Role of the Domain Name System (DNS)
RFC 3467
Document | Type |
RFC - Informational
(March 2003; No errata)
Was draft-klensin-dns-role (individual in int area)
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Last updated | 2013-03-02 | ||
Stream | IETF | ||
Formats | plain text pdf html bibtex | ||
Stream | WG state | (None) | |
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 3467 (Informational) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Erik Nordmark | ||
IESG note | 2003-03-04: Published as RFC 3467 | ||
Send notices to | <klensin@jck.com> |
Network Working Group J. Klensin Request for Comments: 3467 February 2003 Category: Informational Role of the Domain Name System (DNS) Status of this Memo This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this memo is unlimited. Copyright Notice Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved. Abstract This document reviews the original function and purpose of the domain name system (DNS). It contrasts that history with some of the purposes for which the DNS has recently been applied and some of the newer demands being placed upon it or suggested for it. A framework for an alternative to placing these additional stresses on the DNS is then outlined. This document and that framework are not a proposed solution, only a strong suggestion that the time has come to begin thinking more broadly about the problems we are encountering and possible approaches to solving them. Table of Contents 1. Introduction and History ..................................... 2 1.1 Context for DNS Development ............................... 3 1.2 Review of the DNS and Its Role as Designed ................ 4 1.3 The Web and User-visible Domain Names ..................... 6 1.4 Internet Applications Protocols and Their Evolution ....... 7 2. Signs of DNS Overloading ..................................... 8 3. Searching, Directories, and the DNS .......................... 12 3.1 Overview ................................................. 12 3.2 Some Details and Comments ................................. 14 4. Internationalization ......................................... 15 4.1 ASCII Isn't Just Because of English ....................... 16 4.2 The "ASCII Encoding" Approaches ........................... 17 4.3 "Stringprep" and Its Complexities ......................... 17 4.4 The Unicode Stability Problem ............................. 19 4.5 Audiences, End Users, and the User Interface Problem ...... 20 4.6 Business Cards and Other Natural Uses of Natural Languages. 22 4.7 ASCII Encodings and the Roman Keyboard Assumption ......... 22 Klensin Informational [Page 1] RFC 3467 Role of the Domain Name System (DNS) February 2003 4.8 Intra-DNS Approaches for "Multilingual Names" ............. 23 5. Search-based Systems: The Key Controversies .................. 23 6. Security Considerations ...................................... 24 7. References ................................................... 25 7.1 Normative References ...................................... 25 7.2 Explanatory and Informative References .................... 25 8. Acknowledgements ............................................. 30 9. Author's Address ............................................. 30 10. Full Copyright Statement ..................................... 31 1. Introduction and History The DNS was designed as a replacement for the older "host table" system. Both were intended to provide names for network resources at a more abstract level than network (IP) addresses (see, e.g., [RFC625], [RFC811], [RFC819], [RFC830], [RFC882]). In recent years, the DNS has become a database of convenience for the Internet, with many proposals to add new features. Only some of these proposals have been successful. Often the main (or only) motivation for using the DNS is because it exists and is widely deployed, not because its existing structure, facilities, and content are appropriate for the particular application of data involved. This document reviews the history of the DNS, including examination of some of those newer applications. It then argues that the overloading process is often inappropriate. Instead, it suggests that the DNS should be supplemented by systems better matched to the intended applications and outlines a framework and rationale for one such system. Several of the comments that follow are somewhat revisionist. Good design and engineering often requires a level of intuition by the designers about things that will be necessary in the future; the reasons for some of these design decisions are not made explicit at the time because no one is able to articulate them. The discussion below reconstructs some of the decisions about the Internet's primary namespace (the "Class=IN" DNS) in the light of subsequent development and experience. In addition, the historical reasons for particular decisions about the Internet were often severely underdocumented contemporaneously and, not surprisingly, different participants have different recollections about what happened and what was consideredShow full document text