RE: RFC 2866 clarifications

["David B. Nelson" <d.b.nelson@comcast.net>]

>   RFC 2866
>   http://freeradius.org/rfc/rfc2866.html#Acct-Input-Octets
>    ...This attribute indicates how many octets have been received from
> the port ...
> 
>   i.e. In a dial-up context, a user connects TO a port, which recieves
> octets FROM that user.

This terminology may be confusing, especially in light of the wider use of
"to" and "from" directionality, in similar contexts.  

Given that RFC 2866 specifies NAS behavior, the word "input" in the
attribute name should guide us.  These are octets that have been received as
"input" on the NAS.  The "from", in this context, probably means received
internally from the port, by the forwarding engine, indirectly "from" the
user.  Yes, the text is a little confusing, if you assume that the "to" and
"from" are taken to mean the direction on the wire connecting the client and
the NAS, viewed from the perspective of the NAS.  I think we need to focus
on the name of the attribute, be it "input" or "output", again with
reference to the NAS.




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