NOTE: This charter is accurate as of the 30th IETF Meeting in Toronto. It may now be out-of-date. (Consider this a "snapshot" of the working group from that meeting.) Up-to-date charters for all active working groups can be found elsewhere in this Web server.

Network Access Server Requirements (NASREQ) Charter

Chair(s)

Mailing List Information

Description of Working Group

The Network Access Server Requirements Working Group has as its primary goal, to identify functions and services that should be present in IP Network Access Servers (NASs) and to specify the standards that provide for these functions and services. The term ``Network Access Server'' is used instead of the more conventional term ``Terminal Server'' as it more accurately describes the functions of interest to this group. A ``Network Access Server'' is a device that provides for the attachment of both traditional ``dumb terminals'' and terminal emulators as well as workstations, PCs or routers utilizing a serial line framing protocol such as PPP or SLIP. A NAS is viewed as a device that sits on the boundary of an IP network, providing serial line points of attachment to the network. A NAS is not necessarily a separate physical entity; for example, a host system supporting serial line attachments is viewed as providing NAS functionality and should abide by NAS requirements.

This group will adopt (or define, if need be) a set of standard protocols to meet the needs of organizations providing network access. The immediate needs to be addressed by the group are in the areas of authentication, authorization, and accounting. In general, this group will select a set of existing standards as requirements for a NAS. If necessary, the group will identify areas of need where Internet standards do not already exist and new standardization efforts may be required.

Initially the group will independently investigate the two cases of character and frame-oriented access to the NAS. This investigation will be aimed at determining what work is being done, or needs to be done, in this and other working groups in order to be able to define the set of NAS requirements. While the ultimate goal of this group is to produce a NAS requirements document, it may be necessary to define standards as well. This initial investigation will help determine what the goals of this group need to be. The group will also work with appropriate working groups to define required NAS standards that fall into the areas of these other groups.

Goals and Milestones

Done
NAS requirements document posted as an Internet-Draft.
Nov 1992
Post an Internet-Draft on character oriented authentication, authorization, and accounting (AAA).
Nov 1992
Post an Internet-Draft on frame oriented AAA requirements.
Nov 1993
Submit the NAS requirements document to the IESG as a Proposed Standard.
NOTE: The Internet-Draft(s) listed below may have been deleted since they are only good for six months.

Internet-Drafts

RFCs