Re: [NSI-RRP] FW: I-D ACTION:draft-hollenbeck-grrp-reqs-03.txt

From: Eric Schaetzlein (eric@schlund.de)
Date: Tue Aug 29 2000 - 11:16:17 EDT

  • Next message: Hollenbeck, Scott: "RE: [NSI-RRP] FW: I-D ACTION:draft-hollenbeck-grrp-reqs-03.txt"

    On 2000/08/29, Hollenbeck, Scott wrote:
    > Eric,
    >
    > Thanks for the clarification.
    >
    > I don't like the idea of severing the relationship between a name server and
    > the server's parent domain when the registry is authoritative for the
    > server's and domain's TLD. I can see some ugly situations where one
    > registrar is responsible for example.com and another is responsible for
    > ns1.example.com. If example.com needs to be deleted by one registrar what
    > happens to ns1.example.com, whose registrar might not want to cooperate?

    But on the other hand, this is quite ugly too:

    Registrar X Registrar Y
            |- company.tld |- subsidiary.tld
     
    The mothercompany registers with Registrar X.
    The subsidiary registers with Registrar Y.
    Registrar Y is to register (product.tld, ns1.subsidiary.company.tld,
    ns1.subsidiary.tld)
    This fails, even if product.tld is available.

    The point is, if a domain name is available, any registrar should be able to
    register it.

