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Mathematical Mesh 3.0 Part VI: Mesh Discovery Service
draft-hallambaker-mesh-discovery-00

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This is an older version of an Internet-Draft whose latest revision state is "Replaced".
Author Phillip Hallam-Baker
Last updated 2020-11-02
Replaced by draft-hallambaker-mesh-callsign
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draft-hallambaker-mesh-discovery-00
Network Working Group                                 P. M. Hallam-Baker
Internet-Draft                                      ThresholdSecrets.com
Intended status: Informational                           2 November 2020
Expires: 6 May 2021

         Mathematical Mesh 3.0 Part VI: Mesh Discovery Service
                  draft-hallambaker-mesh-discovery-00

Abstract

   A naming service for the Mathematical Mesh is described.

   https://mailarchive.ietf.org/arch/browse/mathmesh/
   (http://whatever)Discussion of this draft should take place on the
   MathMesh mailing list (mathmesh@ietf.org), which is archived at .

Status of This Memo

   This Internet-Draft is submitted in full conformance with the
   provisions of BCP 78 and BCP 79.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   This Internet-Draft will expire on 6 May 2021.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (c) 2020 IETF Trust and the persons identified as the
   document authors.  All rights reserved.

   This document is subject to BCP 78 and the IETF Trust's Legal
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   Please review these documents carefully, as they describe your rights
   and restrictions with respect to this document.

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Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   2
   2.  Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   3
     2.1.  Requirements Language . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.2.  Defined Terms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.3.  Related Specifications  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     2.4.  Implementation Status . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
   3.  Architecture  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.1.  Name Registry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
       3.1.1.  Name Entries  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.2.  Name syntax . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   4
     3.3.  Name Assignment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   4.  Business Model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
     4.1.  Names do not expire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   5.  Security Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   6.  IANA Considerations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   7.  Acknowledgements  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   8.  Normative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5
   9.  Informative References  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .   5

1.  Introduction

   The Mesh Discovery Service allows Mesh users to change Mesh Service
   Providers without the switching costs associated with usual naming
   schemes.

   The Mesh Discovery System is distinct from the DNS in several
   important respects:

   *  Mesh Names are intended to be the personal property of the
      assignee and use of the name MUST NOT require payment of ongoing
      rents, fees etc. of any kind.

   *  The DNS combines the functions of name delegation and discovery of
      services provided under those names into a single protocol.  The
      MNS only supports name delegation.

   The limitation on scope allows MDS to provide all the functionality
   of a traditional DNS TLD with almost none of the costs.  While the
   DNS functionality exposed by a DNS TLD is limited to information that
   changes very rarely (i.e. discovery of the IP addresses of the
   authoritative DNS servers), the protocol used to deliver that
   functionality is designed to support real time publication of service
   configurations.

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   Another costly aspect of the DNS design is that there is no mechanism
   for invalidation of cached data.  Instead every record has a
   predetermined expiry time and TLDs advise relying parties of updates
   to DNS records by publishing a new record.  As a result, the vast
   bulk of (valid) TLD traffic consists of requests to check if the
   information has changed since the last time the party making the
   request checked.  This approach makes the DNS infrastructure
   vulnerable to Denial of Service attack.  If the DNS were ever to
   suffer a prolonged outage, the cached records would expire and the
   Internet would cease functioning.

   The MNS Name Registry is an append only log containing a complete
   history of every change made.  Every registry update is authenticated
   by means of a Merkle Tree, the apex of which is signed once a minute.

   The Name Registry does not respond to discovery queries.  Instead,
   every Mesh Service Provider is required to maintain a 'reasonably
   current' copy of the MNS Name Registry log and use this to respond to
   queries from the community it serves.  This approach eliminates the
   almost all the costs associated with a DNS TLD registry and provides
   a 'fail safe' approach to design.  Should the Name Service cease
   functioning for days or even weeks, only the ability to publish
   updates to existing configurations would be lost.

   Requirements for Mesh Names, should meet the expectations of the
   user.

   Unambiguous  The signifier should unambiguously identify the
      referent.

   Consistent  The binding between the signifier and the signified
      should be consistent with the reasonable expectations of the user.

   Freehold  There MUST be no ongoing costs associated with the
      continued use of an existing name under an existing configuration.
      Charges for publishing changes to configurations should be
      strictly limited to cost recovery.

2.  Definitions

   This section presents the related specifications and standard, the
   terms that are used as terms of art within the documents and the
   terms used as requirements language.

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2.1.  Requirements Language

   The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
   "SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY", and "OPTIONAL" in this
   document are to be interpreted as described in [RFC2119].

2.2.  Defined Terms

2.3.  Related Specifications

2.4.  Implementation Status

   The implementation status of the reference code base is described in
   the companion document [draft-hallambaker-mesh-developer].

3.  Architecture

3.1.  Name Registry

   The name registry is implemented as a Mesh Catalog.

3.1.1.  Name Entries

   A name entry consists of the following information:

   Name  The unique identifier the entry describes.

   Profile Identifier  The UDF fingerprint of the profile to which the
      name is bound.

   Assignment Type  Describes the means by which the name is assigned.

   Mesh Service Provider  DNS or Mesh name of the Mesh Service Provider
      servicing the associated account.

   DNS Resolver Addresses (Optional)  IP addresses of the authoritative
      name servers for a DNS server servicing the Mesh name.

   Bindings (Optional)  A list of signed assertions binding additional
      names and/or logographical representations to the profile
      specified by the name.

3.2.  Name syntax

   A Mesh name consists of a sequence of Unicode characters.

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   To prevent homograph type attacks, only characters from selected
   Unicode alphabet are permitted and mixing of characters from
   different alphabet s is prohibited with the exception of special
   characters that are permitted in any name.

   The only special characters currently permitted are the digits 0-9,
   underscore (_) and dash(-).

   The only alphabet currently supported is Extended Latin.

   Canonicalization rules are applied within an alphabet to avoid
   ambiguity.  For the Extended Latin alphabet, canonicalization causes
   case to be ignored, and ligatures to be mapped according to the
   prevailing rules applied in circumstances where accented characters
   are unavailable.

3.3.  Name Assignment

   The first time a name is assigned, the assignment type is 'Initial'.

4.  Business Model

4.1.  Names do not expire

5.  Security Considerations

6.  IANA Considerations

   This document requires no IANA actions.

7.  Acknowledgements

8.  Normative References

   [RFC2119]  Bradner, S., "Key words for use in RFCs to Indicate
              Requirement Levels", BCP 14, RFC 2119,
              DOI 10.17487/RFC2119, March 1997,
              <https://www.rfc-editor.org/rfc/rfc2119>.

9.  Informative References

   [draft-hallambaker-mesh-developer]
              Hallam-Baker, P., "Mathematical Mesh: Reference
              Implementation", Work in Progress, Internet-Draft, draft-
              hallambaker-mesh-developer-10, 27 July 2020,
              <https://tools.ietf.org/html/draft-hallambaker-mesh-
              developer-10>.

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