INTERNET-DRAFT A. Costanzo
draft-costanzo-dns-gl-03.txt AKC Computer Services Corp.
Expires: December 2000 June 2000
Definition of the DNS GL Resource Record
used to encode Geographic Locations
1. Status of this Memo
This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with all
provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026 except that the right to produce
derivative works is not granted.
Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups
may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts.
Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any
time. It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference material
or to cite them other than as "work in progress."
The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
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To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the
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munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ftp.ietf.org (US East Coast, or ftp.isi.edu
(US West Coast).
Distribution of this memo is unlimited.
2. Abstract
This document defines the format of a new Experimental Resource Record (RR)
namely GL for the Domain Naming System (DNS), and reserves a corresponding
DNS type mnemonic and numerical code XX (decimal). This definition deals
with associating geographical host location mappings to host names within
a domain.
The key words "MUST", "MUST NOT", "REQUIRED", "SHALL", "SHALL NOT",
"SHOULD", "SHOULD NOT", "RECOMMENDED", "MAY" and "OPTIONAL" in this
document are to be interpreted as described in RFC-2119.
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3. Introduction
The ideal way to manage and maintain a database of information, such as
geographical location of Internet hosts, is to delegate responsibility
to local domain administrators.
This document resolves the problem of relating host information within
the DNS to geographical locations. This definition has been designed to
be easy for the person who administrates DNS for a domain. The author
hopes that the lack of requiring longitude, latitude and elevation
information and merely being able to enter address information, as you
would address a postal letter, will mean broad acceptance and use of the
GL resource record.
The availability of geographical location information will immediately be
able to benefit applications in network management, which would enhance
and supplement various network tools which currently exist.
The Domain Name System is ideally suited to provide geographic location
information. The information we desire to make available globally needs
to be maintained and updated locally (perfect for DNS).
Although several other attempts by various authors have attempted to
created resource records that would allow location information on host to
be stored and distributed, none, to the authors knowledge, have either
gained acceptance on a wide scale or made allowance for location information
that is not within the confines of the planet Earth.
4. The GL format
GL has the following format:
<owner> <ttl> <class> GL <Rdata>
4.1 Rdata Format
Rdata has the following format:
<string> <string>
The format of the RDATA field is two varying length strings separated by
a space character. The first, the hierarchical locator, then an address
string. Each is quoted (like all strings) only when it has spaces in it,
which will never be true for the first string, and almost always for the
second.
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4.1.1 The Hierarchical Locator
The Hierarchical Locator contains the following components (each separated
by a period "."):
Astronomical Location - (Required)
A coded field defining the heavenly body within
the known Universe, where the machine resides. The most common
entry, "S3" is the planet Earth and is the only currently
defined location.
Man-made devices (Space Stations, Rockets, Probes, etc.) not residing
on planet Earth may have Astronimical Locations defined as well.
New locations MUST be registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers
Authority (IANA). Refer to section 6 for additional information.
Country Code - (Required)
The country code specifies the country the host computer resides
in. The code is a two character fixed length string and may only
be included within the Astronimical Location 'S3'. These codes
are defined in document ISO 3166-1 and are listed in Appendix A
for easy reference.
Postal Zone - (Optional)
This rdata component supplies the postal code (Zip Code) for the
location the host computer resides. For countries that have a
multi-segmented postal coding system, the segments should be
separated by period(s) ".".
This field may be omitted only if the country in which the host
machine resides does not use a postal coding system.
When all three Hierarchical Locator components exist for an DNS
entry, the position being defined is considered to be a "precise
position".
4.2 The Quoted String
This string should be entered as you would enter an address on
a postal letter within the country specified by the Hierarchical
Locator. The country code information should not be included within
the quoted string. This string is always required and must be
present in the RDATA field.
The quoted string may be used for both visual reference of the
physical address as well as by a software application to help
determine a more precise location of the host machine (if the
Hierarchical Locator lacks sufficient precision).
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The only instance in which any application should attempt to
interpret the quoted string is in a case where the country
code defines a country that does not use, or has not implemented
a postal code system.
No software or application should attempt to override a precise
position defined by the Hierarchical Locator with information
defined within the quoted string data.
5. Example(s)
Example 1 (with a postal zone defined):
donuts A 192.188.192.1
GL S3.US.45420.1910 "1425 Arbor Avenue, Dayton OH"
Example 2 (no postal zone):
lorinda A 129.122.1.1
GL S3.SR "Marthastrasse 64, Shawproject, Uitvlug, Parimaribo"
Example 3
; Authoritative data for akc.net.
;
; note in this example:
; uspring, diana and martha (even though the complete postal code was
; not entered) are precisely defined
;
; lorinda, resides in the country of SURINAME, which has not implemented
; a postal coding system.
;
; THIS IS ONLY AN EXAMPLE
;
@ IN SOA forme.akc.net. postmaster.akc.net.
