxxxxxx; ietf@xxxxxxxx Subject: Re: [Nea] WG Review: Network Endpoint Assessment (nea) >>>>> "Frank" == Frank Yeh <fyeh@xxxxxxxxxx> writes: Frank> Standardized VS vendor-specific attributes is not something that needs to be Frank> solved today. Solutions can start with vendor-specific and migrate toward a Frank> standard, if one develops, without changing the protocol. The specification Frank> should not preclude the addition of standardized attributes. IE the Frank> specification is like an alphabet, attributes are like vocabulary. You can add Frank> new words without changing the letters. One of the things coming out of the most recent BOF was a strong desire for PA-level interoperability. That can be accomplished through standardized attributes or vendor-specific attributes that are sufficiently well documented (and not subject to patents) that third parties can implement collectors or analysis tools that interoperate with the vendor tools for the vendor attributes. Will we be able to meet these interoperability goals? Why or why not? _______________________________________________ Nea mailing list Nea@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/nea _______________________________________________ Ietf@xxxxxxxx https://www1.ietf.org/mailman/listinfo/ietf