Network Working Group                        Internet Architecture Board
Request for Comments: 1401                           Lyman Chapin, Chair
                                                           January 1993


        Correspondence between the IAB and DISA on the use of
                     DNS throughout the Internet

Status of this Memo

  This memo provides information for the Internet community.  It does
  not specify an Internet standard.  Distribution of this memo is
  unlimited.

Abstract

  This memo reproduces three letters exchanged between the Internet
  Activities Board (IAB) and the Defense Information Systems Agency
  (DISA) regarding the importance of using the Domain Name System (DNS)
  throughout the Internet, and phasing out the use of older host name
  to address tables, such as "hosts.txt".






























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1.  Letter from the IAB to DISA

                                                  30 March, 1992

  To: Members of the Federal Networking Council,
      Members of the Federal Networking Advisory Council,
      Colonel Ken Thomas, Chairman,
          DoD Protocol Standards Steering Group, DISA/Center for
          Standards

  CC: C. J. Pasquariello, Associate Director, Center for Standards,
      LCDR, David Chappell, Executive Secretary,
          PSSG, DISA/Center for Standards
      Eduardo Schonborn, Dep Director/DDN PMO


  As the IAB, together with others in the Internet Engineering and
  Research Task Forces, contemplates the challenges inherent in dealing
  with an exponentially expanding Internet, the critical need for
  widespread adoption of a uniform Domain Name service is very
  apparent.

  The attached memorandum is offered by the Internet Activities Board
  for your consideration regarding technical policy concerning domain
  naming in the US portion of the Internet.  The proposed technical
  policy is recommended world-wide and will be offered as an RFC for
  that purpose.  Adoption of such a policy would, we believe, much
  enhance the operational efficiency of the existing world-wide
  Internet backbone and major networks dependent upon it, including the
  DDN Milnet.

  Your consideration of this policy question is urged in the strongest
  possible terms.  We would much appreciate hearing the views of the
  Protocol Standards Steering Group by April 20, 1992.

  Regards,

  A. Lyman Chapin
  Chairman, Internet Activities Board












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Attachment

             The Domain Name System is an Internet Necessity

                        Internet Activities Board

                              February 1992

  Over the last several years, the Internet has evolved in size so
  extensively that it has become infeasible to provide directory
  services through a database maintained at a single, central
  repository.  Both the size and the dynamics of the required data make
  such an approach impractical.  Recognizing this problem several years
  ago [1], the Internet community has adopted the Domain Name System
  [2-5] as the principal means of achieving host name to IP address
  mappings.  During this time, almost the entire Internet has converted
  from the use of the static name-to-address mapping tables thus far
  centrally maintained at the DDN Network Information Center, to the
  use of the more dynamic, up-to-date address mapping provided by DNS
  mechanism.

  There are still large fractions of the Internet community which rely
  on the use of a centrally-maintained file ("hosts.txt") to accomplish
  this mapping function.  The MILNET community appears to have
  substantial pockets of dependence on table-driven mappings, for
  example.  Although a plan for achieving a MILNET transition to use of
  the Domain Name System was worked out in 1987, the transition is
  incomplete and, as a result, naming services (i.e., host name lookups
  on the MILNET) are many times still provided via static tables rather
  than the distributed, and far more accurate, Domain Name System.
  Ironically, most of the commercial, off-the-shelf software for TCP/IP
  supports the user of the Domain Name System, so a policy of uniform
  support and application of DNS would go a long way toward improving
  the Defense Department data communication infrastructure, insofar as
  it is dependent on TCP/IP to interconnect hosts on LANs and WANs.

  The use of different means for name-to-address mappings by different
  parties in the network community leads to unsynchronized and
  inconsistent databases, which inevitably result in reachability
  failures by users attempting to connect to network resources.
  Moreover, the special facilities of the Domain Name System, such as
  the MX (Mail eXchange) record, make it possible to include systems
  not directly on the Internet into the universe of addressable
  parties.  MX records also allow a network administrator to prioritize
  a list of alternative e-mail relays in case the final destination is
  not reachable.  Systems which do not support MX records, but rather
  still depend on the "hosts.txt" information, pose a serious obstacle
  to network connectivity, as well as to the operation and management



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  of the highly connected Internet.

