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Re: CID sizes

2004-06-08 09:00:08

At 11:31 -0700 6/3/04, Greg Connor wrote:
Issues about "correctness of design" are sort of lost on me... I have a very
practical/pragmatic focus.  Perhaps you could spend some time to rephrase the
objections you have in terms of what exactly will break, in what ways, and
what will be the side effects of that?  Then people who actually own and
operate the servers could make an informed decision...

To my mind, whether DNS is capable of doing something is easier to measure
than whether DNS is intended for, or designed for, a given task.  As a purely
pragmatic approach, I want to know in a cost/benefit context, what are the
costs vs. benefits of a. modifying DNS servers to serve the data we need (if
indeed they are not "capable" of it today) compared with b. designing and
implementing a new service that serves the data we need.

The reasons some are arguing from a architectural point of view are two fold. Solutions that fit with the existing infrastructure last longer. The other reason is that any single proposed extension when viewed alone may look good, but looking across the array of proposed extensions one has a different perspective.

This is all rather philosophical, I mention it only to illustrate the motivations of some participants.

There are historical cases of systems, repeatedly adapted to the problem de jure, ultimately needing an extensive overhaul. The Berkeley OS is one example, circa 1990, although a big reason for the rewrite was also to remove UNIX from the core of the OS. (UNIX is trademarked code, BSD 4.4 and Linux have none of that.) BIND version 4 to 8 to 9 also reflects the need to through architectural concerns back into the mix.

If the MARID solution is meant to be just a stop gap measure, the need to think long term isn't there and I'd agree that architectural issues are less important. If that's the case, the documentation of MARID ought to make that a clear assumption and given an idea of a termination date for the measure.

OTOH, if MARID is to stick around a while, it had better be situated to work with the DNS of today and of tomorrow.

...This is sent only to give the motivation of those arguing from an architectural stand point...
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Edward Lewis                                            +1-703-227-9854
ARIN Research Engineer

Even the voices inside my head are refusing to talk to me anymore.


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