RFC 3651 (rfc3651) - Page 1 of 41
Handle System Namespace and Service Definition
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
Network Working Group S. Sun
Request for Comments: 3651 S. Reilly
Category: Informational L. Lannom
CNRI
November 2003
Handle System Namespace and Service Definition
Status of this Memo
This memo provides information for the Internet community. It does
not specify an Internet standard of any kind. Distribution of this
memo is unlimited.
Copyright Notice
Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2003). All Rights Reserved.
IESG Note
Several groups within the IETF and IRTF have discussed the Handle
System and it relationship to existing systems of identifiers. The
IESG wishes to point out that these discussions have not resulted in
IETF consensus on the described Handle System nor on how it might fit
into the IETF architecture for identifiers. Though there has been
discussion of handles as a form of URI, specifically as a URN, these
documents describe an alternate view of how namespaces and
identifiers might work on the Internet and include characterizations
of existing systems which may not match the IETF consensus view.
Abstract
The Handle System is a general-purpose global name service that
allows secured name resolution and administration over the public
Internet. This document provides a detailed description of the
Handle System namespace, and its data, service, and operation models.
The namespace definition specifies the handle syntax and its semantic
structure. The data model defines the data structures used by the
Handle System protocol and any pre-defined data types for carrying
out the handle service. The service model provides definitions of
various Handle System components and explains how they work together
over the network. Finally, the Handle System operation model
describes its service operation in terms of messages transmitted
between client and server, and the client authentication process
based on the Handle System authentication protocol.
Sun, et al. Informational