Access point role

A service is accessed through a component (netlet or node) on the same node as the client component.

This component is said to be an access point for that service. A component can be an access points for more than one service, and many components can be access points for the same service.

An access point's responsibilities are twofold:

1. Process bind requests for the service, establishing new service sessions if necessary.
2. Serve existing service sessions.

The node decides whether and how bind requests are routed to existing access points. The access point can be internal or external. The choice is made during the initial binding of the access point.