Re: [vox] Overheard...

[Jeff Newmiller <jdnewmil@dcn.davis.ca.MAPSus>]

On Wed, 15 May 2002, ME wrote:

> On Wed, 15 May 2002, Peter Jay Salzman wrote:
> > a network gateway, i think, is a computer that has two IP addresses and
> > acts as an interface between two networks.  i'm pretty sure this doesn't
> > describe (any?  most?) DSL modems.
> 
> Unless you are MS. Then, a gateway is, "an application layer redirector or
> proxy server". This was according to their MSNE from a few years back and
> their NT 4.0 testing.
> 
> Checking nearly any RFC shows that the rest of the world thought a gateway
> was a layer 3/4 (mostly 3) router.

Those uses are deprecated.

Look at the definition of "gateway" in RFC1392:

  gateway
      The term "router" is now used in place of the original definition
      of "gateway".  Currently, a gateway is a communications
      device/program which passes data between networks having similar
      functions but dissimilar implementations.  This should not be
      confused with a protocol converter.  By this definition, a router
      is a layer 3 (network layer) gateway, and a mail gateway is a
      layer 7 (application layer) gateway.  See also: mail gateway,
      router, protocol converter.

I think "router" is a much more appropriate term for a Layer 3 function.  
The software that interfaces functionally similar but different layer 7
protocols (like, for example, an I2C interface to motherboard health
monitoring sensors to an SNMP TCP service) is more of the kind of function
I think of that "opens gates" between different domains.

The term "default gateway" is unfortunately probably never going to go
away, though.

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