Re: Where are we going, and root servers?

[mcc@WLV.IIPO.GTEGSC.COM (Merton Campbell Crockett)]

On Nov 18, 11:05, John R Levine wrote:
> Subject: Re: Where are we going, and root servers?
}> My understanding is that each root nameserver has complete knowledge of the 
}> top level domains.  As the number of top level domains increases, one would 
}> expect an increase in the number of secondary, tertiary, or quartenary domains 
}> that are registered.  At some point, it will become impractical for a root 
}> nameserver to have complete knowledge.
}
}The root servers only need to know the servers for the immediately
}subsidiary domains, not any sub-domains or below.  The current root has
}about 150 entries, and even in the most enthusiastic TLD scenario it's
}hard to see how there'd be as many as a thousand entries.  This makes the
}root a pretty small domain.  The COM domain is enormous, but that's a
}separate issue.

If root nameservers only need to know the nameservers for the subdomain(s) that 
they serve, how will DNS queries be resolved?  For example, my DNS nameserver 
receives a query for "www.company.ltd".  It sends a query to a root nameserver.  
By the luck of the round-robin selection algorithm, the root nameserver that is 
contacted only serves the ".abc." and ".xyz."

Under the present scheme, the root nameserver would return an error on any query 
for a domain on which it has no information because complete knowledge is 
assumed.  We are proposing that root nameservers must operate with incomplete 
knowledge.  How do we ensure that a root nameserver with incomplete knowledge 
function as well as the present environment where there is complete knwoledge?

If it isn't understood how root nameservers will interoperate, why would a 
corporation planning to do business on the Internet want to risk its business 
plans by registering in a domain other than ".com."?

Were WOODSIDE.CA.US. to exist, what is the fundamental difference between this 
domain and COM.?  If Luigi's Pizzaria in Woodside wants a presence on the 
Internet today, they would want to be in .com so that they could be found.  It 
would be more appropriate for them to be registered under WOODSIDE.CA.US.  How
do we make them visible to the net?  How do we make any domain outside of .com
visible to the net and hence a viable alternative?


Regards,

Merton Campbell Crockett