  Non-DNS systems on the Internet will eventually be confronted with
  the need to decide whether they want to continue as a part of the
  larger Internet community, or remain a rather small, non-conforming
  subset.  Should they choose not to conform to the otherwise accepted
  Domain Name System, they will have to accept the ramifications of
  this decision.  In particular, they will have to accept that the rest
  of the community may, indeed has already started to, essentially
  ignore those static files which reflect the principal non-DNS naming
  service.  The larger community has evolved so extensively beyond
  these configurations, that these files are not only obsolete as a
  technology, but also incomplete and often inaccurate in the present
  implementation.  Upon connecting a new host to the Internet, the
  great majority of the Internet community no longer considers the
  registration of host name/address updates to the NIC database a
  necessity, and rather focuses on updating the Domain name System.
  Therefore, today's NIC database, and the "hosts.txt" file generated
  from it, largely reflects only the non-DNS community, a tiny subset
  of the hundreds of thousands of entities configured into the Internet
  name space via the DNS.

  If the non-DNS users maintain a requirement for the use of static
  mapping tables, at least some mechanism should exist to augment the
  NIC data sets with additional information represented by the Domain
  Name System.  These more comprehensive tables, accompanied by a
  method to guarantee synchronization with the DNS, would significantly
  improve the accuracy of the information which non-DNS users apply to
  map between names and addresses.  However, this solution will not
  address the need for support of the richer DNS functionality by the
  NIC's system.  At a minimum, the incorporation of MX information into
  the NIC database is imperative for compatibility between the
  "hosts.txt" file and the DNS.  Network subcommunities which choose to
  maintain a separate and incompatible mapping system will have a
  partitioning effect on the subcommunities themselves, but also a
  detrimental impact on overall Internet operations.  Both end-users
  and system and network administrators will inevitably find themselves
  devoting considerable attention to tracing inconsistency problems
  arising from the discrepancy in mapping methods.

  The Internet Activities Board, recognizing the need for universal
  interoperability and consistent naming mechanisms, and benefitting
  from several years of experience with the Domain Name System, is
  advocating a policy that all connected components of the Internet
  community should adopt the DNS, and urges parties having policy-
  setting authority to adopt the same position and undertake to set
  deadlines for conversion to uniform use of DNS.




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  References

  1. J.B. Postel and J.K. Reynolds, Domain Requirements, RFC 920,
     October 1984.

  2. P.V. Mockapetris, Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities,
     RFC 1034, November 1987.

  3. P.V. Mockapetris, Domain Names - Implementation and Specification,
     RFC 1035, November 1987.

  4. M.K. Stahl, Domain Administrators Guide, RFC 1032, November 1987.

  5. M. Lottor, Domain Administrators Operations Guide, RFC 1033,
     November 1987.

  6. W.D. Lazear, MILNET Name Domain Transition, RFC 1031,
     November 1987.

































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2.  Letter from DISA to the IAB

                                                  16 APR 1992

  Mr. Lyman Chapin
  Chairman, Internet Activities Board
  BBN Communications
  Division of Bolt Beranek and Newman, Inc.
  150 Cambridge Park Dr.
  Chambridge, MA  02140

  Dear Mr. Chapin:

  We have received you letter concerning the adoption and use of the
  Domain Name System (DNS) throughout the Internet.  Since the DoD
  makes significant use of the Internet, we are very concerned with
  issues such as the DNS that potentially affect both performance and
  interoperability.  We have agreed to staff this issue to consider all
  the technical and economical impacts on DoD systems.  We will inform
  you of the decisions reached as the result of our reviews as son as
  they are completed.

                                  Sincerely,

                                  Kenneth A. Thomas
                                  Colonel, USA
                                  Chairman, Protocol Standards
                                    Steering Group (PSSG)

  Copy to:
  Mr. Pasquariello, Associate Director, Center for Standards
  Mr. Schonborn, Deputy Director/DDN PMO



















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3.  Letter from the IAB to DISA

  19 May, 1992

  Colonel Kenneth Thomas
  Chairman, Protocol Standards Steering Group
  Defense Information Systems Agency
  Fort Monmouth, NJ 07703-5613

  Dear Colonel Thomas,

  Thank you for your response to my letter concerning the adoption and
  use of the Domain Name System throughout the Internet.  I appreciate
  your willingness to devote resources to consider this issue, and look
  forward to hearing the results of the study.

  As LCDR David Chappell has suggested, it would be useful for us to
  arrange a meeting to discuss issues of mutual concern to DISA and the
  IAB.  I do not yet know if it will be feasible for me to arrange to
  meet with you in Ft. Monmouth in the near future (my travel schedule
  being somewhat oversubscribed), but will get in touch with you soon
  to find a suitable date and location.

  Regards,

  A. Lyman Chapin
  Chairman, Internet Activities Board
  BBN Communications 20/5b
  150 Cambridge Park Drive
  Cambridge, MA 02140





















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Security Considerations

  Security issues are not discussed in this memo.

Author's Address

  A. Lyman Chapin
  BBN Communications Corporation
  150 Cambridge Park Drive
  Cambridge, MA  02140

  Phone: 617-873-3133
  Fax:   617-873-4086

  Email: [email protected]




































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