The Domain Name System DNSO域名系统 DMSO.pptVIP

A Primer on the Domain Name SystemJoint ITU/WIPO Multilingual Name Symposium6 December 2001 David C Lawrence tale@ Overview Introduction to the DNS Components of the DNS DNS Governance The DNS Is… The “Domain Name System” What people use to refer to computers by name on the Internet The mechanism by which Internet software translates names to addresses and vice versa A globally distributed, loosely coherent, scalable, reliable, dynamic database The only database system that has been successfully deployed Internet-wide DNS History Created in 1983 by Paul Mockapetris to address maintenance problems with the Internet hosts database, fondly remembered as HOSTS.TXT. Originally defined in IETF RFCs 1034 and 1035, then extended by numerous subsequent RFCs. RFC stands for Request for Comments Standards for Internet protocols are documented by RFCs Not all Internet protocols have RFCs Not all RFCs define standards Names versus Addresses An address is how you get to an endpoint Often hierarchical, which helps with scaling 950 Charter Street, Redwood City CA, 94063 +1.650.381.6003 1 A name is how an endpoint is referenced Often with no structurally significant hierarchy “David”, “Tokyo”, “” Names are more people-friendly. An Analogy Devices on the telephone network all have a number People have a hard time remembering numbers, but… The network needs the numbers to connect endpoints So a directory provides association of names people know with the numbers where they can be reached Computers on the Internet all have a number The DNS takes names people can relate to and converts them into the numbers computers need to interact. This analogy has a crucial flaw: the DNS is not a directory service. There is no way to search the data. DNS is a Database Keys to the database are “domain names” , 18., 6.4. Over 100,000,000 domain names are now stored Each domain name contains one or more attributes, known as resource records Each attribute is individually retrievable Global Distrib