INTERNET-DRAFT L. Gilbert
Document: draft-gilbert-srb-uri-00.txt SDSC
Expires: Sept 2004 April 2004
Storage Resource Broker URI Scheme Registration
draft-gilbert-srb-uri-00.txt
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Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2004). All Rights Reserved.
Abstract
This document is the Storage Resource Broker (SRB) group
recommendation for a SRB Uniform Resource Identifier (URI) which may
be used to resolve the address of a network entity to which SRB
calls may be directed. This document is published as an Internet
Draft for ease of access and registration with the Internet Assigned
Numbers Authority (IANA).
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1. Introduction
This document introduces the SRB Uniform Resource Identifier (URI),
which may be used to resolve the address of a network entity to which
SRB calls may be directed. Having the URI registered with IANA will
ensure that there is no duplication of the URI scheme "srb".
2. URI Scheme Syntax Definition and Character Encoding
2.1 General Syntax
For ease of use, the srb URI has been modeled on the http URI [1].
The only change being the addition of the mdas zone and domain name as
part of the userinfo.
srb:// [username.mdasdomain [.zone] [:password] @] host [:port] [/path]
where square brackets [...] delineate optional components, the
characters :, /, @, and . stand for themselves, and spaces should
be ignored. If the optional port number is not included, the default
port 5544 will be used.
2.2 ABNF Grammar
The SRB URI is defined in ABNF as shown below. Note that it
utilizes the Core Rules specified in section 6.1 of [2].
SRB-URI = "srb://" address [ abs_path ]
address = [ accountinfo "@" ] hostport
accountinfo = userinfo [ ":" password ]
userinfo = username "." mdasdomain [ "." zone ]
username = 1*(alphanum / "-" / "_" / escaped)
mdasdomain = 1*(alphanum / "-" / "_" / escaped)
zone = 1*(alphanum / "-" / "_" / escaped)
password = 1*(unreserved / escaped)
hostport = host [ ":" port ]
host = hostname / IPv4address / IPv6reference
hostname = *( domainlabel "." ) toplabel [ "." ]
domainlabel = alphanum / alphanum *( alphanum / "-" ) alphanum
toplabel = ALPHA / ALPHA *( alphanum / "-" ) alphanum
IPv4address = 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT "." 1*3DIGIT
IPv6reference = ; as specified in RFC2732 [3]
port = 1*DIGIT
abs_path = ; as specified in RFC2396 [4]
alphanum = ALPHA / DIGIT
escaped = "%" HEXDIG HEXDIG
The host is case insensitive. The "username", "mdasdomain","password",
"fsegment" and "segment" are Unicode [3] strings that shall be
UTF-8 [4] encoded and then escaped as necessary. In those fields,
all characters are case sensitive.
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3. Intended Usage
The SRB URI is intended to help an entity resolve the address of
another SRB entity, where an "entity" may be a user, a device, or a
service. The "accountinfo" portion of the URL specifies an alias
for the entity, without carrying any information about the location
of the entity. The "hostport", on the other hand, is the domain name
of an Endpoint, Gatekeeper, Border Element, or other functional
element to which SRB calls may be directed or for which services may
be performed.
4. Applications and/or protocols, which may use SRB URI scheme
SRB URIs may be carried by other protocols. SRB URIs may be also
contained within web pages or within XML data, which may be utilized
by SRB entities in order to initiate calls or perform services.
5. Acknowledgments
This document is prepared and posted on behalf of the Storage
Resource Broker group at SDSC.
6. Security Considerations
The basic authentication scheme is a non-secure method of filtering
unauthorized access to resources on an SRB server. It does not
prevent the Entity-Body from being transmitted in clear text across
the physical network used as the carrier. It is based on the
assumption that the connection between the client and the server can
be regarded as a trusted carrier. As this is not generally true on
an open network, the basic authentication scheme should be used
accordingly. In spite of this, clients should implement the scheme
in order to communicate with servers that use it. The SRB URI does
not prevent additional authentication schemes and encryption
mechanisms from being employed to increase security. [1]
When an SRB URI is carried within SRB messages, security is
addressed by the SRB security framework. When an SRB URI is
carried within other protocols, the security is addressed within
the corresponding protocol. In general, security, as it relates to
the usage and carriage of the SRB URIs, is considered as an issue
that should be addressed within scope of SRB or other relevant
protocols and is not within the scope of this document. [6]
7. IANA Considerations
The purpose of this document is to serve as a reference point for
registering the SRB URI scheme with IANA. This will ensure that
there is no duplication of the URI scheme "srb".
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Registration Template
URI scheme name: srb
URI scheme syntax: Section 2 of this document
Character encoding considerations: Section 2 of this document
Intended usage: Section 3 of this document
Applications and/or protocols which use this scheme: Section 4 of
this document
Interoperability considerations: None. (Section 2 of this
document contains the first version of "srb" URI definition.)
Security considerations: Section 6 of this document
Relevant publications: Rajasekar, A., Wan, M., Moore, R.,
Schroeder, W., Kremenek, G., Jagatheesan, A., Cowart, C., Zhu, B.
Chen, S., & Olschanowsky R., (2003). Storage Resource Broker -
Managing Distributed Data in a Grid. Journal of the CSI, 33(4),
42-54.
Contact: Lucas Ammon Gilbert, iktome@sdsc.edu
8. Informative References
[1] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R. and H. Frystyk, "Hypertext
Transfer Protocol -- HTTP/1.0", RFC 1945, May 1996.
[2] Crocker, D., Editor, and P. Overell "Augmented BNF for Syntax
Specifications: ABNF", RFC 2234, November 1997.
[3] Hinden, R., Carpenter, B. and L. Masinter, "Format for Literal
IPv6 Addresses in URL's", RFC 2732, December 1999.
[4] Berners-Lee, T., Fielding, R. and L. Masinter, "Uniform Resource
Identifiers (URI): Generic Syntax", RFC 2396, August 1998.
[4] ISO/IEC 10646-1:1993, Information technology "Universal
Multiple-Octet Coded Character Set (USC)" Part 1: Architecture
and Basic Multilingual Plane.
[5] Yergeau, F., "UTF-8, a transformation format of ISO 10646", RFC
2279, January 1998.
[6] Levin, O., "H.323 Uniform Resource Locator (URL) Scheme
Registration", RFC 3508, April 2003.
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Author's Address
Lucas Ammon Gilbert
University of California, San Diego
San Diego Supercomputer Center
9500 Gilman Drive, MC 0505
La Jolla, CA 92093-0505
Phone: +1-858-822-3608
EMail: iktome@sdsc.edu
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