__________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ ---------------------------------------------------------- February 1997 - Volume 2, Issue 2 - Table of Contents FEATURE ARTICLES: A Domain is Born: How Ideas Become Addresses at the InterNIC What it Means to be a Registry Digital ID's: Establishing Internet Trust Call It in the Air: Client-Side Scripting on the Web REGULAR ARTICLES: [Calendar of Events] What's in a Name? A Graphical Look at Registration Info End User's Corner - FTP or not FTP: That is the Question. The 15 Minute Series UPDATE - The latest modules, feedback, and FAQs on the 15 Minute Series Performance Measures: Stats for the most recent month EDITORIAL SECTIONS: User Feedback - Tell us what you'd like to see in the InterNIC News Letters to the Editor Meet the News Staff InterNIC News Awards and Recognition Using this material Other ways to receive the InterNIC News _________________________________________________________________ FROM THE EDITOR [Editor Icon] by Hope Glass, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ >From the Editor 24 X 7 TOLL FREE NUMBER COMING TO INTERNIC IN FEBRUARY! What does it take to be a successful registry? Listed among the many requirements detailed in this month's cover article by Robin Murphy is the statement, "A willingness to grow and change to meet unpredictable demand." In February, Network Solutions, Inc. and the InterNIC will introduce a new 24 x 7 toll-free number to meet the growth in demand for credit card payment services. This new service will provide an alternative method for quickly processing customer requests. Look for details on the InterNIC Web site later this month. This issue we are introducing our first article in a series that explores the domain name registration process. A Domain is Born: How Ideas become addresses at the InterNIC offers a step-by-step explanation of how to register a domain name with the InterNIC. Be sure to check periodically for our latest overview article. We think you will find these "cheat sheets" indispensable. Pete DeVries, Net Scout's Internet Tools Specialist, attended the MacWorld Conference and he reports in this month's End User's Corner that Apple is still alive and kicking! Their new Operating System, code named Rhapsody, is due out in the summer of 1997. Mac and PC Web Developers will be interested in our Web Technology article: Call It in the Air: Client-Side Scripting on the Web. Dan Rinzel, our Webmaster shows you how these new scripting languages are bending HTML in new directions. We always enjoy hearing from our readers. Write and let us know what you would like to read about in future issues of the InterNIC News. Warm regards, InterNIC News __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ ----------------------FEATURE ARTICLE--------------------- A DOMAIN IS BORN: HOW IDEAS BECOME ADDRESSES AT THE INTERNIC by Robin A. Murphy, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ So you've decided to jump on the bandwagon and establish an Internet presence. You know that one of the first steps is getting a domain name - but you don't have the first clue how to go about it. Or maybe you already are one of the almost one million individuals or organizations with a domain name - but you couldn't explain the process to save your life. Well, you are in luck. At the InterNIC, the global registrar for .com, .net, .org, .edu, and .gov, we maintain a wealth of documentation, available via both web [http://rs.internic.net/rs-internic.html] and ftp [ftp://rs.internic.net/], to help you with registering and maintaining your domain name. We also have developed a range of tools to simplify, streamline, and speed the task. And if needed, our help desk staff is available 15 hours a day to answer your questions and assist you at any point in the process. Nevertheless, whether you are approaching the InterNIC for the first time, or you feel as though the registration process is tattooed on your brain, it helps to get a feel for the "big picture." So, to help newcomers and old hands alike, we are offering a step-by-step overview of the registration process. We have also developed a flowchart to graphically depict domain name registration, available at http://rs.internic.net/domain-info/domflow.html. Click on the miniature flowchart at right to get an "at-a-glance" overview. We hope this review helps you make a name for yourself on the 'Net! How a domain becomes a domain: Step One - Preparation Proper preparation will save you headaches later and help prevent delays in the process. Due to the fact that the domain naming system requires unique addresses, no two domain names can be the same. So the first thing to do is to find out if the domain name you want is available. This is easy - simply search the InterNIC's Whois database to see if there is a match for the name you want. The Whois database contains records for all of the domains that have been registered with the InterNIC, as well as information on over 200,000 networks. You will find an easy-to-use web interface to the Whois database at http://rs.internic.net/cgi- bin/whois. If there is a match, the name that you want is already taken and you will have to come up with an alternative choice. If there is no match, then the name is available and you can register the domain name for yourself. The next thing you will need to do is contact your Internet Service Provider (ISP) and