Path: utzoo!utgpu!water!watmath!clyde!rutgers!husc6!bbn!uwmcsd1!ig!jade!ucbvax!VTVM1.BITNET!OWENSJ From: OWENSJ@VTVM1.BITNET (John Owens) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains Subject: Re: easy relay name service Message-ID: <8712291945.AA23670@ucbvax.Berkeley.EDU> Date: 29 Dec 87 17:54:12 GMT References: Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: inet Organization: The ARPA Internet Lines: 31 >Suppose BITNET registered name service for domain BIT.NET, and named >its hosts in the form x.BIT.NET . Affirmation would occur for all >queries x.BIT.NET for all x, i.e. regardless of x. There are a number of reasons that this is not a good idea, and that BITNET will (most likely) not adopt this scheme. First, it violates the NIC's standards that the only machines with domain names inside a ".NET" domain should be those belonging to the network administration, not those that are members of the net; this is the same reason that CSNET sites didn't just become site.CS.NET. Second, it means that mail to an invalid BITNET site name will have to be sent to one of the (very busy) relays and back for a failure indication, rather than having the domain name resolution indicate the failure before the message is ever sent. Last, but probably most important, it would mean that many BITNET sites would have more than one canonical domain name: the site.BIT.NET form and a regular organizational domain name. This site is VTVM1.BITNET, but is also VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU (in HOSTS.TXT and everything). Even BITNET sites not directly on the Internet might have MX records provided by their (otherwise Internet-connected) institution.... >It is upwardly compatible with any future evolution of BITNET. Even within BITNET, people are studying how to get away from the flat sitename model, using (organizational) domain names for all user-visible interactions and relegating the RSCS/NJE nodenames to the same status as numeric internet addresses. -John Owens +1 703 961 7827 Virginia Tech Communications Network Services OWENSJ@VTVM1.CC.VT.EDU OWENSJ@VTVM1.BITNET