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+Netork Working Group                                     L. Peter Deutsch
+Request For Comments: 606                                       PARC-MAXC
+                                                            December 1973
+
+                       Host Names On-line
+
+Now that we finally have an official list of host names, it seems
+about time to put an end to the absurd situation where each site
+on the network must maintain a different, generally out-of-date,
+host list for the use of its own operating system or user
+programs.
+
+For example, each of the TENEX sites to which I have access
+( SRI-ARC, BBN-TENEX, USC-ISI, and PARC-MAXC) has a slightly
+different mapping between host names and host addresses: none
+is complete, and I believe each one differs in some way from
+the official List.
+
+Since the NIC has responsibility for maintaining the official
+list, lt seems appropriate for them to maintain an on-line file,
+accessible to anyone, which Lists names and host addresses ( and
+certain other information which I will suggest in a moment) in an
+easily machine-readable form.
+
+This rules out, in my opinion, providing this information only
+in the form of an NLS structured file, since there are no
+facilities for accessing such files from the network and since
+many sites would not want to accommodate themselves to this
+structure even if there were.
+
+The file I have in mind would be devoted principally to that
+information needed by programs, as opposed to people, since the	;
+former want their information in compact, easily parsed form,
+whereas the latter appreciate more verbose expression and more
+sophisticated facilities for browsing or querying. Therefore, I
+propose that the following information be included in such a file:
+
+Of course, the official name and host address for each host.
+This would be the primary content of each entry.
+
+Some information about the options of the various protocols
+supported by the host, including ( for FTP ) the preferred byte
+size and ( for TELNET) the preferred duplex mode. The former
+can have an enormous effect on the efficiency of file
+transfers. Since the new TELNET allows negotiation of options,
+the list need not be complete or accurate.
+
+The function o f the host vis-a-vis the network ( user, server,
+TIP, etc.). This may aid NCPs in deciding whether to poll the
+host or give useful information for statistical purposes ( e.g.
+I would like to make my NCP collect statistics on traffic with
+TIPs vs. other hosts).
+Since the file will be generated centrally by a single program,
+but used widely by a variety of programs, it follows that its
+format should be organized for ease of interrogation at the
+expense of ease of construction. I feel a reasonable way to
+achieve this is to store it as an ASCII text file with the logical
+structure of a "property list".
+                                   -1-
+
+In other words, aside from the two basic facts in each entry
+( name and address), the information will be expressed in the
+form of <attribute, value> pairs rather than having the
+attribute be recognized by format, position, etc.
+
+l don't believe it matters a great deal exactly how this file is
+formatted, so I will make a suggestion in the hope that no one
+cares enough to protest it. ( This has never worked before in the
+history of the network, but it' s still worth a try ) The
+following is the proposed syntax of the file.
+
+<host-name-file> ::= <entry> | <host-name-file> <entry>
+
+<entry> ::= <data-part> <end-of-line>
+
+Note that this produces a blank line after the <data-part>.
+<data-part> ::= <basic-part> | <data-part> <attribute-item>
+<basic-part> ::= <host-name> , <host-address> <end-of-line>
+<attribute-item> ::= <attribute-name> = <attribute-value>
+<end-of-line>
+This leaves the following terms undefined:
+<end-of-line>: I don't know what end-of-line indication is in
+favor in the network community these days. I personally favor
+carriage-return followed by line-feed. TENEX tends to use the
+single character octal 37, which is totally non-standard and
+inappropriate for this application.
+
+<host-name>: an official host name as specified in the recent
+RFC 597 (NIC 20826) by NJN and JAKE. It is my understanding
+that these names are restricted to letters, digits, hyphens,
+and parentheses ( including the network name).
+
+<host-address>: a decimal host address, relative to its own
+network ( I would assume). There has been no general discussion
+of multi-network addressing -- although there is apparently an
+unpublicized Internetworking Protocol experiment in progress --
+and some other convention may be more desirable.
+<attribute-name>: an arbitrary name containing only letters,
+digits, and hyphens. We will have to agree on some names like
+BEST-FTP-BYTE-SIZE (?), but I am willing to let the NIC pick
+them.
+
+<attribute-value>: an arbitrary string not containing
+<end--of-line>, whose interpretation depends in general on the
+attribute. For example, there might be an attribute SERVERS
+whose value was a list of the servers customarily run by the
+site.
+
+The following are some specific attributes that I think would be
+worthwhile:
+
+NICKNAMES -- value is a list of acceptable nicknames for the
+host. Any system that provides name-to-address translation is
+encouraged ( although of course not required) to accept these
+names as alternatives to the official host name.
+
+                                     -2-
+
+FTP-BYTE-SIZES -- value is a list of the byte sizes supported
+by the FTP server. The first byte size is the one which leads
+to the least computational overhead ( e.g. 36 for PDP-1O's, 32
+for 36O's).
+
+ECHOING -- value is L or R depending on whether the host
+expects the terminal to echo ( Remote) or expects to do its own
+echoing (Local).
+
+Note that no attribute is actually required and that the values
+under a given attribute need not be complete. In other words,
+this list is meant not to replace option negotiation,
+word-of-mouth, or any other means bo which one host discovers
+the properties of another, but merely to provide an alternate
+source of information which can be accessed in a simple and
+uniform way.
+
+I realize that there is a time-honored pitfall associated with
+suggestions such as the present one: it represents a specific
+solution to a specific problem, and as such may not be compatible
+with or form a reasonable basis for more general solutions to more
+general problems. However, ( 1) this particular problem has been
+irking me and others I have spoken to for well over a year, and it
+is really absurd that it should have gone unsolved this Long; (2)
+no one seems particularly interested in solving any more general
+problem.
+
+Except the Datacomputer: PLEASE, if there is an easy way to
+accomplish the same function through the Datacomputer, someone
+write un RFC specifying it.
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+                                       -3-
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