> We use XDR - RFC 4506 and RPCv2 - RFC 1831 to communicate between our servers.

I see the appeal in using the same format everywhere, but it seems like they'd have a easier time using something with more mindshare, like Protocol Buffers, or even Thrift or Cap'n Proto.

All of those have Rust implementations, for instance, so you wouldn't have to implement your own parser.