(
99071100 ; Serial (yymmddnn)
10800 ; Refresh (3 hours)
3600 ; Retry (1 hour)
3600000 ; Expire (1000 hours)
86400 ; Minimum (24 hours)
)
IN NS ns.akc.net.
uspring IN A 192.188.192.2
IN MX 5 mail
IN HINFO Vax VMS
IN GL S3.US.45420.1910 "1425 Arbor Avenue, Dayton OH"
ftp IN CNAME uspring
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diana IN A 192.188.192.3
IN MX 5 mail
IN HINFO Vax VMS
IN GL S3.US.07204.1367 "808 Chestnut Street, Roselle
Park, NJ"
www IN CNAME diana
martha IN A 192.188.192.4
IN MX 5 mail
IN HINFO Vax VMS
IN GL S3.US.07204 "815 Chestnut Willis Place, Roselle
Park, NJ"
lorinda IN A 129.122.1.1
IN GL S3.SR "Marthastrasse 64, Shawproject, Uitvlug,
Parimaribo"
6. Registering New Astronomical Location(s)
New Astronomical Locations (ALs) MUST be registered with the Internet
Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). IANA acts as a central registry for
these values. IANA may reject or modify the Astronomical Location
registration request if it does not meet the criteria as specified in
section 4.1.1.
Registration requests should be sent via electronic mail to IANA as
follows:
To: IANA@iana.org
Subject: Registration of a new Astronomical Location
The mail message must specify the proposed AL. Documentation defining
the AL and its proposed purpose must be included. The documentation must
either reference an external non-Internet standards document or an existing
or soon to be RFC. If applicable, the documentation should contain a
draft version of the future RFC. The draft must be submitted as a
RFC according to the normal procedure within a reasonable amount of
time after the AL registration has been approved.
IANA will not register a new Astronmical Location until an actual
computer requiring GL data in the DNS resides or will soon reside on a
heavenly body other than Earth.
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7. Notes To Implementors:
7.1 Defining New Astronimical Locations
The astronomical location 'S3' is intended to be Sol-Three (i.e. the Earth).
The Earth is the 3rd large planet in the solar system. The Sun would be S0
(not that we'd have a computer there), but a solar observatory in orbit might
be S0-001. Our moon would be S3-1. Other letters and such for catalogued
objects. Additionally, the ISS and Mir space stations could use S3-001 (Mir),
S3-002 (ISS) now, if they get connected on IP.
This document only defines 'S3' however the authors strongly suggest that the
above nomenclature be followed.
7.2 Other possible uses for GL
The use of postal codes also is exactly what is needed for credit card address
authentication. Sites could (quietly) compare GL info provided on entries from
ISPs to what someone enters for additional verification purposes.
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8. Appendix A: ISO 3166-1 Country Codes
The ISO country codes are merely listed here for easy reference and may
become out-of-date in this document. Any changes in the ISO specification
supercede this appendix and the ISO specification must be followed.
AFGHANISTAN AF
ALBANIA AL
ALGERIA DZ
AMERICAN SAMOA AS
ANDORRA AD
ANGOLA AO
ANGUILLA AI
ANTARCTICA AQ
ANTIGUA AND BARBUDA AG
ARGENTINA AR
ARMENIA AM
ARUBA AW
AUSTRALIA AU
AUSTRIA AT
AZERBAIJAN AZ
BAHAMAS BS
BAHRAIN BH
BANGLADESH BD
BARBADOS BB
BELARUS BY
BELGIUM BE
BELIZE BZ
BENIN BJ
BERMUDA BM
BHUTAN BT
BOLIVIA BO
BOSNIA AND HERZEGOWINA BA
BOTSWANA BW
BOUVET ISLAND BV
BRAZIL BR
BRITISH INDIAN OCEAN TERRITORY IO
BRUNEI DARUSSALAM BN
BULGARIA BG
BURKINA FASO BF
BURUNDI BI
CAMBODIA KH
CAMEROON CM
CANADA CA
CAPE VERDE CV
CAYMAN ISLANDS KY
CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC CF
CHAD TD
CHILE CL
CHINA CN
CHRISTMAS ISLAND CX
