Registries and Registrars

Dr Bruce Tonkin

Chief Technology Officer

Melbourne IT Ltd

3 March 03

Outline

• Overview of domain name structure related to .com.au

• Approaches for trialling Enum

Melbourne IT

• Provided .com.au services since 1996

• Appointed as one of first 5 registrars for .com in 1999

• Currently provide domain name registration services for most of the major domain name registries in the world

.com.au

• Find information about an Australian business on the Internet

• In simple terms translates a business name to an Internet location

• Opt-in approach – although could have created an entry for all companies listed in ASIC or business names in state based business name registries

.com.au DNS structure

• .au nameserver has an entry that tells you where to find the .com.au nameserver (which itself is a domain name that needs to be resolved)

• .com.au nameserver has an entry for melbourneit.com.au that tells you the identity of the computer that can tell you more (ns1.melbourneit.com.au)

• ns1.melbourneit.com.au nameserver contains the actual details of melbourneit.com.au (ie it can be found at IP address 203.27.227.111)

Registry operator

• There is a registry operator for .com.au• It maintains a database of the entries in .com.au

and also details about the registrar responsible for the entry and the contact details for the registrant

• Provides a DNS nameserver service for .com.au (used by computers)

• Provides a WHOIS directory to identify the registrant for each entry in the database (used by humans)

• Provide a high reliability service (99.9 – 99.99%)

Registrar

• Creates, deletes, modifies entries in the registry

• Carries out authentication of registrants

• Carries out policy checks

• Domains are fully portable between registrars – via transfer procedures

Reseller/Service Providers

• Some registrants interact directly with a registrar• Many other registrants use a service provider (e.g

web hosting, email services) to act as their agent• The service provider often manages the

nameserver (e.g ns1.telstra.net) that contains the information about the domain name to finally reach the intended destination

• Most common services are web sites and email

Possible ENUM approaches

• Start with a single registry provider at 1.6.e164.arpa• Appoint registrars that interact with registry provider• Allow registrants to directly create an enum entry (may

need a separate allocation of E164 number range) – provides independence from service providers

• Allow service providers to operate a nameserver for the E164 numbers under their management, and allow their customers to opt-in to that service provider

Trials

• Direct registrants can have complete control over the URIs associated with a E164 number

• Service providers may implement a limited set of URI types on the nameservers that they manage (e.g to support IP telephony only)

DNS principles

• Provide basic DNS service and allow market to evolve

• Opt-in

• Allow users direct control if desired

• Use DNS hierarchy to create separate policy areas (e.g .com.au compared to .id.au, or .com)

Conclusion

• There are working models for domain names that can be used as a starting point for ENUM

• Allow a range of trials that may involve different policy environments

• Let users opt-in (although service providers may choose to automatically add certain number ranges for IP telephony purposes only)