Domain Name System (dns) ------------------------ Charter Current status: active working group Chair(s): Rob Austein Service Applications Area Director(s) Dave Crocker Mailing lists: General Discussion:namedroppers@nic.ddn.mil To Subscribe: namedroppers-request@nic.ddn.mil Archive: nicfs.nic.ddn.mil:~/namedroppers/*.Z Description of Working Group: The DNS Working Group is concerned with the design, operation, and evolution of the Domain Name System within the Internet. As the Internet continues to grow, we expect to serve as a focal point for work on scaling problems within the current framework, work on protocol evolution as new mechanisms become necessary, and documentation of current practice for DNS implementors and administrators. We are also responsible for oversight of DNS activities by other groups within the IETF to the extent that we review the impact such work will have on the DNS and make recomendations to the working groups and IESG as necessary. Since some of these are ongoing tasks, we do not expect the working group to disband anytime soon. Several issues are of particular concern at this time: Scaling: The DNS is the victim of its own success. The global DNS namespace has grown to the point where administering the top levels of the tree is nearly as much work as the old NIC host table used to be. We need to work on ways to distribute the load. Some of the solutions are likely to be technical, some political or economic; we still treat the top-level DNS service the way we did when DARPA was footing the bill, and the funding for that service is in the process of going away. Security: The DNS is a zero-security system; it is not even as strong as the IP layer above which it operates. As a result, accidental spoofing (cache pollution) is an all-too-frequent occurance. We need to make the DNS more robust against accidental corruption, and must provide at least an optional authentication mechanism for that portion of the community that wants one. At the same time, we must not cripple the existing system by drasticly increasing its bandwidth consumption or by mandating use of cryptographic techniques that would preclude worldwide distribution of DNS software. The global DNS database is exactly that, an existing world-wide database representing hosts on six continents and (at least) forty-five countries. A solution that does not take this into account is not acceptable. Management: The group has a draft document describing MIB extensions to manage the DNS. It also needs to specify a standard way to dynamically create and destroy DNS records; SNMP may be an appropriate tool for this task, but we haven't yet specified enough of the details to know for certain. The impact that a dynamic update mechanism will have on the DNS needs to be examined, with particular attention given to security and scaling issues. IPng/Routing: As the fur starts flying in the battle between the IPng proponants and the new-routing-architecture proponants, it is expected that groups on both sides will need some amount of support from the DNS. Such support is likely to be minimal and straightforward, but these proposals are likely to need ``rush service'' for whatever support they require. So the working group needs to monitor these activities, stay involved, and generally do what it can to make sure that DNS support is not a bottleneck. The DNS Working Group also needs to examine the impact that any proposed IPng system would have on the DNS, since the DNS database and protocols have special provision for IP addresses. Goals and Milestones: Done Post as an Internet-Draft a description of the Responsible Person Record. Done Post an Internet-Draft specifying the addition of network naming capability to the DNS. Submit to the IESG the document for load balancing in the DNS as an Informational document. Done Submit the Responsible Person Record to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Ongoing Monitor and offer technical support to the various groups working on the next version of IP. Post an Internet-Draft of the ``Big Zone'' policy recommendations for root and first-level zone adminstraton. Submit the ``Big Zone'' policy document to the IESG for consideraton as a policy statement. Done Submit the specification for network naming to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Done Post the DNS MIB as an Internet-Draft. Feb 93 Submit the DNS MIB to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Mar 93 Post an Internet-Draft specifying the dynamic resource record creation and deletion. Mar 93 Submit to the IESG the incremental zone transfer mechanism as a Proposed Standard. Mar 93 List and prioritize the Working Group's goals, and pick a subset that is appropriate to pursue at the present time. Jun 93 Post an Internet-Draft for adding load balancing capability to the DNS. Nov 93 Submit the proposal for dynamic resource record creation/deletion to the IESG for consideration as a Proposed Standard. Internet-Drafts: Posted Revised I-D Title ------ ------- ------------------------------------------ Mar 93 Oct 93 DNS Support for IDPR Jun 93 Jan 94 DNS Server MIB Extensions Jun 93 Jan 94 DNS Resolver MIB Extensions Oct 93 Dec 93 Incremental Transfer and Fast Convergence in DNS Request For Comments: RFC Stat Published Title ------- -- ---------- ----------------------------------------- RFC1480 I Jun 93 The US Domain RFC1536 I Oct 93 Common DNS Implementation Errors and Suggested Fixes. RFC1537 I Oct 93 Common DNS Data File Configuration Error