NIC user directories at SRI ARC
Warning about deletion of NIC user directories during the move to OFFICE-1
Kudlick, M.D., "NIC user directories at SRI ARC", RFC 621, DOI 10.17487/RFC0621, March 1974, <https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc621>.
@misc{rfc621,
series = {Request for Comments},
number = 621,
howpublished = {RFC 621},
publisher = {RFC Editor},
doi = {10.17487/RFC0621},
url = {https://www.rfc-editor.org/info/rfc621},
author = {M.D. Kudlick},
title = {{NIC user directories at SRI ARC}},
pagetotal = 1,
year = 1974,
month = mar,
} RFC text
Network Working Group Michael D. Kudlick
RFC # 621 SRI-ARC
NIC # 21994 March 6, 1974
NIC USER DIRECTORIES AT SRI-ARC
On Friday evening 8-Mar-74, we will delete all those directories at
SRI-ARC that belonged to NIC users who were transferred to OFFICE-1.
Simultaneous1y, there is to be a change at each Network Host such that
the Hostname "NIC" will refer to OFFICE-1 (Host 53 octal), not to SRI-
ARC. (See RFC# 620, NIC# 21993)
The effect of these changes is that Network mail sent to NIC users in
the form
"nicusername@NIC"
will be delivered to OFFICE-1, as it should.
But if such mail is sent to
"nicusername@SRI-ARC"
it will not be accepted at SRI-ARC, because the NIC user's username will
be no longer be known there.
PLEASE NOTE THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO READ ANY NETWORK MAIL THAT
WAS DELIVERED TO YOU AT SRI-ARC PRIOR TO FRIDAY EVENING 8-MARCH. THIS
MAIL WILL BE DELETED AT THAT TIME.
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§1User Directory Cleanup
RFC 621 announces that NIC user directories at SRI-ARC would be deleted on Friday evening, March 8, 1974, as part of the NIC's relocation to OFFICE-1. Any users who had been transferred to the new facility needed to retrieve their files and email before this deadline.
This action was coordinated with the hostname changes described in RFC 620, ensuring that after the cutover, the NIC name would point to OFFICE-1 exclusively.
The old NIC computers would delete all the user folders when people moved to the new building.
§2Email Delivery Change
The timing of the directory deletion was critical for email delivery. After the change, network mail sent to a user at 'NIC' would go to OFFICE-1. However, mail sent to a user at 'SRI-ARC' after March 8 would fail to deliver, since that user's account no longer existed there.
Users had to ensure they received all pending network mail at SRI-ARC before the deletion, as nothing stored in the old system would be preserved.
After the move, mail sent to 'NIC' would reach you, but mail sent to 'SRI-ARC' would bounce because you weren't there anymore.
§3User Responsibility
RFC 621 emphasized that it was each user's responsibility to read and save any network mail delivered at SRI-ARC prior to the Friday evening deletion. This was a explicit acknowledgment that the cleanup was final and unrecoverable.
Everyone had to make sure they grabbed their email before it got thrown away forever.