Delegation of IP6.ARPA

Network Working Group                                            R. Bush
Request for Comments: 3152                                         RGnet
BCP: 49                                                      August 2001
Updates: 2874, 2772, 2766, 2553, 1886
Category: Best Current Practice


                         Delegation of IP6.ARPA

Status of this Memo

   This document specifies an Internet Best Current Practices for the
   Internet Community, and requests discussion and suggestions for
   improvements.  Distribution of this memo is unlimited.

Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All Rights Reserved.

Abstract

   This document discusses the need for delegation of the IP6.ARPA DNS
   zone, and specifies a plan for the technical operation thereof.

1. Why IP6.ARPA?

   In the IPv6 address space, there is a need for 'reverse mapping' of
   addresses to DNS names analogous to that provided by the IN-ADDR.ARPA
   zone for IPv4.

   The IAB recommended that the ARPA top level domain (the name is now
   considered an acronym for "Address and Routing Parameters Area") be
   used for technical infrastructure sub-domains when possible.  It is
   already in use for IPv4 reverse mapping and has been established as
   the location for E.164 numbering on the Internet [RFC2916 RFC3026].

   IETF consensus was reached that the IP6.ARPA domain be used for
   address to DNS name mapping for the IPv6 address space [RFC2874].

2. Obsoleted Usage

   This document deprecates references to IP6.INT in [RFC1886] section
   2.5, [RFC2553] section 6.2.3, [RFC2766] section 4.1, [RFC2772]
   section 7.1.c, and [RFC2874] section 2.5.

   In this context, 'deprecate' means that the old usage is not
   appropriate for new implementations, and IP6.INT will likely be
   phased out in an orderly fashion.

3. IANA Considerations

   This memo requests that the IANA delegate the IP6.ARPA domain
   following instructions to be provided by the IAB.  Names within this
   zone are to be further delegated to the regional IP registries in
   accordance with the delegation of IPv6 address space to those
   registries.  The names allocated should be hierarchic in accordance
   with the address space assignment.

4. Security Considerations

   While DNS spoofing of address to name mapping has been exploited in
   IPv4, delegation of the IP6.ARPA zone creates no new threats to the
   security of the internet.

5. References

   [RFC1886]   Thomson, S. and C. Huitema, "DNS Extensions to support IP
               version 6", RFC 1886, December 1995.

   [RFC2553]   Gilligan, R., Thomson, S., Bound, J. and W. Stevens,
               "Basic Socket Interface Extensions for IPv6", RFC 2553,
               March 1999.

   [RFC2766]   Tsirtsis, G. and P. Srisuresh, "Network Address
               Translation - Protocol Translation (NAT-PT)", RFC 2766,
               February 2000.

   [RFC2772]   Rockell, R. and R. Fink, "6Bone Backbone Routing
               Guidelines", RFC 2772, February 2000.

   [RFC2874]   Crawford, M. and C. Huitema, "DNS Extensions to Support
               IPv6 Address Aggregation and Renumbering", RFC 2874, July
               2001.

   [RFC2916]   Faltstrom, P., "E.164 number and DNS", RFC 2916,
               September 2000.

   [RFC3026]   Blane, R., "Liaison to IETF/ISOC on ENUM", RFC 3026,
               January 2001.

6. Author's Address

   Randy Bush
   5147 Crystal Springs
   Bainbridge Island, WA US-98110

   Phone: +1 206 780 0431
   EMail: randy@psg.com

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