"End-to-end" paper

For those of you who have missed it, here

http://www.google.com/search?q=cache:web.mit.edu/Saltzer/www/publications/endtoend/endtoend.pdf+clark+end+to+end&hl=en

is the paper some of us mention, "END-TO-END ARGUMENTS IN SYSTEM DESIGN"
by Saltzer, Reed, and Clark.

The abstract is:
   This paper presents a design principle that helps guide placement of   functions among the modules of a distributed
computersystem. The   principle, called the end-to-end argument, suggests that functions   placed at low levels of a
systemmay be redundant or of little value   when compared with the cost of providing them at that low level.   Examples
discussedin 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
onlyas performance   enhancements.
 

It was written in 1981 and is undiminished by the subsequent decades.

Nathan Myers
ncm@zembu.com