DNS Server MIB Extensions
RFC 1611

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Network Working Group                                         R. Austein
Request for Comments: 1611               Epilogue Technology Corporation
Category: Standards Track                                     J. Saperia
                                           Digital Equipment Corporation
                                                                May 1994

                       DNS Server MIB Extensions

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for the
   Internet community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Please refer to the current edition of the "Internet
   Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for the standardization state
   and status of this protocol.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Table of Contents

   1. Introduction ..............................................    1
   2. The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework ...................    2
   2.1 Object Definitions .......................................    2
   3. Overview ..................................................    2
   3.1 Resolvers ................................................    3
   3.2 Name Servers .............................................    3
   3.3 Selected Objects .........................................    4
   3.4 Textual Conventions ......................................    4
   4. Definitions ...............................................    5
   5. Acknowledgements ..........................................   28
   6. References ................................................   28
   7. Security Considerations ...................................   29
   8. Authors' Addresses ........................................   30

1.  Introduction

   This memo defines a portion of the Management Information Base (MIB)
   for use with network management protocols in the Internet community.
   In particular, it describes a set of extensions which instrument DNS
   name server functions.  This memo was produced by the DNS working
   group.

   With the adoption of the Internet-standard Network Management
   Framework [4,5,6,7], and with a large number of vendor
   implementations of these standards in commercially available
   products, it became possible to provide a higher level of effective
   network management in TCP/IP-based internets than was previously
   available.  With the growth in the use of these standards, it has
   become possible to consider the management of other elements of the
   infrastructure beyond the basic TCP/IP protocols.  A key element of

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RFC 1611               DNS Server MIB Extensions                May 1994

   the TCP/IP infrastructure is the DNS.

   Up to this point there has been no mechanism to integrate the
   management of the DNS with SNMP-based managers.  This memo provides
   the mechanisms by which IP-based management stations can effectively
   manage DNS name server software in an integrated fashion.

   We have defined DNS MIB objects to be used in conjunction with the
   Internet MIB to allow access to and control of DNS name server
   software via SNMP by the Internet community.

2.  The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework

   The SNMPv2 Network Management Framework consists of four major
   components.  They are:

      o  RFC 1442 which defines the SMI, the mechanisms used for
         describing and naming objects for the purpose of management.

      o  STD 17, RFC 1213 defines MIB-II, the core set of managed objects
         for the Internet suite of protocols.

      o  RFC 1445 which defines the administrative and other architectural
         aspects of the framework.

      o  RFC 1448 which defines the protocol used for network access to
         managed objects.

      The Framework permits new objects to be defined for the purpose of
      experimentation and evaluation.

2.1.  Object Definitions

   Managed objects are accessed via a virtual information store, termed
   the Management Information Base or MIB.  Objects in the MIB are
   defined using the subset of Abstract Syntax Notation One (ASN.1)
   defined in the SMI.  In particular, each object object type is named
   by an OBJECT IDENTIFIER, an administratively assigned name.  The
   object type together with an object instance serves to uniquely
   identify a specific instantiation of the object.  For human
   convenience, we often use a textual string, termed the descriptor, to
   refer to the object type.

3.  Overview

   In theory, the DNS world is pretty simple.  There are two kinds of
   entities: resolvers and name servers.  Resolvers ask questions.  Name
   servers answer them.  The real world, however, is not so simple.

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RFC 1611               DNS Server MIB Extensions                May 1994

   Implementors have made widely differing choices about how to divide