October 1998 - db-wg - mailman.ripe.net

<auto-dbm@ripe.net> is slow this afternoon.
by RIPE Database Administration 17 May '18

17 May '18

Dear Colleagues, Because of a very high level of use this afternoon, the response time of <auto-dbm(a)ripe.net> is longer than normal. I have made contact with those who are responsible and I expect the situation to improve as the machine works through the queue. Please be patient. Obviously we at the RIPE NCC Database Group are continuously working to make the performance of the database as good as possible. However, we cannot make improvements in zero time. We thank you for your co-operation up to now and we ask for your continued co-operation so that everyone receives the best possible service. If you have anymore questions, please contact <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Regards, Ambrose Magee ____________________________ RIPE Database Administration.

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NIC handle writeup
by David Kessens 02 Dec '98

02 Dec '98

Hi, We discussed in depth the issue of NIC handles during the db-wg session of the Stockholm RIPE meeting. I promised to write a draft with a proposal. It's enclosed below for your review, David K. --- Internet Engineering Task Force David Kessens Draft ISI Expires March 1999 <draft-kessens-registryobject-identifiers.txt> Registry Object Identifiers Status of this Memo This document is an Internet-Draft. Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups. Note that other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-Drafts. Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months and may be updated, replaced, or obsoleted by other documents at any time. It is inappropriate to use Internet- Drafts as reference material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.'' To learn the current status of any Internet-Draft, please check the ``1id-abstracts.txt'' listing contained in the Internet- Drafts Shadow Directories on ftp.is.co.za (Africa), nic.nordu.net (Europe), munnari.oz.au (Pacific Rim), ds.internic.net (US East Coast), or ftp.isi.edu (US West Coast). Abstract NIC handles have existed for a long time while they were never properly defined. At the same time, many registries started with their own interpretation of a definition that didn't exist. This document attempts to describe a definition that mostly backwards compatible with the definitions that most registries currently use. Introduction For a long time, a need existed for a unique identifier to identify personal data in the regional registries. The NIC handle has been invented to address this issue. However, the concept of NIC handles has never been documented in any place and as a result, several registries use different definitions. This draft is an attempt to write up a definition that is compatible with the current definitions that most registries use and that allows other, possibly new registries, to design their own identifiers that Kessens [Page 1] Draft RIDE References August 1997 are guaranteed to be unique. In addition, this document generalizes the concept to allow registries to use these unique identifiers for other classes (like host objects) then the personal data classes. Concepts The identifier consists of two parts: - internal registry identifier The identifier is unique within the registry, but doesn't need to be unique on a global scale. This gives the registry maximum freedom to design their own identifiers for local use. In the past, one of the most difficult problems was the entropy in the the NIC handle name space. - global registry identifier This identifier makes the internal registry identifier unique on a global scale. A registry can be queried using the internal identifier or with a combination of internal and global identifier. The registry will add it's own identifier when the internal identifier is omitted. Definition InternalIdentifier[@GlobalIdentifier] The global identifier is the same as a domain which is in use by the registry. The internal identifier is an RPSL word [1]. Identifiers are not case sensitive. Discussion No central authority was ever present to allocate global identifiers. This caused name collisions. However, it's undesirable to have such an authority. Therefore, it is needed to get an identifier from some other already defined namespace. The domain name system provides us such an identifier with minimal cost. A convention for internal identifiers for use in conjunction with Kessens [Page 2] Draft RIDE References August 1997 personal data exists: InitialsOfPerson# It is recommended but not required to follow this convention. The '@' sign is choosen since it cannot be part of the internal identifier. In the past '-' was used which is causing ambiguities. It is not required that every registry is actually using the convention. A registry can mirror another registries data that doesn't participate in the scheme and assign a global identifier using a domain that is used by the other registry. Example example: KH1(a)ARIN.NET KH1 is local identifier ARIN.NET is global registry identifier (last part of domain name can possibly be omitted) Security considerations The model describes a dataformat which doesn't have security problems in itself. It doesn't make the system more or less secure. Acknowledgments The ideas presented in this document are a composition of ideas and thoughts of the author and many other people that have developed over the years. In particular, the people that were present at the RIPE database working group, IETF ride BOFs and their respective mail lists have had quite some influence on the final outcome of this draft. References [1] Cengiz Alaettinoglu e.a., RPSL, rfc2280.txt Author's Address: David Kessens, ISI Kessens [Page 3] Draft RIDE References August 1997 4676 Admiralty Way, Suite 1001 Marina del Rey, CA 90292-6695 USA davidk(a)ISI.EDU Kessens [Page 4]

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Re: Events of Tuesday, 27 October 1998.
by Havard.Eidnes＠runit.sintef.no 03 Nov '98