arrange for domain name service. What is domain name service? Well, the actual address of a computer on the Internet is a string of numbers - the IP (Internet Protocol) address - which can be hard to remember. Domain names offer us an alternative - an alphabetical, hierarchical, and much more logical system of Internet addresses. The problem, however, is that the network depends on the numerical address. So, in order to use domain names, we rely on machines called name servers, which "translate" domain names into their corresponding IP address. This process is called "resolution." Your ISP most likely maintains one or more name servers, and can provide you with this "names-to-numbers" translation - this is domain name service. In fact, many ISPs offer general assistance with domain name registration and some may even handle the entire registration process for you. You should consult with your provider to determine your options. Without domain name service, the InterNIC will not process your registration request, you will not be able to use your domain name, and other people will not be able to use your domain name to find you on the Internet. The last thing to do before you start the registration process is review the InterNIC's registration policies and billing procedures. These are important documents that will affect you throughout the life of your domain name. The InterNIC's policies address registrants' responsibilities concerning trademarks and can help to minimize legal disputes concerning your domain name in the future. A careful review of the billing procedures will help avoid problems with your domain name resulting from confusion over payment terms. You can take a look at our policy statements and payment procedures by visiting http://rs.internic. net/help/index.html Step Two - Fill out the registration template To register a domain name, you will need to fill out the domain name registration template. This form is used to gather the information needed to process your registration and add your domain to the Whois database. It is very important that you provide complete and accurate information when filling out the form. The information you provide is the information that is released into the domain name system. Also, inaccurate information can cause you problems later - for example, an incorrect or incomplete address can prevent you from receiving the bill for your domain name - and could result in your domain being deactivated or deleted. The template will ask you to supply information about yourself and/or your organization, as well as the names and addresses of three individuals who can be contacted concerning administrative, technical, and billing issues for the domain. The person you list as your administrative, technical or billing contact should be the person best able to answer questions about that aspect of the domain. For example, the technical contact should be able to answer questions about the name servers you are planning to use for your domain. You may, of course, list the same person for more than one contact role if that is appropriate (e.g. the same person as both administrative and billing contact). Your billing contact will be the person to whom we send the invoice for your domain name registration fees. You will have the option of indicating whether you would prefer to have the invoice delivered via electronic mail or postal mail to the billing contact. A note of caution: select your contacts carefully, as they are your agents and will represent you on matters related to your domain name. The template also asks you to list the IP addresses and domain names of the two name servers that you will be using to translate your domain name to your IP address. The InterNIC provides the template in several different formats. A plain text version of the template is available via the web or ftp. Those without web access, or with a preference for single page forms, can retrieve the text version, fill out the template, and send it to the InterNIC via electronic mail. For people who like foolproof forms, we have developed a web interface to the template that takes you through the template section-by-section. This web interface checks each section as you fill it out for errors or incomplete information, and notifies you of any problems before allowing you to proceed to the next section. Both the text and web versions of the template can be found in our template guide at http://rs.internic. net/help/templates.html. The registration template, once it is processed by the InterNIC, becomes your agreement (contract) with the InterNIC. We recommend that you read the document carefully. Now you are ready to put the wheels in motion and move on to... Step Three - Send the template to the InterNIC To start your request moving on the road to becoming a domain name, you need to send the template to the InterNIC. If you used the text version of the form, simply e-mail the completed template to hostmaster@internic.net. If you used the web interface, the information you entered will be used to complete the registration template. We will email you a copy of the completed template for verification. The web interface prompts you to tell us where to send the completed template; the e-mail address that you enter is where we will send the copy of the completed template - this may or may not be an address listed in the template. You will need to e-mail this template back to the InterNIC once you verify that all the information is correct. Again, the address is hostmaster@internic.net. Step Four - InterNIC sends you a tracking number Once the InterNIC receives your registration request, we assign it a "tracking number" and send you an acknowledgement. The acknowledgement is sent via e-mail to the address from which the template was received. The subject line of the e-mail will contain the tracking number assigned to your registration request. The tracking number has the following format: NIC-YYMMDD.