RFC 1401

RFC 1401 🎀 Correspondence between the IAB and DISA on the use of DNS throughout the Internet 💖

Okay bestie, let's talk about RFC 1401! ✨ It's an Informational memo from the Internet Architecture Board, dated January 1993, with A. Lyman Chapin as Chair 👑. It doesn't obsolete or update any other RFCs, and it's not an Internet standard, just information for the community 🌸. Distribution is unlimited, so share it with everyone 💅.

---

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 🌈

So this memo is basically a stack of three letters that went back and forth between the Internet Activities Board (IAB) and the Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) 📬. The big topic is why everyone should be using the Domain Name System (DNS) across the whole Internet, and why we should be phasing out the older host name to address tables, like "hosts.txt" 🧚.

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

Okay so the IAB, along with folks in the Internet Engineering and Research Task Forces, is staring down the challenges of an Internet that's growing exponentially 📈. And the need for everyone to adopt a uniform Domain Name service is sooo obvious 😭.

The IAB is sending over an attached memo with a proposed technical policy about domain naming in the US portion of the Internet 🎀. It's recommended worldwide and will become an RFC for that purpose. Adopting it would really boost the operational efficiency of the global Internet backbone and the major networks that depend on it, including the DDN Milnet 🔥.

They're asking for your consideration in the strongest possible terms 🫶 and would love to hear the Protocol Standards Steering Group's views by April 20, 1992 💜.

Regards,

A. Lyman Chapin Chairman, Internet Activities Board

Attachment 🍓

The Domain Name System is an Internet Necessity

Internet Activities Board, February 1992

Over the last several years the Internet got so big that keeping directory services in one central database just stopped being possible 🙈. The data is too large and changes too fast for that to work. So the community adopted the Domain Name System [2-5] as the main way to map host names to IP addresses ✨, which you can read about in the references. Recognizing this problem several years ago [1], almost the whole Internet switched from the static name-to-address tables that used to be centrally maintained at the DDN Network Information Center to the more dynamic, up-to-date mapping that DNS gives you 💖.

Lots of the Internet still depends on one central file ("hosts.txt") for this mapping 📄. MILNET has big pockets that still rely on table-driven mappings, for example. A plan to move MILNET to DNS was worked out in 1987, but the transition never finished 😤. So host name lookups on MILNET are still often done with static tables instead of the distributed, and way more accurate, Domain Name System. Ironically, most off-the-shelf TCP/IP software already supports DNS, so a uniform policy of supporting and using DNS would really help the Defense Department's data communication infrastructure, as far as it depends on TCP/IP to connect hosts on LANs and WANs 🌐.

When different parties use different name-to-address mappings, their databases get out of sync and inconsistent 🙃. That inevitably causes reachability failures when users try to connect to network resources. Plus, DNS features like the MX (Mail eXchange) record let you reach systems that aren't directly on the Internet, and they let an admin rank a list of backup e-mail relays in case the final destination can't be reached 📬. Systems that don't support MX records and still rely on "hosts.txt" are a serious obstacle to connectivity and to running the highly connected Internet 🚧.

Non-DNS systems will eventually have to decide whether they want to stay part of the larger Internet community or become a small, non-conforming subset 🤔. If they choose not to conform to the accepted Domain Name System, they'll have to live with the consequences. The rest of the community may, and already has started to, basically ignore the static files that reflect the main non-DNS naming service 💀. The larger community has moved so far past these setups that those files are obsolete as a technology, and also incomplete and often inaccurate 😬. When someone connects a new host, most of the Internet doesn't think registering updates with the NIC database is necessary anymore. They focus on updating the Domain Name System instead 💅. So today's NIC database, and the "hosts.txt" file generated from it, mostly reflects only the non-DNS community, a tiny slice of the hundreds of thousands of entities in the Internet name space configured through DNS 🌸.

If non-DNS users still need static mapping tables, there should at least be some way to add the DNS information to the NIC data sets 🧩. These bigger tables, along with a method to guarantee they stay in sync with DNS, would significantly improve the accuracy of the information non-DNS users use to map names to addresses 💜. But that won't cover supporting the richer DNS features on the NIC's system. At a minimum, putting MX information into the NIC database is absolutely required for "hosts.txt" to be compatible with DNS 🫶. Subcommunities that choose to keep a separate, incompatible mapping system will get split off from everyone else, and that hurts overall Internet operations too 💔. End users and system and network administrators will end up spending lots of time tracking down inconsistency problems caused by the mismatch in mapping methods 😩.

The IAB, which values universal interoperability and consistent naming and has years of DNS experience behind it, is pushing a policy that every connected part of the Internet community should adopt DNS 🚀. It also urges parties with policy-setting authority to take the same position and set deadlines for switching to uniform DNS use ⭐.

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.

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 got your letter about adopting and using the Domain Name System (DNS) throughout the Internet 💌. Since the DoD uses the Internet a lot, DNS issues that could affect performance and interoperability really matter to us 🧐. We've agreed to have staff look at all the technical and economic impacts on DoD systems 🔍. We'll let you know what we decide once the reviews are finished 🎀.

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

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,

Thanks so much for your response to my letter about adopting and using the Domain Name System throughout the Internet 🥰. I really appreciate you putting resources into looking at this, and I'm excited to hear what the study finds ✨.

As LCDR David Chappell suggested, it would be helpful to set up a meeting to talk about issues that matter to both DISA and the IAB 🤝. I don't know yet if I can make it to Ft. Monmouth soon (my travel schedule is kinda packed 😵), but I'll reach out soon to find a good date and place 📅.

Regards,

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

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: Lyman@BBN.COM