RFC 2240 (rfc2240) - Page 2 of 7
A Legal Basis for Domain Name Allocation
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 2240 Domain Name Allocation November 1997
this document are intended as standards for the Internet. Rather, it
is hoped that a general consensus will emerge as to the appropriate
solution to such problems, leading eventually to the adoption of
standards.
2. Overview of the domain space
Presently the domain space is organised as a heirarchical tree-
structured namespace with several top level domains (TLDs), and sub-
domains beneath them. The initial TLDs allocated and rationale are
documented in [1].
The TLDs are functionally split up into 'generic' top-level domains
(gTLDs) and two-letter ISO 3166 country domains for every country in
which Internet connectivity is provided. The allocation of sub-
domains under these TLDs is entirely up to the registry for that TLD.
The registry may decide to allocate further levels of structure or
merely allocate domains in a 'flat' manner.
Example:
+-----+ +----+ +----+
| COM | | UK | | FR |
+-----+ +----+ +----+
| | | | |
+---------+ +----+ +----+ +--------------+ +-----+
| VAUGHAN | | AC | | CO | | UNIV-AVIGNON | | AXA |
+---------+ +----+ +----+ +--------------+ +-----+
| | | | |
+------+ +---------+ +----------+ +-----+ +------+
| UNIX | | NEWPORT | | CITYDESK | | SOL | | MAIL |
+------+ +---------+ +----------+ +-----+ +------+
| |
+----+ +-----+
| NS | | FTP |
+----+ +-----+
1. Flat gTLD 2. Heirarchical country 3. Flat country
In the example we see that the gTLDs are inherently flat, as
organisations are allocated domain names directly under the TLD.
With the country domains however, the domain allocation policy can
vary widely from country to country, and it does. Some may choose to
implement a functional sub-structure mirroring the gTLDs, some may
choose to implement a geographical sub-structure, and some may choose
to have no sub-structure at all.
Vaughan Informational
