Handle System Namespace and Service Definition
RFC 3651
Document | Type | RFC - Informational (November 2003; Errata) | |
---|---|---|---|
Authors | Larry Lannom , Sean Reilly , Sam Sun | ||
Last updated | 2020-01-21 | ||
Stream | ISE | ||
Formats | plain text html pdf htmlized with errata bibtex | ||
Stream | ISE state | (None) | |
Consensus Boilerplate | Unknown | ||
Document shepherd | No shepherd assigned | ||
IESG | IESG state | RFC 3651 (Informational) | |
Telechat date | |||
Responsible AD | Ted Hardie | ||
IESG note |
It is suggested that these go forward with the following IESG Note attached (originally drafted by Patrik): IESG NOTE: The IETF and IRTF have discussed the Handle system in the realm of URI-related work. The IESG wishes to point out that there is no IETF consensus on the current Handle system nor on where it fits in the IETF architecture. The IESG is of the view that the Handle system would be able to, with very small changes, fit into the IETF architecture as a URN namespace. These documents, however, contain information on the Handle system without these changes. |
||
Send notices to | <boesch@arpa.mil> |
Network Working Group S. Sun Request for Comments: 3651 S. Reilly Category: Informational L. Lannom CNRI November 2003 Handle System Namespace and Service Definition 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. IESG Note Several groups within the IETF and IRTF have discussed the Handle System and it relationship to existing systems of identifiers. The IESG wishes to point out that these discussions have not resulted in IETF consensus on the described Handle System nor on how it might fit into the IETF architecture for identifiers. Though there has been discussion of handles as a form of URI, specifically as a URN, these documents describe an alternate view of how namespaces and identifiers might work on the Internet and include characterizations of existing systems which may not match the IETF consensus view. Abstract The Handle System is a general-purpose global name service that allows secured name resolution and administration over the public Internet. This document provides a detailed description of the Handle System namespace, and its data, service, and operation models. The namespace definition specifies the handle syntax and its semantic structure. The data model defines the data structures used by the Handle System protocol and any pre-defined data types for carrying out the handle service. The service model provides definitions of various Handle System components and explains how they work together over the network. Finally, the Handle System operation model describes its service operation in terms of messages transmitted between client and server, and the client authentication process based on the Handle System authentication protocol. Sun, et al. Informational [Page 1] RFC 3651 Handle System Service Definition November 2003 Table of Contents 1. Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 2. Handle System Namespace. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3 3. Handle System Data Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3.1. Handle Value Set . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 3.2. Pre-defined Handle Data Types. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9 3.2.1. Handle Administrator: HS_ADMIN . . . . . . . . . 10 3.2.2. Service Site Information: HS_SITE. . . . . . . . 14 3.2.3. Naming Authority Delegation Service: HS_NA_DELEGATE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 3.2.4. Service Handle: HS_SERV. . . . . . . . . . . . . 20 3.2.5. Alias Handle: HS_ALIAS . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.2.6. Primary Site: HS_PRIMARY . . . . . . . . . . . . 21 3.2.7. Handle Value List: HS_VLIST. . . . . . . . . . . 22 4. Handle System Service Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 4.1. Handle System Service Components . . . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.1.1. Global Handle Registry (GHR) . . . . . . . . . . 23 4.1.2. Local Handle Service (LHS) . . . . . . . . . . . 26 4.2. Handle System Middle-Ware Components . . . . . . . . . . 27 4.2.1. Handle System Caching Service. . . . . . . . . . 27 4.2.2. Handle System Proxy Server . . . . . . . . . . . 28 4.3. Handle System Client Components. . . . . . . . . . . . . 28 5. Handle System Operation Model. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 29 5.1. Handle System Service Request and Response . . . . . . . 30 5.2. Handle System Authentication Protocol. . . . . . . . . . 32 6. Security Considerations. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 7. Acknowledgements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 8. References and Bibliography. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38 9. Authors' Addresses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 10. Full Copyright Statement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 1. Introduction The Handle System manages handles as globally unique names for Internet resources. It was originally conceived and described in a paper by Robert Kahn and Robert Wilensky [22] in 1995. The Handle System provides a general-purpose global name service that allows handles to be resolved and administrated securely over the public Internet. The Handle System categorizes its service into two categories: the handle resolution service and the handleShow full document text