Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!decvax!decwrl!ucbvax!SU-AI.ARPA!JJW
From: JJW@SU-AI.ARPA.UUCP
Newsgroups: mod.protocols.tcp-ip
Subject: Port collisions: use domains!
Message-ID: <8605191212.AA10916@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU>
Date: Sat, 17-May-86 13:12:00 EDT
Article-I.D.: ucbvax.8605191212.AA10916
Posted: Sat May 17 13:12:00 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 19-May-86 20:23:30 EDT
Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU
Organization: The ARPA Internet
Lines: 13
Approved: tcp-ip@sri-nic.arpa

Why not add service-name to port-number mapping to the information stored
in domain nameserver databases?  For example, if we decide to implement
the Whizbang protocol on port 1234, then our nameserver would contain a
resource record of the form

    Whizbang.SAIL.Stanford.EDU  IN  TCP-PORT  1234

Applications would refer to the protocol by name, and find the port number
using a domain resolver, which will cache the information for next time.
The "well-known" protocols would bypass this mechanism since their port
numbers are known.

						Joe