EDIINT

EDI over the Internet. The IETF working group that took EDI off value-added networks and onto the encrypted public Internet.

Definition

EDIINT (EDI over the Internet) is the name of an IETF working group created in 1998, whose mission was "to define specifications for the exchange of EDI transactions over the Internet, using standard protocols for end-to-end security". Three main protocols came out of it:

1. AS1 (Applicability Statement 1) — SMTP transport + MIME multipart/signed with MDN acknowledgments — RFC 3335 (September 2002).
2. AS2 — HTTP / HTTPS + S/MIME with MDN acknowledgments — RFC 4130 (July 2005). By far the most used in retail and industry.
3. AS3 — FTP / FTPS + S/MIME — RFC 4823 (April 2007). Niche, used in healthcare.

Origin

The EDIINT group operated from 1998 to 2011 (formal closure after its final RFCs). Its specifications are royalty-free, which contributed to massive AS2 adoption by major US and European retailers to replace paid VANs.

Example in context

A retail chain receives an ORDERS over AS2: the EDIFACT interchange is wrapped in an HTTPS POST with an S/MIME signature and S/MIME encryption, on top of TLS. The receiver replies with a signed MDN (Message Disposition Notification) to confirm cryptographically verified receipt. See the AS2 page.

Related terms

• AS2 — the most used EDIINT protocol.
• VAN — the paid alternative EDIINT largely replaced.
• EDI — the payload being transported.
• CONTRL — application-level acknowledgment (not the transport MDN).