MikeBishop
The role of proxy (in future)
Does it make sense to limit the role of proxies to just the transport layer?
This also makes it easier to decompose HTTP into the two layers: end-to-end semantic layer v.s. hop-by-hop transport layer.
But again, transport != L4 under the OSI model.
I don't think so, though I haven't attempted to discuss proxies in the draft so far. There's certainly a lot that could be said. Of course, it depends what type of proxy we're talking about. Reverse proxies are the endpoint as far as the client is concerned -- how it satisfies the request via backend services is irrelevant to the client. Then there are transport-layer proxies -- but unless they're changing transports, that may (should) be transparent to HTTP.
Forward proxies are an explicit concept that we should think about and discuss, I suspect. They actually are part of Semantic HTTP, even if you don't like them. Using this issue to track adding a proxy conversation to the semantic section.
Right. HTTP proxy likely has to support/understand both layers.
Reverse proxies, if acting as an transport proxies (quite likely), would only need understand the transport layer (if such a concept got defined in future).
Agreed that forward proxies needs understand the HTTP semantics.