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        RFC 1810:

        Title:      Report on MD5 Performance
        Author:     J. Touch
        Date:       June 1995
        Mailbox:    touch@isi.edu
        Pages:      7
        Characters: 16,607
        Updates/Obsoletes:  none

        URL:        ftp://ds.internic.net/rfc/rfc1810.txt


MD5 is an authentication algorithm, which has been proposed as the
default authentication option in IPv6.  When enabled, the MD5
algorithm operates over the entire data packet, including header.
This RFC addresses how fast MD5 can be implemented in software and
hardware, and whether it supports currently available IP bandwidth.
MD5 can be implemented in existing hardware technology at 256 Mbps,
and in software at 87 Mbps.  These rates cannot support current IP
rates, e.g., 100 Mbps TCP and 130 Mbps UDP over ATM.  If MD5 cannot
support existing network bandwidth using existing technology, it will
not scale as network speeds increase in the future.  This RFC is
intended to alert the IP community about the performance limitations
of MD5, and to suggest that alternatives be considered for use in high
speed IP implementations.

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does not specify an Internet standard of any kind.  Distribution of
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Joyce K. Reynolds
USC/Information Sciences Institute