    > However, name servers whose parent domain is in a non-authoritative TLD do
    > present some interesting issues as you describe below. Let me think about
    > those for a bit.
    >
    > Scott Hollenbeck
    > Network Solutions, Inc. Registry
    >
    > -----Original Message-----
    > From: Eric Schaetzlein [mailto:eric@schlund.de]
    > Sent: Tuesday, August 29, 2000 9:27 AM
    > To: Hollenbeck, Scott
    > Cc: rrp@nsiregistry.com
    > Subject: Re: [NSI-RRP] FW: I-D ACTION:draft-hollenbeck-grrp-reqs-03.txt
    >
    >
    > On 2000/08/28, Hollenbeck, Scott wrote:
    > > Second, in a thin Registry model, registering nameservers as a separate
    > > entity "owned" by a single
    > > Registrar creates types of situations that may make it impossible to
    > > successfully register a domain name.
    > >
    > > [SAH] Yes, I understand this problem. Is there a specific section of the
    > > document that presents a problem with the scenario you describe below?
    >
    > [ES] Yes, there are actually many sections.
    >
    > The concept of nameservers being separate objects spreads through the whole
    > gRRP.
    > (3.4 [4] [5] 3.5 [2] [4] etc.)
    >
    > There are two alternatives in my opinion:
    >
    > a) let everyone register nameservers (give up that parent domain stuff)
    > and introduce nameserver transfer procedure (which makes sense when
    > nameservers are a separate objects owner by one registrar)
    >
    > Right now, in NSI-RRP and gRRP, a ccTLD-based nameserver once registered
    > will *always* belong to one registrar. This can't be true.
    > As a real example, our own ns3.schlund.de belongs to NSI Registrar and since
    > it is referenced by zillions of domains, we will never be able to switch it
    > over
    > to Schlund Registrar unless a transfer procedure is envisioned.
    >
    > b) Integrate the concept of a "slim" registry (nameservers are attributes of
    >
    > domain objects, not separate objects)
    > This requires substantial revision of the current gRRP, but as mentioned
    > before,
    > this solves a whole amount of problems* and is current practice in most
    > ccTLD Registries.
    > [* 1. Dead End Problem, 2. NS-Hijacking, 3. Chicken-Egg Problem, see below]
    >
    > > This problem will always arise when objects shared by multiple Registrars
    > > are maintained by
    > > only one Registrar (refer the discussions on ISP-maintained person objects
    > > in the
    > > RIPE database)
    > >
    > > Let me explain this in detail:
    > > Registering nameservers in a thick Registry makes sense because you can
    > > store contact information with
    > > the nameserver (zone contact/zone-c).
    > >
    > > So all there is left of the nameserver object in a thin Registry is
    > > - the nameserver's domain name
    > > - IP addresses, which are not necessary unless they serve as glue records,
    > > that is
    > > parent_domain_of(nameserver) = domain_nameserver_is_used_in
    > > &&
    > > registry_is_authoritative_for(tld_of(nameserver)) = yes
    > > - a Registrar maintaining that object
    > >
    > > So the actual algorithm for a Registrar Y to register a given domain
    > > described as
    > > (domain, ns1, ns2, ns3, ...)
    > > is:
    > >
    > > foreach ns in (ns1, ns2, ns3, ...)
    > > if is_registered(ns)
    > > then
    > > next
    > > else
    > > if registrar_of_domain(parent_domain_of(ns)) = Y
    > > then
    > > register_nameserver(ns)
    > > next
    > > else
    > > fail
    > > # can't register_nameserver(ns) because lack of
    > > authority
    > > endif
    > > endif
    > >
    > > endforeach
    > > register_domain(domain)
    > >
    > > This might actually really happen, given the following example:
    > > Registrar X Registrar Y
    > > |- company.tld |- subsidiary.tld
    > >
    > > The mothercompany registers with Registrar X.
    > > The subsidiary registers with Registrar Y.
    > > Registrar Y is to register (product.tld, ns1.subsidiary.company.tld,
    > > ns1.subsidiary.tld)
    > > This fails, even if product.tld is available.
    > >
    > > These are the three situations related to nameserver objects:
    > > 1. Dead End Problem
    > > A Registrar can't register a domain name because he would have to
    > > register a nameserver
    > > first whose parent domain is registered with another Registrar.
    > >
    > > 2. NS-Hijacking
    > > Register your competitor's nameserver with your IP address before
    > he
    > > does it,
    > > using the Registrar of the competitor's domain.
    > >
    > > Register any ccTLD nameserver with your IP address.
    > >
    > > 3. Chicken-Egg Problem
    > > Image you want to register foo.tld with nameserver ns.foo.tld.
    > > You can't register foo.tld because the nameserver is not yet
    > > registered, but you
    > > can't register the nameserver ns.foo.tld because the parent domain
    > > is not yet registered.
    > > In fact, the only possible solution in the current model is to
    > first
    > > register foo.tld
    > > *without* nameserver (something that should not be made possible),
    > > then register the nameserver,
    > > and finally *modify* the nameservers of a domain.
    > >
    > >
    > >
    > > You should consider a type of "slim" Registry where there are only domain
    > > objects
    > > and nameservers (and their glue IP addresses, only where needed) are just
    > > attributes of the domain name.
    > >
    > > The slim Registry is in use in many ccTLDs and eliminates the problems
    > 1-3.
    > >
    > > Last, it makes sense to query domain names that are associated with
    > another
    > > Registrar,
    > > mostly because you should then get at least the same amount of information
    > > that can be obtained
    > > by querying the whois. (section 3.11 [4])
    > >
    > > [SAH] I agree, and that's why the text in this sections says "Requests to
    > > retrieve information describing a registered object MAY be limited to the
    > > registrar that currently sponsors the registered object" instead of "MUST
    > be
    > > limited. Using MAY allows the protocol to provide this feature if the
    > > registry environment requires it, and it also allows the registry to not
    > > allow such queries. I know that ICANN has requirements for information
    > > access via whois, but not all registries are supporting ICANN at this
    > moment
    > > so I thought it best to provide some flexibility here.
    > > ---------
    > > See http://www.nsiregistry.com/maillist/rrp/
    > > for message archives and subscription management information.
    >
    >
    > Mit freundlichen Gruessen
    >
    > Eric Schaetzlein
    >
    >
    > --
    > Eric Schaetzlein Schlund + Partner AG Tel: +49 721 91374
    > 50
    > Leiter Domain Services Erbprinzenstr. 4-12 Fax: +49 721 91374
    > 20
    > D-76133 Karlsruhe Mail:
    > eric@schlund.de
    > ---------
    > See http://www.nsiregistry.com/maillist/rrp/
    > for message archives and subscription management information.

    Mit freundlichen Gruessen

    Eric Schaetzlein

    --
    Eric Schaetzlein		Schlund + Partner AG	Tel:  +49 721 91374 50
    Leiter Domain Services		Erbprinzenstr. 4-12	Fax:  +49 721 91374 20
    				D-76133 Karlsruhe	Mail:  eric@schlund.de
    

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