RFC 1498 (rfc1498) - Page 2 of 10
On the Naming and Binding of Network Destinations
Alternative Format: Original Text Document
RFC 1498 On the Naming and Binding of Network Destinations August 1993
objects and the most common form for their names. It also stems from
trying to discuss the issues with too few well-defined concepts at
hand. This paper tries a different approach to develop insight, by
applying a perspective that has proven helpful in the corresponding
area of computer operating systems.
Operating systems have a similar potential for confusion concerning
names and addresses, since there are file names, unique identifiers,
virtual and real memory addresses, page numbers, block numbers, I/O
channel addresses, disk track addresses, a seemingly endless list.
But most of that potential has long been rendered harmless by
recognizing that the concept of binding provides a systematic way to
think about naming [2]. (Shoch pointed out this opportunity to
exploit the operating system concept; in this paper we make it the
central theme.) In operating systems, it was apparent very early that
there were too many different kinds of identifiers and therefore one
does not get much insight by trying to make a distinction just
between names and addresses. It is more profitable instead to look
upon all identifiers as examples of a single phenomenon, and ask
instead "where is the context in which a binding for this name (or
address, or indentifier, or whatever) will be found?", and "to what
object, identified by what kind of name, is it therein bound?" This
same approach is equally workable in data communications networks.
To start with, let us review Shoch's suggested terminology in its
broadest form:
- a name identifies what you want,
- an address identifies where it is, and
- an route identifies a way to get there.
There will be no need to tamper with these definitions, but it will
be seen that they will leave a lot of room for interpretation.
Shoch's suggestion implies that there are three abstract concepts
that together provide an intellectual cover for discussion. In this
paper, we propose that a more mechanical view may lead to an easier-
to-think-with set of concepts. This more mechanical view starts by
listing the kinds of things one finds in a communication network.
Types of Network Destinations, and Bindings Among Them
In a data communication network, when thinking about how to describe
the destination of a packet, there are several types of things for
which there are more than one instance, so one attaches names to them
to distinguish one instance from another. Of these several types,
four turn up quite often:
Saltzer