03 Nov '98

Dimitrios Kaloger wrote: > Dear Madam,/Sir > > Mistakes are not improbable, however I can not condone your > inadequate backup procedures. Its totally out of imagination that > you may have rouinned the RIPE database. You have to keep yourself > more dedicated to your work. This cannot stand as is. It is important to understand that the data in the RIPE database is maintained by the users of the database, and not by the RIPE NCC itself. As was already said by the RIPE database administrator: > We would like to stress that the RIPE NCC operates the RIPE Database, > however the responsibility for managing user data lies with the users. I suspect that the problem is that a backup cannot easily be used to restore the current "desired" state (minus the unfortunate update). The reason is that old NIC handles may have been recycled, i.e. reassigned to another object, and that object can subsequently have been referenced by an explicit use of that recycled NIC handle in an update. Sure, the subsequent updates could perhaps be doctored to remedy this, but that is perhaps not easily or quickly done, and would also mean "intervention in the data maintenance" by the RIPE NCC. I would thus tend to turn the argument above on its head and say that we collectively, the maintainers of the data in the RIPE database, have made inadequate use of the already available methods for protecting the data we maintain there from unauthorized updates or removals. Regards, - Håvard

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Events of Tuesday, 27 October 1998.
by RIPE Database Administration 02 Nov '98

02 Nov '98

Dear Colleagues, On Tuesday, 27 October 1998, a user of the RIPE Network Management Database accidentally deleted many [person] objects. The objects affected were either not maintained by a 'mntner' object or were maintained by a 'mntner' object with an authentication mechanism of NONE. The RIPE NCC has investigated this and learned that it was a genuine mistake by this user. When a person object is deleted, its nic-handle is available for re-use immediately. Therefore, you may find that a nic-handle now points to a different person or role object. We recommend that you check the consistency of your data i.e. see if the nic-handles in the admin-c, tech-c, and zone-c lines of your objects refer to the correct person or role objects. We understand that an attempt was made to re-create the deleted objects by the individual who originally deleted them. Please search for your person objects using both the name and the nic-handle. It is possible that your object has been re-created, but with a different nic-handle. If so, you must update your inetnum, route, mntner, etc. objects that refer to the previous nic-handles in the admin-c, tech-c, and zone-c lines. You should replace the old nic-handles with the new ones. To check whether a certain nic-handle is referenced anywhere, you can use the inverse look-up flag. For example, you can do: "whois -i admin-c,tech-c,zone-c <nic-handle>" to see if that nic-handle is referenced anywhere as admin-c, tech-c, or zone-c (e.g. as in domain objects). If one or more of your person and/or role objects have not been re-created, we suggest that you first try to re-create them using the original nic-handle. This way, you do not have to change any of the references that use this nic-handle. If the nic-handle has been re-used, you should try to create the person or role object with the AUTO-1 keyword. In this case, however, you will have to change the inetnum, domain, or other objects that reference this nic-handle to point to the new one. (Use the the "-i" flag mentioned above to find which objects reference the old nic-handle). The RIPE NCC shall, as a part of its service to the RIPE community, support users to restore their data to a consistent state. We estimate that this should take about one working day. Please note that it is the users responsibility to restore their own data. We would like to stress that the RIPE NCC operates the RIPE Database, however the responsibility for managing user data lies with the users. Mechanisms to protect data against unauthorised or unintentional modification exist for several years now. The RIPE NCC has always emphasized the importance of authentication mechanisms and has been recently working to introduce even stronger procedures. We encourage users to deploy these authentication mechanisms. Please read ripe-157, section 2.3 on how this works. If you have any problems with the RIPE Database, please send an email to <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Regards, The RIPE NCC Database Group.

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RE: Database performance - an update.
by Mike Norris 30 Oct '98

30 Oct '98

> I shall begin by saying that I wrote the two messages to > the local-ir, lir-wg and db-wg yesterday. I wrote them > for, and on behalf of, the RIPE NCC Database Group. I > realise that many of you are unhappy that these messages > had no personal signature. The responsibility for this > oversight is mine. In all previous postings to these lists, > I have signed my name. I shall continue to do this. Ambrose, you may not have put your name at the end of the mail, but we knew it was you anyway - your style is inimitable and your sense of humour unique. Keep up the good work and watch out for ghosts this weekend. Cheers. Mike Norris

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Database performance - an update.
by RIPE Database Administration 30 Oct '98

