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authorDimitri Staessens <dimitri@ouroboros.rocks>2019-10-06 21:10:46 +0200
committerDimitri Staessens <dimitri@ouroboros.rocks>2019-10-06 21:10:46 +0200
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----
-title: "What is a recursive network?"
-author: "Dimitri Staessens"
-description: "what"
-date: 2019-07-06
-#type: page
-draft: false
----
-
-# The current networking paradigm
-
-<center> {{<figure
-class="w-80"
-src="/images/aschenbrenner.png">}}
-</center>
-
-Every computer science class that deals with networks explains the
-[7-layer OSI model](https://www.bmc.com/blogs/osi-model-7-layers/).
-Open Systems Interconnect (OSI) defines 7 layers, each providing an
-abstraction for a certain *function* that a network application may
-need.
-
-From top to bottom, the layers provide (roughly) the following
-functions:
-
-The __application layer__ implements the details of the application
-protocol (such as HTTP), which specifies the operations and data that
-the application understands (requesting a web page).
-
-The __presentation layer__ provides independence of data representation,
-and may also perform encryption.
-
-The __session layer__ sets up and manages sessions (think of a session
-as a conversation or dialogue) between the applications.
-
-The __transport layer__ handles individual chunks of data (think of them
-as words in the conversation), and can ensure that there is end-to-end
-reliability (no words or phrases get lost).
-
-The __network layer__ forwards the packets across the network, it
-provides such things as addressing and congestion control.
-
-The __datalink layer__ encodes data into bits and moves them between
-hosts. It handles errors in the physical layer. It has two sub-layers:
-Media access control layer (MAC), which says when hosts can transmit
-on the medium, and logical link control (LLC) that deals with error
-handling and control of transmission rates.
-
-Finally, the __physical layer__ is responsible for translating the
-bits into a signal (e.g. laser pulses in a fibre) that is carried
-between endpoints.
-
-This functional layering provides a logical order for the steps that
-data passes through between applications. Indeed, every existing
-(packet) network goes through these steps in roughly this order
-(however, some may be skipped). There can be some small variations on
-where the functions are implemented. For instance, TCP does congestion
-control, but is a Layer 4 protocol.
-
-However, when looking at current networking solutions, things are not
-as simple as these 7 layers seem to indicate. Just consider this
-realistic scenario for a software developer working remotely. Usually
-it goes something like this: You connect to the company __Virtual
-Private Network__ (VPN), setup an SSH __tunnel__ over the development
-server to your virtual machine and then SSH into that virtual machine.
-
-The use of VPNs and various tunneling technologies draw a picture
-where the __functions__ of Layers 2, 3, and 4, and often layers 5 and
-6 (encryption) are __repeated__ a number of times in the actual
-functional path that data follows through the network stack.
-
-Enter __*recursive networks*__.
-
-# The recursive network paradigm
-
-The functional repetition in the network stack is discussed in
-detail in the book __*"Patterns in Network Architecture: A Return to
-Fundamentals"*__. From the observations in the book, a new architecture
-was proposed, called the "__R__ecursive __I__nter__N__etwork
-__A__rchitecture", or [__RINA__](http://www.pouzinsociety.org).
-
-__Ouroboros__ follows the recursive principles of RINA, but deviates
-quit a bit from its internal design. There are resources on the
-Internet explaining RINA, but here we will focus
-on its high level design and what is relevant for Ouroboros.
-
-Let's look at a simple scenario of an employee contacting an internet
-corporate server over a Layer 3 VPN from home. Let's assume for
-simplicity that the corporate LAN is not behind a NAT firewall. All
-three networks perform (among some other things):
-
-__Addressing__: The VPN hosts receive an IP address in the VPN, let's
-say some 10.11.12.0/24 address. The host will also have a public IP
-address, for instance in the 20.128.0.0/16 range . Finally that host
-will have an Ethernet MAC address. Now the addresses __differ in
-syntax and semantics__, but for the purpose of moving data packets,
-they have the same function: __identifying a node in a network__.
-
-__Forwarding__: Forwarding is the process of moving packets to a
-destination __with intent__: each forwarding action moves the data
-packet __closer__ to its destination node with respect to some
-__metric__ (distance function).
-
-__Network discovery__: Ethernet switches learn where the endpoints are
-through MAC learning, remembering the incoming interface when it sees
-a new SRC address; IP routers learn the network by exchanging
-informational packets about adjacency in a process called *routing*;
-and a VPN proxy server relays packets as the central hub of a network
-connected as a star between the VPN clients and the local area
-network (LAN) that is provides access to.
-
-__Congestion management__: When there is a prolonged period where a
-node receives more traffic than can forward forward, for instance
-because there are incoming links with higher speeds than some outgoing
-link, or there is a lot of traffic between different endpoints towards
-the same destination, the endpoints experience congestion. Each
-network could handle this situation (but not all do: TCP does
-congestion control for IP networks, but Ethernet just drops traffic
-and lets the IP network deal with it. Congestion management for
-Ethernet never really took off).
-
-__Name resolution__: In order not having to remember addresses of the
-hosts (which are in a format that make it easier for a machine to deal
-with), each network keeps a mapping of a name to an address. For IP
-networks (which includes the VPN in our example), this is done by the
-Domain Name System (DNS) service (or, alternatively, other services
-such as *open root* or *namecoin*). For Ethernet, the Address
-Resolution Protocol maps a higher layer name to a MAC (hardware)
-address.
-
-<center>
-{{<figure class="fl w-90"
- src="/images/layers.jpg">}}
-</center>
-
-Recursive networks take all these functions to be part of a network
-layer, and layers are mostly defined by their __scope__. The lowest
-layers span a link or the reach of some wireless technology. Higher
-layers span a LAN or the network of a corporation e.g. a subnetwork or
-an Autonomous System (AS). An even higher layer would be a global
-network, followed by a Virtual Private Network and on top a tunnel
-that supports the application. Each layer being the same in terms of
-functionality, but different in its choice of algorithm or
-implementation. Sometimes the function is just not implemented
-(there's no need for routing in a tunnel!), but logically it could be
-there.
-
-
----
-Changelog:
-
-2019 07 09: Initial version. \ No newline at end of file