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COCOS (KEELING) ISLANDS CC
COLOMBIA CO
COMOROS KM
CONGO CG
COOK ISLANDS CK
COSTA RICA CR
COTE D'IVOIRE CI
CROATIA HR
CUBA CU
CYPRUS CY
CZECH REPUBLIC CZ
DENMARK DK
DJIBOUTI DJ
DOMINICA DM
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC DO
EAST TIMOR TP
ECUADOR EC
EGYPT EG
EL SALVADOR SV
EQUATORIAL GUINEA GQ
ERITREA ER
ESTONIA EE
ETHIOPIA ET
FALKLAND ISLANDS (MALVINAS) FK
FAROE ISLANDS FO
FIJI FJ
FINLAND FI
FRANCE FR
FRANCE, METROPOLITAN FX
FRENCH GUIANA GF
FRENCH POLYNESIA PF
FRENCH SOUTHERN TERRITORIES TF
GABON GA
GAMBIA GM
GEORGIA GE
GERMANY DE
GHANA GH
GIBRALTAR GI
GREECE GR
GREENLAND GL
GRENADA GD
GUADELOUPE GP
GUAM GU
GUATEMALA GT
GUINEA GN
GUINEA-BISSAU GW
GUYANA GY
HAITI HT
HEARD AND MC DONALD ISLANDS HM
HONDURAS HN
HONG KONG HK
HUNGARY HU
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ICELAND IS
INDIA IN
INDONESIA ID
IRAN (ISLAMIC REPUBLIC OF) IR
IRAQ IQ
IRELAND IE
ISRAEL IL
ITALY IT
JAMAICA JM
JAPAN JP
JORDAN JO
KAZAKHSTAN KZ
KENYA KE
KIRIBATI KI
KOREA, DEMOCRATIC PEOPLE'S REPUBLIC OF KP
KOREA, REPUBLIC OF KR
KUWAIT KW
KYRGYZSTAN KG
LAO PEOPLE'S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC LA
LATVIA LV
LEBANON LB
LESOTHO LS
LIBERIA LR
LIBYAN ARAB JAMAHIRIYA LY
LIECHTENSTEIN LI
LITHUANIA LT
LUXEMBOURG LU
MACAU MO
MACEDONIA, THE FORMER YUGOSLAV REPUBLIC OF MK
MADAGASCAR MG
MALAWI MW
MALAYSIA MY
MALDIVES MV
MALI ML
MALTA MT
MARSHALL ISLANDS MH
MARTINIQUE MQ
MAURITANIA MR
MAURITIUS MU
MAYOTTE YT
MEXICO MX
MICRONESIA (FEDERATED STATES OF) FM
MOLDOVA, REPUBLIC OF MD
MONACO MC
MONGOLIA MN
MONTSERRAT MS
MOROCCO MA
MOZAMBIQUE MZ
MYANMAR MM
NAMIBIA NA
NAURU NR
NEPAL NP
NETHERLANDS NL
NETHERLANDS ANTILLES AN
NEW CALEDONIA NC
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NEW ZEALAND NZ
NICARAGUA NI
NIGER NE
NIGERIA NG
NIUE NU
NORFOLK ISLAND NF
NORTHERN MARIANA ISLANDS MP
NORWAY NO
OMAN OM
PAKISTAN PK
PALAU PW
PANAMA PA
PAPUA NEW GUINEA PG
PARAGUAY PY
PERU PE
PHILIPPINES PH
PITCAIRN PN
POLAND PL
PORTUGAL PT
PUERTO RICO PR
QATAR QA
REUNION RE
ROMANIA RO
RUSSIAN FEDERATION RU
RWANDA RW
ST. HELENA SH
SAINT KITTS AND NEVIS KN
SAINT LUCIA LC
ST. PIERRE AND MIQUELON PM
SAINT VINCENT AND THE GRENADINES VC
SAMOA WS
SAN MARINO SM
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE ST
SAUDI ARABIA SA
SENEGAL SN
SEYCHELLES SC
SIERRA LEONE SL
SINGAPORE SG
SLOVAKIA SK
SLOVENIA SI
SOLOMON ISLANDS SB
SOMALIA SO
SOUTH AFRICA ZA
SOUTH GEORGIA AND THE SOUTH SANDWICH ISLANDS GS
SPAIN ES
SRI LANKA LK
SUDAN SD
SURINAME SR
SVALBARD AND JAN MAYEN ISLANDS SJ
SWAZILAND SZ
SWEDEN SE
SWITZERLAND CH
SYRIAN ARAB REPUBLIC SY
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TAIWAN, PROVINCE OF CHINA TW
TAJIKISTAN TJ
TANZANIA, UNITED REPUBLIC OF TZ
THAILAND TH
TOGO TG
TOKELAU TK
TONGA TO
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO TT
TUNISIA TN
TURKEY TR
TURKMENISTAN TM
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS TC
TUVALU TV
UGANDA UG
UKRAINE UA
UNITED ARAB EMIRATES AE
UNITED KINGDOM GB
UNITED STATES US
UNITED STATES MINOR OUTLYING ISLANDS UM
URUGUAY UY
UZBEKISTAN UZ
VANUATU VU
VATICAN CITY STATE (HOLY SEE) VA
VENEZUELA VE
VIET NAM VN
VIRGIN ISLANDS (BRITISH) VG
VIRGIN ISLANDS (U.S.) VI
WALLIS AND FUTUNA ISLANDS WF
WESTERN SAHARA EH
YEMEN YE
YUGOSLAVIA YU
ZAIRE ZR
ZAMBIA ZM
ZIMBABWE ZW
9. Acknowledgments
The author would like to thank
James Sears - for his continual editing effort
Robert Ullmann - for his input
and the members of the namedroppers mailing list for both their support and
criticism of this document.
10. Author's Address
Al Costanzo
AKC Computer Services Corp.
P.O. Box 4031, Roselle Park, NJ 07204-0531
www.AKC.com
Phone: +1 908 298 9000
Email: AL@AKC.COM
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