7 Network Working Group B. Manning
8 Request for Comments: 1706 ISI
9 Obsoletes: 1637, 1348 R. Colella
10 Category: Informational NIST
14 DNS NSAP Resource Records
19 This memo provides information for the Internet community. This memo
20 does not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of
21 this memo is unlimited.
25 OSI lower layer protocols, comprising the connectionless network
26 protocol (CLNP) and supporting routing protocols, are deployed in
27 some parts of the global Internet. Maintenance and debugging of CLNP
28 connectivity is greatly aided by support in the Domain Name System
29 (DNS) for mapping between names and NSAP addresses.
31 This document defines the format of one new Resource Record (RR) for
32 the DNS for domain name-to-NSAP mapping. The RR may be used with any
35 NSAP-to-name translation is accomplished through use of the PTR RR
36 (see STD 13, RFC 1035 for a description of the PTR RR). This paper
37 describes how PTR RRs are used to support this translation.
39 This document obsoletes RFC 1348 and RFC 1637.
58 Manning & Colella [Page 1]
60 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
65 OSI lower layer protocols, comprising the connectionless network
66 protocol (CLNP) [5] and supporting routing protocols, are deployed in
67 some parts of the global Internet. Maintenance and debugging of CLNP
68 connectivity is greatly aided by support in the Domain Name System
69 (DNS) [7] [8] for mapping between names and NSAP (network service
70 access point) addresses [6] [Note: NSAP and NSAP address are used
71 interchangeably throughout this memo].
73 This document defines the format of one new Resource Record (RR) for
74 the DNS for domain name-to-NSAP mapping. The RR may be used with any
77 NSAP-to-name translation is accomplished through use of the PTR RR
78 (see RFC 1035 for a description of the PTR RR). This paper describes
79 how PTR RRs are used to support this translation.
81 This memo assumes that the reader is familiar with the DNS. Some
82 familiarity with NSAPs is useful; see [1] or Annex A of [6] for
83 additional information.
87 The reason for defining DNS mappings for NSAPs is to support the
88 existing CLNP deployment in the Internet. Debugging with CLNP ping
89 and traceroute has become more difficult with only numeric NSAPs as
90 the scale of deployment has increased. Current debugging is supported
91 by maintaining and exchanging a configuration file with name/NSAP
92 mappings similar in function to hosts.txt. This suffers from the lack
93 of a central coordinator for this file and also from the perspective
94 of scaling. The former describes the most serious short-term
95 problem. Scaling of a hosts.txt-like solution has well-known long-
96 term scaling difficiencies.
100 The methods defined in this paper are applicable to all NSAP formats.
102 As a point of reference, there is a distinction between registration
103 and publication of addresses. For IP addresses, the IANA is the root
104 registration authority and the DNS a publication method. For NSAPs,
105 Annex A of the network service definition, ISO8348 [6], describes the
106 root registration authority and this memo defines how the DNS is used
107 as a publication method.
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116 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
119 4. Structure of NSAPs
121 NSAPs are hierarchically structured to allow distributed
122 administration and efficient routing. Distributed administration
123 permits subdelegated addressing authorities to, as allowed by the
124 delegator, further structure the portion of the NSAP space under
125 their delegated control. Accomodating this distributed authority
126 requires that there be little or no a priori knowledge of the
127 structure of NSAPs built into DNS resolvers and servers.
129 For the purposes of this memo, NSAPs can be thought of as a tree of
130 identifiers. The root of the tree is ISO8348 [6], and has as its
131 immediately registered subordinates the one-octet Authority and
132 Format Identifiers (AFIs) defined there. The size of subsequently-
133 defined fields depends on which branch of the tree is taken. The
134 depth of the tree varies according to the authority responsible for
135 defining subsequent fields.
