Requirements for Management of Name Servers for the DNS
RFC 6168

Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)                       W. Hardaker
Request for Comments: 6168                                  Sparta, Inc.
Category: Informational                                         May 2011
ISSN: 2070-1721

        Requirements for Management of Name Servers for the DNS

Abstract

   Management of name servers for the Domain Name System (DNS) has
   traditionally been done using vendor-specific monitoring,
   configuration, and control methods.  Although some service monitoring
   platforms can test the functionality of the DNS itself, there is not
   an interoperable way to manage (monitor, control, and configure) the
   internal aspects of a name server itself.

   This document discusses the requirements of a management system for
   name servers and can be used as a shopping list of needed features
   for such a system.

Status of This Memo

   This document is not an Internet Standards Track specification; it is
   published for informational purposes.

   This document is a product of the Internet Engineering Task Force
   (IETF).  It represents the consensus of the IETF community.  It has
   received public review and has been approved for publication by the
   Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG).  Not all documents
   approved by the IESG are a candidate for any level of Internet
   Standard; see Section 2 of RFC 5741.

   Information about the current status of this document, any errata,
   and how to provide feedback on it may be obtained at
   http://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc6168.

Hardaker                      Informational                     [Page 1]
RFC 6168           Name Server Management Requirements          May 2011

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   than English.

Hardaker                      Informational                     [Page 2]
RFC 6168           Name Server Management Requirements          May 2011

Table of Contents

   1.  Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.1.  Requirements Notation  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  4
     1.2.  Terminology  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     1.3.  Document Layout and Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
   2.  Management Architecture Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
     2.1.  Expected Deployment Scenarios  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  5
       2.1.1.  Zone Size Constraints  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.2.  Name Server Discovery  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.3.  Configuration Data Volatility  . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.4.  Protocol Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.5.  Common Data Model  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  6
       2.1.6.  Operational Impact . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     2.2.  Name Server Types  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
   3.  Management Operation Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  7
     3.1.  Control Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.1.1.  Needed Control Operations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  8
       3.1.2.  Asynchronous Status Notifications  . . . . . . . . . .  8
     3.2.  Configuration Requirements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       3.2.1.  Served Zone Modification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       3.2.2.  Trust Anchor Management  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9
       3.2.3.  Security Expectations  . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .  9