RFC 1032 (rfc1032) - Page 2 of 14
Domain administrators guide
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1032 DOMAIN ADMINISTRATORS GUIDE November 1987 his domain satisfies all the requirements of the administration under which his domain would be situated. To find out who has authority over the name space he wishes to join, the DA can ask the NIC Hostmaster. Information on contacts for the top-level and second- level domains can also be found on line in the file NETINFO:DOMAIN- CONTACTS.TXT, which is available from the NIC via anonymous FTP. The DA should be technically competent; he should understand the concepts and procedures for operating a domain server, as described in RFC-1034, and make sure that the service provided is reliable and uninterrupted. It is his responsibility or that of his delegate to ensure that the data will be current at all times. As a manager, the DA must be able to handle complaints about service provided by his domain name server. He must be aware of the behavior of the hosts in his domain, and take prompt action on reports of problems, such as protocol violations or other serious misbehavior. The administrator of a domain must be a responsible person who has the authority to either enforce these actions himself or delegate them to someone else. Name assignments within a domain are controlled by the DA, who should verify that names are unique within his domain and that they conform to standard naming conventions. He furnishes access to names and name-related information to users both inside and outside his domain. He should work closely with the personnel he has designated as the "technical and zone" contacts for his domain, for many administrative decisions will be made on the basis of input from these people. THE DOMAIN TECHNICAL AND ZONE CONTACT A zone consists of those contiguous parts of the domain tree for which a domain server has complete information and over which it has authority. A domain server may be authoratative for more than one zone. The domain technical/zone contact is the person who tends to the technical aspects of maintaining the domain's name server and resolver software, and database files. He keeps the name server running, and interacts with technical people in other domains and zones to solve problems that affect his zone. POLICIES Domain or host name choices and the allocation of domain name space are considered to be local matters. In the event of conflicts, it is the policy of the NIC not to get involved in local disputes or in the local decision-making process. The NIC will not act as referee in disputes over such matters as who has the "right" to register a particular top-level or second-level domain for an organization. The NIC considers this a private local matter that must be settled among Stahl