137 An example is the authority under which U.S. GOSIP defines NSAPs [2].
138 Under the AFI of 47, NIST (National Institute of Standards and
139 Technology) obtained a value of 0005 (the AFI of 47 defines the next
140 field as being two octets consisting of four BCD digits from the
141 International Code Designator space [3]). NIST defined the subsequent
142 fields in [2], as shown in Figure 1. The field immediately following
143 0005 is a format identifier for the rest of the U.S. GOSIP NSAP
144 structure, with a hex value of 80. Following this is the three-octet
145 field, values for which are allocated to network operators; the
146 registration authority for this field is delegated to GSA (General
147 Services Administration).
149 The last octet of the NSAP is the NSelector (NSel). In practice, the
150 NSAP minus the NSel identifies the CLNP protocol machine on a given
151 system, and the NSel identifies the CLNP user. Since there can be
152 more than one CLNP user (meaning multiple NSel values for a given
153 "base" NSAP), the representation of the NSAP should be CLNP-user
154 independent. To achieve this, an NSel value of zero shall be used
155 with all NSAP values stored in the DNS. An NSAP with NSel=0
156 identifies the network layer itself. It is left to the application
157 retrieving the NSAP to determine the appropriate value to use in that
158 instance of communication.
160 When CLNP is used to support TCP and UDP services, the NSel value
161 used is the appropriate IP PROTO value as registered with the IANA.
162 For "standard" OSI, the selection of NSel values is left as a matter
163 of local administration. Administrators of systems that support the
164 OSI transport protocol [4] in addition to TCP/UDP must select NSels
165 for use by OSI Transport that do not conflict with the IP PROTO
170 Manning & Colella [Page 3]
172 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
177 |--------------|-------------------------------------|
178 | AFI | IDI | <-- DSP --> |
179 |-----|--------|-------------------------------------|
180 | 47 | 0005 | DFI | AA |Rsvd | RD |Area | ID |Sel |
181 |-----|--------|-----|----|-----|----|-----|----|----|
182 octets | 1 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | 1 |
183 |-----|--------|-----|----|-----|----|-----|----|----|
185 IDP Initial Domain Part
186 AFI Authority and Format Identifier
187 IDI Initial Domain Identifier
188 DSP Domain Specific Part
189 DFI DSP Format Identifier
190 AA Administrative Authority
192 RD Routing Domain Identifier
197 Figure 1: GOSIP Version 2 NSAP structure.
200 In the NSAP RRs in Master Files and in the printed text in this memo,
201 NSAPs are often represented as a string of "."-separated hex values.
202 The values correspond to convenient divisions of the NSAP to make it
203 more readable. For example, the "."-separated fields might correspond
204 to the NSAP fields as defined by the appropriate authority (RARE,
205 U.S. GOSIP, ANSI, etc.). The use of this notation is strictly for
206 readability. The "."s do not appear in DNS packets and DNS servers
207 can ignore them when reading Master Files. For example, a printable
208 representation of the first four fields of a U.S. GOSIP NSAP might
213 and a full U.S. GOSIP NSAP might appear as
215 47.0005.80.005a00.0000.1000.0020.00800a123456.00.
217 Other NSAP formats have different lengths and different
218 administratively defined field widths to accomodate different
219 requirements. For more information on NSAP formats in use see RFC
226 Manning & Colella [Page 4]
228 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
233 The NSAP RR is defined with mnemonic "NSAP" and TYPE code 22
234 (decimal) and is used to map from domain names to NSAPs. Name-to-NSAP
235 mapping in the DNS using the NSAP RR operates analogously to IP
236 address lookup. A query is generated by the resolver requesting an
237 NSAP RR for a provided domain name.
239 NSAP RRs conform to the top level RR format and semantics as defined
240 in Section 3.2.1 of RFC 1035.
243 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 1 2 3 4 5
244 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
249 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
251 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
253 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
256 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
258 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
261 +--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+--+
265 * NAME: an owner name, i.e., the name of the node to which this
266 resource record pertains.
