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January 1993

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FYI: US NIC changes or non-changes
by Daniel Karrenberg 05 Jan '93

05 Jan '93

The NCC will get in touch with the appropriate people a.s.a.p. to ensure smooth interoperation. Daniel ------- Forwarded Message Date: Tue, 5 Jan 1993 07:08:05 -0800 (PST) From: Susan Estrada <estradas(a)nic.cerf.net> To: com-priv(a)psi.com cc: Eric Grimmelmann <egrimmelmann(a)attmail.com>, mitchel(a)nic.cerf.net, Scott Williamson <scottw(a)nic.ddn.mil>, Susan Estrada <estradas(a)nic.cerf.net> Subject: NIS Manager Award Announced For Immediate Release January 5, 1993 National Science Foundation Contact Don Mitchell (202) 357-9717 dmitchel(a)nsf.gov Network Solutions Contact Mary Bloch (703) 742-4740 maryb(a)netsol.com AT&T Contact Shelly London (908) 221-4355 london(a)attmail.com General Atomics Contact Susan Calcari (619) 455-3900 calcaris(a)cerf.net NSF NETWORK INFORMATION SERVICES AWARDS In cooperation with the Internet community, the National Science Foundation developed and released, in the spring of 1992, Project Solicitation NSF92-24 for one or more Network Information Services Managers (NIS Manager(s)) to provide and/or coordinate (i) Registration Services, (ii) Directory and Database Services, and (iii) Information Services for the NSFNET. As a result of this solicitation, three separate organizations were competitively selected to receive cooperative agreements totalling over $12 million in the three areas of (i) Registration Services, (ii) Directory and Database Services, and (iii) Information Services. Together, these three awards constitute the NIS Manager(s) Project, named the INTERNIC. Network Solutions will provide registration services, AT&T will provide directory and database services, and General Atomics will provide information services. It is important that the three project participants work closely together to provide a seamless interface for users in need of services. For this reason, the three awardees, at the request of the Foundation, have developed a detailed concept and plan to provide this seamless interface called the "INTERNIC" and have agreed to the structuring of their three separate awards as one collaborative project. Steve Wolff, Director of NSF's Division of Networking and Communications Research and Infrastructure says, "We all feel intuitively that the domestic Internet and the distributed collaboration that it facilitates are rapidly creating a national "workplace without walls". These three awards to geographically dispersed organizations for Network Information Services, which require a high degree of coordination and collaboration, will both exploit and demonstrate the success of the network in enabling such distributed collaboration." Consistent with FNC guidelines on obtaining reasonable cost recovery from users of NREN networks, the NSF has determined that the INTERNIC Information Services provider may charge users beyond the U.S. research and education community for any services provided. Also, the INTERNIC Directory and Database Services provider may charge a fee for maintenance of special databases, for extensive directory listings and may charge users beyond the U.S. research and education community. Finally, because the registration function provided by the INTERNIC Registration Services applies to domestic and international, commercial and individual users in addition to research and educational users, it is expected that an appropriate registration fee structure will take time to develop. NSF expects to engage in an extensive discussion with the domestic and international Internet community of the motivation, strategy and tactics of imposing fees for these services during the next fifteen months. Decisions will be implemented only after they have been announced in advance and an opportunity given for additional public comment. Network Solutions will provide registration services as the IP registrar, issue IP numbers worldwide using delegated registries under the guidance of the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority and also register domain names, and track points of contact. Applications for assignment will be accepted via email or facsimile. The information from these assignments will be provided to the directory and database services provider to be made available to the entire Internet community. As a part of the Domain registration efforts Network Solutions will periodically release the top level zone files to be used by all root Domain Name servers. AT&T will develop and maintain a Directory of Directories, including lists of FTP (File Transfer Protocol) sites, lists of various types of servers available on the Internet, lists of white and yellow page directories, library catalogs and data archives. AT&T will also provide white and yellow pages type Directory Services. Access to these services will initially be provided through several currently popular in-use interface methods while migrating to the use of X.500 technology, the current standard specification for distributed information storage and retrieval. The database services which AT&T will provide include the establishment of Database Services to extend and supplement the resources of the NSFNET, such as databases of contributed materials of common interest to the user community. AT&T will also offer database design, management, and maintenance to institutions and groups for inclusion in the Internet. General Atomics will provide Information Services acting as the NIC of first and last resort and the NIC of NICs. The INTERNIC information services will include a full-service Reference Desk, a database of comprehensive networking materials called the Info Source, training classes and documentation, and coordination services among all appropriate groups in the community. In keeping with the innovative spirit of the Internet, several new approaches to distributing services will be implemented. Among these innovations is NICLink, a user-friendly hypermedia interface offering access to the Info Source and all the information it contains. NICLink will be distributed on both standard computer diskettes and CD-ROM. Another is the concept of the Info Scout, an individual who will scout out new resources and innovative uses of the network for inclusion in the Info Source. Network Solutions is a 400-person telecommunications analysis and integration company headquartered in Northern Virginia. Its mission is to support its customers in achieving their missions through the mastery and application of networking technology. Network Solutions currently operates the DDN NIC. AT&T is the leading provider of global information movement and management products and services. AT&T offers a wide array of data communications services that includes private line, X.25, frame relay, TCP/IP, protocol conversion, and electronic mail services. General Atomics is a San Diego-based high-technology research and development company and operates CERFnet and the San Diego Supercomputer Center. CERFnet is an Internet network service provider that operates throughout the state of California and nationally. CERFnet was launched in the spring of 1989 with a $2.8 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The San Diego Supercomputer Center is a five year cooperative agreement funded by the National Science Foundation to support high performance computing. ### ------- End of Forwarded Message

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