RFC 1032 (rfc1032) - Page 2 of 14


Domain administrators guide



Alternative Format: Original Text Document



RFC 1032              DOMAIN ADMINISTRATORS GUIDE          November 1987


   his domain satisfies all the requirements of the administration under
   which his domain would be situated.  To find out who has authority
   over the name space he wishes to join, the DA can ask the NIC
   Hostmaster.  Information on contacts for the top-level and second-
   level domains can also be found on line in the file NETINFO:DOMAIN-
   CONTACTS.TXT, which is available from the NIC via anonymous FTP.

   The DA should be technically competent; he should understand the
   concepts and procedures for operating a domain server, as described
   in RFC-1034, and make sure that the service provided is reliable and
   uninterrupted.  It is his responsibility or that of his delegate to
   ensure that the data will be current at all times.  As a manager, the
   DA must be able to handle complaints about service provided by his
   domain name server.  He must be aware of the behavior of the hosts in
   his domain, and take prompt action on reports of problems, such as
   protocol violations or other serious misbehavior.  The administrator
   of a domain must be a responsible person who has the authority to
   either enforce these actions himself or delegate them to someone
   else.

   Name assignments within a domain are controlled by the DA, who should
   verify that names are unique within his domain and that they conform
   to standard naming conventions.  He furnishes access to names and
   name-related information to users both inside and outside his domain.
   He should work closely with the personnel he has designated as the
   "technical and zone" contacts for his domain, for many administrative
   decisions will be made on the basis of input from these people.

THE DOMAIN TECHNICAL AND ZONE CONTACT

   A zone consists of those contiguous parts of the domain tree for
   which a domain server has complete information and over which it has
   authority.  A domain server may be authoratative for more than one
   zone.  The domain technical/zone contact is the person who tends to
   the technical aspects of maintaining the domain's name server and
   resolver software, and database files.  He keeps the name server
   running, and interacts with technical people in other domains and
   zones to solve problems that affect his zone.

POLICIES

   Domain or host name choices and the allocation of domain name space
   are considered to be local matters.  In the event of conflicts, it is
   the policy of the NIC not to get involved in local disputes or in the
   local decision-making process.  The NIC will not act as referee in
   disputes over such matters as who has the "right" to register a
   particular top-level or second-level domain for an organization.  The
   NIC considers this a private local matter that must be settled among



Stahl