268 * TYPE: two octets containing the NSAP RR TYPE code of 22 (decimal).
270 * CLASS: two octets containing the RR IN CLASS code of 1.
272 * TTL: a 32 bit signed integer that specifies the time interval in
273 seconds that the resource record may be cached before the source
274 of the information should again be consulted. Zero values are
275 interpreted to mean that the RR can only be used for the
276 transaction in progress, and should not be cached. For example,
277 SOA records are always distributed with a zero TTL to prohibit
278 caching. Zero values can also be used for extremely volatile data.
282 Manning & Colella [Page 5]
284 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
287 * RDLENGTH: an unsigned 16 bit integer that specifies the length in
288 octets of the RDATA field.
290 * RDATA: a variable length string of octets containing the NSAP.
291 The value is the binary encoding of the NSAP as it would appear in
292 the CLNP source or destination address field. A typical example of
293 such an NSAP (in hex) is shown below. For this NSAP, RDLENGTH is
294 20 (decimal); "."s have been omitted to emphasize that they don't
295 appear in the DNS packets.
297 39840f80005a0000000001e13708002010726e00
299 NSAP RRs cause no additional section processing.
301 6. NSAP-to-name Mapping Using the PTR RR
303 The PTR RR is defined in RFC 1035. This RR is typically used under
304 the "IN-ADDR.ARPA" domain to map from IPv4 addresses to domain names.
306 Similarly, the PTR RR is used to map from NSAPs to domain names under
307 the "NSAP.INT" domain. A domain name is generated from the NSAP
308 according to the rules described below. A query is sent by the
309 resolver requesting a PTR RR for the provided domain name.
311 A domain name is generated from an NSAP by reversing the hex nibbles
312 of the NSAP, treating each nibble as a separate subdomain, and
313 appending the top-level subdomain name "NSAP.INT" to it. For example,
314 the domain name used in the reverse lookup for the NSAP
316 47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.ffffff000162.00
320 0.0.2.6.1.0.0.0.f.f.f.f.f.f.3.3.1.e.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.a.5.0.0. \
321 0.8.5.0.0.0.7.4.NSAP.INT.
323 [Implementation note: For sanity's sake user interfaces should be
324 designed to allow users to enter NSAPs using their natural order,
325 i.e., as they are typically written on paper. Also, arbitrary "."s
326 should be allowed (and ignored) on input.]
328 7. Master File Format
330 The format of NSAP RRs (and NSAP-related PTR RRs) in Master Files
331 conforms to Section 5, "Master Files," of RFC 1035. Below are
332 examples of the use of these RRs in Master Files to support name-to-
333 NSAP and NSAP-to-name mapping.
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340 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
343 The NSAP RR introduces a new hex string format for the RDATA field.
344 The format is "0x" (i.e., a zero followed by an 'x' character)
345 followed by a variable length string of hex characters (0 to 9, a to
346 f). The hex string is case-insensitive. "."s (i.e., periods) may be
347 inserted in the hex string anywhere after the "0x" for readability.
348 The "."s have no significance other than for readability and are not
349 propagated in the protocol (e.g., queries or zone transfers).
353 ;;;;;; Master File for domain nsap.nist.gov.
357 @ IN SOA emu.ncsl.nist.gov. root.emu.ncsl.nist.gov. (
358 1994041800 ; Serial - date
359 1800 ; Refresh - 30 minutes
360 300 ; Retry - 5 minutes
361 604800 ; Expire - 7 days
362 3600 ) ; Minimum - 1 hour
363 IN NS emu.ncsl.nist.gov.
364 IN NS tuba.nsap.lanl.gov.
367 $ORIGIN nsap.nist.gov.