30 Oct '98

Dear Colleagues, I shall begin by saying that I wrote the two messages to the local-ir, lir-wg and db-wg yesterday. I wrote them for, and on behalf of, the RIPE NCC Database Group. I realise that many of you are unhappy that these messages had no personal signature. The responsibility for this oversight is mine. In all previous postings to these lists, I have signed my name. I shall continue to do this. You already know what happened on Tuesday, 27 October, last. Yesterday morning, we had no option but to do preventative maintenance of the database; this was not related to the activity of any user last Tuesday. However, nearly all updates were stopped until around 1630 MET. Unfortunately, there was a higher than usual number of updates sent to the database yesterday. These two facts had one result: a very long delay before your updates were processed. At this time there is still a long queue of unprocessed updates, but updates are being processed again. Obviously, a faster, more powerful machine would process updates quicker than the current machine. On Tuesday, the problem was that it was possible to delete objects referenced somewhere in the database before deleting all references to that object. Imposing such a constraint (referential integrity check) has been already been considered. Tuesday's incident was not a security problem - anyone with the correct authorization can still make a mistake. At the previous RIPE meeting in Edinburgh, we announced new software, including a referential integrity check, and new hardware, a Sun E450 machine. We intended to deploy both of these at the end of October or early November. We had bad luck that several unrelated problems occurred this week, just before the planned deployment of the new code and the new machine. Now, a status report. All your updates have been queued - there is no need to re-send them. We estimate that the situation should be back to normal tomorrow, if not sooner. We still plan to introduce the new software and hardware next week. We thank you all for your support in the past and we assure you of our continuing efforts to support you in your work. Your sincerely, Ambrose Magee -------------------------------------------------- for, and on behalf of, the RIPE NCC Database Group.

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Objects affected by events of 27/10/1998.
by RIPE Database Administration 30 Oct '98

30 Oct '98

Dear Colleagues, We keep detailed logfiles of all updates to the RIPE Database. We processed these files to produce lists of all objects affected by the incidents earlier this week. We have decided to make these files public, to support you when ensuring that your data is consistent. These files contain only the name and nic-handle of affected person objects. These files may be obtained by anonymous ftp from: ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/981027-incident.Delete ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/981027-incident.New ftp://ftp.ripe.net/ripe/dbase/981027-incident.Update There are also gzip'ed versions available, using the same filenames, with the .gz extension. If you have any questions, please contact <ripe-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Regards, Ambrose Magee ----------------------- RIPE NCC Database Group

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Big delays with <auto-dbm>.
by RIPE Database Administration 29 Oct '98

29 Oct '98

Dear Colleagues, Last night, there was a higher than usual number of messages to <auto-dbm(a)ripe.net>. Thus, there were some delays in processing these messages. This morning, we carried out some unrelated preventative maintenance and this has led to more delays. Your messages are being stored and will be processed as soon as possible. BTW, this maintenance was not linked to the recent actions of any user of the RIPE Database :-) If you have any questions, please contact <ripe-dbm>. It is either Murphy's Law, or Hallowe'en, or the Great Pumpkin, or whatever, that this happened this week. We thank you for your patience. Regards, --------------------------- The RIPE NCC Database Group.

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RE: Default behaviour for referred domain queries
by Mike Norris 06 Oct '98

06 Oct '98

In coincidence with your input, the db-wg also found that whenever the server shows data from a remote server instead of the local data in response to a query, the response should be preceded by a notice clearly informing the user that the information being displayed is coming from another server that contains the authoritative data. Right. It was also noted that the original proposal did not provide a way to look at the "local" object if it contained a refer attribute. In order to avoid potential confusion from a mode of operation where two objects are displayed, it would be better to provide a whois flag (-R was agreed) that would disable the referral and show the local object. Bear in mind that there could be multiple referrals involved i.e. the process is recursive. Suppose the query is for a third-level domain, that the second-level domain is referred from the RIPE DB to a TLD registry server, and that the target domain is referred onward from the TLD server to an ISP's whois server. Now what will the -R flag deliver - the local object in the RIPE DB? That'll give you the coordinates of the TLD server, which you again query with -R to get the ISP 'local' object. Regards. Mike

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Default behaviour for referred domain queries
by Niall O'Reilly 05 Oct '98

05 Oct '98

I'ld like to give input as requested on this topic. For the TLD people who may have missed the DB session, here is first a brief description of how the referral feature works. I don't know the details at this stage. When a request is received by the "central" server for a domain object marked (locally) for referral, the query is referred to the authoritative server and the data from the authoritative server is returned to the client. If the domain object requested is not found on the "central" server, the specified domain name is truncated (successively, if necessary ?) until a higher-level domain is found to be marked for referral, and the query is then referred to the authoritative server for that (higher-level) domain. The following suggestions seem to be almost agreed, but need to be written down. By default, the response returned to the client for a referred query should include the following elements: Alert that referral has been used Response from authoritative server I expect that the authoritative response will include a copyright and/or AUP banner from the authoritative server, but this is the responsibility of the authoritative registry, and not of the registry providing the referring server. I expect that a 'verbose mode' will provide a response including the following elements: Response from referring server as if no referral was used, including referring registry's standard (C)/AUP banner Alert that referral is spin effect for the domain in question Response from authoritative server Whichever of the modes described above is used, it should be possible to specify whether recursive lookup and display of related person/role (and in future, nameserver) objects is to be done. IHTH, Niall

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