Newsgroups: bit.listserv.bitnews
Date:         Tue, 1 Sep 1992 13:56:19 EDT
From:         Jim Conklin <CONKLIN@BITNIC.BITNET>
Subject:      New flexibility in CREN Extension Port Requirement
Comments: To: technews@BITNIC.BITNET
Comments: cc: crenbdst@BITNIC.BITNET

     At its last meeting, the CREN Board decided, upon the
recommendation of its Technical Advisory Committee, to make the
"Extensibility Port Requirement" of the CREN Terms and Conditions more
flexible by softening the requirement that NJE be the default protocol
for this port, which is required of each CREN BITNET participant so that
new BITNET participants may attach to existing participants.  The
background for that decision, which was initially suggested at a BITTECH
meeting, is as follows:

     The default of synchronous NJE for the protocol to be provided by
present BITNET participants for adding new members, requires, in
principle, that members either retain or be prepared to purchase
hardware suitable for providing that transport protocol, for example a
370x communications box, whether or not it is needed for other purposes.
This has become unreasonably expensive for IBM sites and possibly others
as other uses of NJE transport are less likely to be present, because of
the cost of procuring and maintaining such NJE communications equipment.
Because of this expense, many sites are already allegedly unable to
provide the NJE default.  The requirement that sites which have no need
for bisynch capability must retain it on the chance that they may be
asked to provide synchronous JNE for a new BITNET site is therefore
unrealistic.  In addition, other sites now providing this option may be
forced by budget cutbacks to eliminate it, placing them in the position
of dropping BITNET entirely or violating this requirement if it is not
relaxed.

     This change raises the possibility that a member using BITNET II
encapsulation of NJE in IP might, within the newly relaxed requirement,
take the position that it will provide only a BITNET II "port" for a new
BITNET participant, thereby making it impossible for the typical new
site to connect there, since it is unlikely to have an IP connection
through which to do so!  There appears to be no way to simultaneously
resolve both concerns, so the Board decided to accept the risk involved.

     The revised "Extension Port Requirement" of the CREN Terms and
Conditions of Membership and Affiliation, reflecting the change, are
quoted below from the newly revised Terms and Conditions of CREN
Membership and Affiliation, which is available from LISTSERV@BITNIC as
the file CREN TERMS, and in printed form from CREN Membership Services,
Suite 600, 1112 Sixteenth Street, NW, Washington, DC 20036.


Extensibility Port Requirement --  Revised 8/13/92

     Each Member and Affiliate who participates in BITNET is required to
provide, without charge, at least one communications connection which
another Member or Affiliate may use to gain connectivity into BITNET.
This connection must provide a minimum of 9600 bps bandwidth using a
BITNET-compatible transport protocol (one which provides BITNET mail,
file transfer, and "interactive" messages, such as bisync NJE, SNA/NJE,
BITNET II encapsulation of NJE in TCP/IP, or encapsulation of NJE in
DECNET), to be determined by mutual agreement between the BITNET-
participating member and the new Member or Affiliate.

     This requirement includes the hardware, software, and services
necessary to support BITNET traffic through the connection and onto
BITNET; it does not include any modems or communications lines required
to service the new member, which are the responsibility of the new
member to procure in cooperation with the current member and to pay for.
Comments: Gated by NETNEWS@AUVM.AMERICAN.EDU