371 bsdi1 IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.ffffff000161.00
373 IN HINFO PC_486 BSDi1.1
375 bsdi2 IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.ffffff000162.00
377 IN HINFO PC_486 BSDi1.1
379 cursive IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.ffffff000171.00
381 IN HINFO PC_386 DOS_5.0/NCSA_Telnet(TUBA)
383 infidel IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.ffffff000164.00
385 IN HINFO PC/486 BSDi1.0(TUBA)
389 cisco1 IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.aaaaaa000151.00
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396 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
402 3com1 IN NSAP 0x47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133.aaaaaa000111.00
411 ;;;;;; Master File for reverse mapping of NSAPs under the
414 ;;;;;; 47.0005.80.005a00.0000.0001.e133
418 @ IN SOA emu.ncsl.nist.gov. root.emu.ncsl.nist.gov. (
419 1994041800 ; Serial - date
420 1800 ; Refresh - 30 minutes
421 300 ; Retry - 5 minutes
422 604800 ; Expire - 7 days
423 3600 ) ; Minimum - 1 hour
424 IN NS emu.ncsl.nist.gov.
425 IN NS tuba.nsap.lanl.gov.
428 $ORIGIN 3.3.1.e.1.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.0.a.5.0.0.0.8.5.0.0.0.7.4.NSAP.INT.
430 0.0.1.6.1.0.0.0.f.f.f.f.f.f IN PTR bsdi1.nsap.nist.gov.
432 0.0.2.6.1.0.0.0.f.f.f.f.f.f IN PTR bsdi2.nsap.nist.gov.
434 0.0.1.7.1.0.0.0.f.f.f.f.f.f IN PTR cursive.nsap.nist.gov.
436 0.0.4.6.1.0.0.0.f.f.f.f.f.f IN PTR infidel.nsap.nist.gov.
438 0.0.1.5.1.0.0.0.a.a.a.a.a.a IN PTR cisco1.nsap.nist.gov.
440 0.0.1.1.1.0.0.0.a.a.a.a.a.a IN PTR 3com1.nsap.nist.gov.
442 8. Security Considerations
444 Security issues are not discussed in this memo.
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452 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
455 9. Authors' Addresses
458 USC/Information Sciences Institute
460 Marina del Rey, CA. 90292
463 Phone: +1.310.822.1511
464 EMail: bmanning@isi.edu
468 National Institute of Standards and Technology
470 Gaithersburg, MD 20899
473 Phone: +1 301-975-3627
475 EMail: colella@nist.gov
479 [1] Colella, R., Gardner, E., Callon, R., and Y. Rekhter, "Guidelines
480 for OSI NSAP Allocation inh the Internet", RFC 1629, NIST,
481 Wellfleet, Mitre, T.J. Watson Research Center, IBM Corp., May
484 [2] GOSIP Advanced Requirements Group. Government Open Systems
485 Interconnection Profile (GOSIP) Version 2. Federal Information
486 Processing Standard 146-1, U.S. Department of Commerce, National
487 Institute of Standards and Technology, Gaithersburg, MD, April
490 [3] ISO/IEC. Data interchange - structures for the identification of
491 organization. International Standard 6523, ISO/IEC JTC 1,
494 [4] ISO/IEC. Connection oriented transport protocol specification.
495 International Standard 8073, ISO/IEC JTC 1, Switzerland, 1986.
497 [5] ISO/IEC. Protocol for Providing the Connectionless-mode Network
498 Service. International Standard 8473, ISO/IEC JTC 1,
506 Manning & Colella [Page 9]
508 RFC 1706 DNS NSAP RRs October 1994
511 [6] ISO/IEC. Information Processing Systems -- Data Communications --
512 Network Service Definition. International Standard 8348, ISO/IEC
513 JTC 1, Switzerland, 1993.
515 [7] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names -- Concepts and Facilities", STD
516 13, RFC 1034, USC/Information Sciences Institute, November 1987.
518 [8] Mockapetris, P., "Domain Names -- Implementation and
519 Specification", STD 13, RFC 1035, USC/Information Sciences
520 Institute, November 1987.
562 Manning & Colella [Page 10]