ResearchIndex

publisher:

IEEE Computer Society

pages:

277--288

volume:

2

number:

4

month:

nov

abstract:

This paper presents a design principle that helps guide placement of functions among the modules of a distributed computer system. The principle, called the end-to-end argument, suggests that functions placed at low levels of a system may be redundant or of little value when compared with the cost of providing them at that low level. Examples discussed in the paper include bit error recovery, security using encryption, duplicate message suppression, recovery from system crashes, and delivery acknowledgement. Low level mechanisms to support these functions are justified only as performance enhancements.

address:

Paris, France

booktitle:

ICDCS

type:

misc

note:

An earlier version appeared in the {\em 2nd International Conference on Distributed Systems

journal:

ACM Transactions on Computer Systems

year:

1984

annote:

J. H. Saltzer (M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science); D. P. Reed (M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science); D. D. Clark (M.I.T. Laboratory for Computer Science);