First? TRUE Root Name Server On Line

Sun Nov 24 22:04:48 UTC 1996

On Sunday, November 24, 1996 2:27 AM, Paul A Vixie[SMTP:paul at vix.com] wrote:
@ Jim.
@ 
@ You do not understand even the difference between "recursive" and
@ "resolves second level names."  Why in the world do you expect
@ anybody, anywhere, to give a rat's ass what you're doing or saying?
@ 
@ Paul
@ 

Paul,

Because the 9 popular Root Name Servers are NOT configured
as TRUE Root Name Servers, it is difficult to draw fine distinctions
between recursion, iteration, referrals, etc.

If you check pages 31 and 32 of the book, "DNS and BIND", by
Paul Albitz & Cricket Liu you will not serveral statements which
attempt to differentiate between "recursion" and "iteration".

In one statement, they state, "In recursion, a resolver sends a
recursive query to a name server...The queried name server is
then obliged to respond with the requested data...The name
server can't just refer the querier to a different name server, because
the query was recursive."

Because the 9 popular Root Name Servers are not configured
as TRUE Root Name Servers (and also do not meet other basic
Root Name Server requirements), it is a coincidence that they
are able to avoid recursion and return information for the .COM,
.NET, .ORG, .EDU, .MIL, .ARPA, etc. domains. When they do
this, they appear to look like a "recursive" to another server
or resolver that is using their services.

I hope that we can agree that TRUE Root Name Servers should
only return "referrals" to other Top Level Domain Name Servers.
In the above book, this is considered "Iterative Resolution" because
"a name server simply gives the best answer it already knows...
it makes its best attempt to give the querier data that will help it
continue the resolution process".

While I continue to find it interesting that you always lower
yourself to personal attacks, in apparent violation of the IETF
Code of Conduct, I am not sure that your attacks help to
educate Internet users. Your attacks also do not focus on the
real problem which is the fact that the 9 popular Root Name
Servers, used by many ISPs, are not properly configured
as TRUE Root Name Servers.

If you like, we can leave the complex terms, recursion and
iteration out of these discussions. In the future, we can refer
to TRUE Root Name Servers, as those that meet the technical
requirements for being called a TRUE Root Name Server. If
and when the 9 popular Root Name Servers ever meet these
requirements, then we can refer to them as TRUE Root Name
Servers, and everyone will understand that they do not return
replys which appear to be the result of a recursive search, thus
giving one the impression that they are recursive.

--
Jim Fleming
UNETY Systems, Inc.
Naperville, IL

e-mail:
JimFleming at unety.net
JimFleming at unety.net.s0.g0 (EDNS/IPv8)