RFC 1291 (rfc1291) - Page 2 of 10
Mid-Level Networks Potential Technical Services
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1291 Potential Technical Services December 1991 1. Introduction Over the past few years, the Internet has grown to be a very large entity and its dependability is critical to its users. Furthermore, due to the size and nature of the network, the trend has been to decentralize as many network functions (such as domain name-service, whois, etc.) as possible. Efforts are being made in resource discovery [SHHH90] so that the work of researchers is not lost in the volumes of data that is available on the Internet. A side result of this growth has been the logical structure imposed in the Internet of networks classified by function. Tangible examples in the present state are the NSFnet national backbone, the mid- level/regional networks and campus networks. Each of these can be viewed as hierarchies within an organization, each serving a slightly different function than the other (campus LANs providing access to local resources, mid-level networks providing access to remote resources, etc.). The functions of each hierarchy then become the "services" offered to the organizational layer below it, who in turn depend on these services. This document proposes a set of basic technical services that could be offered by a mid-level network. These services would not only increase the robustness of the mid-level network itself, but would also serve to structure the distribution of resources and services within the Internet. It also proposes a uniform naming convention for locating the hosts offering these services. 2. The Generic Model The Internet model that is used as the basis for this document is a graph of mid-level networks connected to one another, each in turn connecting the campus/organization networks and with the end users attached to the campus networks. The model assumes that the mid-level networks constitute the highest level of functional division within the Internet hierarchy described above (this could change in the unforeseen future). With this model in perspective, this document addresses the objectives of minimizing unnecessary traffic within the Internet as well as making the entire structure as robust as possible. The proposed structure is a derived extension of organizational LANs where certain services are offered within the organizational LAN itself, such as nameservice, mail, shared files, single or hierarchical points of contact for problems, etc. The following are the services that are discussed as possible functions of a mid-level network: Aggarwal
