RE: Next question...

["Tony Li" <Tony.Li@procket.com>]

|   Tony Li wrote:
|   > |   I would still like some hint from the host to the border 
|   > |   router that the
|   > |   current connection isn't working.
|   > 
|   > 
|   > Not an unreasonable request.
|   
|   At first blush this may seem like a reasonable request, but 
|   there are so 
|   many reasons why a remote host would not respond that it would be 
|   impossible for the routing system to trust the local host with such 
|   requests.  For instance, perhaps the reason the remote host isn't 
|   responding is because the remote application has not properly 
|   authenticated the local user.  Another reason is that the 
|   remote host is 
|   down or misconfigured.


Assuming that the request is authenticated, what's the real issue?  
Yes, the host cannot know that it is impossible to satisfy the 
request, but all this is is a hint to try another alternative.

Tony