Networks researchers care a lot about layers. “Such and such really belongs at the application layer…”, “That’s really a MAC layer issue”, “Don’t mess with the IP layer”, “ATM sucks because it breaks lots of forms of layering”, and many others can be commonly heard. Not only that, but there’s a common network hourglass idea that people use when talking about protocol or network development. Standards development often involves people fighting about what is the appropriate layer. So I propose a textbook that uses these layers on its foredge – Then, whenever a particular technology breaks the idea of layer encapsulation, split the page. ATM would take IP, but it would also take the layer below it.
It might be interesting to read, and it would be pretty easy to tell which standards and protocols smell bad, and which might be useful.