#, where * YYMMDD represent the year, month, and date that the acknowledgement is sent, and * # is the unique number assigned to your particular request. You should immediately make a note of the tracking number - you will need it later! You can use this tracking number to check on the status of your registration request (and the status of your payments - more on that later). We have provided a simple, easy-to-use web interface to our tracking system that allows you to type in the tracking number and get an update on the progress of your request. You can check out the tracking system at: http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/finger. Also, you will need to include your tracking number on any correspondence you send the InterNIC, and you should have it ready if you call the InterNIC's help desk. Step Five - Your request enters the automated processing system The InterNIC processes as many as 85,000 requests for new domain names each month. To keep up with this demand and speed the process, we developed auto-registration tools that enable us to handle over 90% of these requests automatically, speedily, and securely. What happens to your template once the hostmaster receives your request? Your template is run through our auto-parser, which checks the template for errors. Because of the volume of requests we process, we have been able to identify the most common errors people make when filling out the template. We have compiled a list of these errors and assigned each a code [ftp://rs.internic. net/domain-parser-errors.txt]. If the auto-parser detects an error in your template, it will immediately check the list of common error codes to see if the error matches one of the codes. If there is a match, then the template is returned to you via e-mail, along with an explanation of the error that caused the problem. After you have made the necessary corrections, you will then need to resubmit your template to hostmaster@internic.net. Your original tracking number will continue to apply to your request. Remember the web interface to the template? We have taken these errors into account in its foolproof design, in an effort to help you quickly register your domain with a minimum amount of hassle. If an error is detected that does not match one of the common error codes, however, the template is placed in a queue to be reviewed by our processing staff. The staff will attempt to identify the problem. If the problem is immediately apparent and easily resolved, the InterNIC's processing staff will make the necessary corrections and process your request. If our staff are unable to resolve the problem, they will contact you and work with you to correct the problems and process your request. If you submitted a complete and correctly formatted template, your registration request will be processed immediately and you will be notified via e-mail when processing is complete. This generally takes less than 24 hours - with some requests turned around in as little as 10 minutes. Step Six - Your domain name enters Whois and the "zone" When your template has been successfully processed, the information you supplied will be used to create a record for your domain in InterNIC's Whois database. Also, information about your domain is placed in the "zone" files. What are zone files? Zone files actually represent a distributed database of information about domains. Each name server holds a portion of the database. A name server keeps information, or data files, about the domains that it resolves, and is able to "ask" other name servers about the domains they resolve. This exchange of information among name servers is what enables your domain name to be resolved to your IP address from anywhere on the Internet. A name server is considered to have "authority" over the portion of the database - or zone - that it maintains. The InterNIC has authority for the top level zones that contain information for the .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov domains. If you registered your domain name in the .com domain, for example, the InterNIC will release the information about your domain name into the COM zone files, which have authority for the .com domain. We release information into the zone files once a day, every day, five days a week. As you can see, once the information for your domain name has been added to the Whois database and released into the zone files, a portion of the information provided on your template becomes accessible to anyone on the Internet. Step Seven - InterNIC sends you an invoice Registering your domain in .com, .org, .net, .edu, or .gov costs $100 (US). This fee covers the cost of your initial registration and updates to your domain name's record for a period of two years. Updates will cover most of the changes you may need to make to your domain name record. For example, you can change your phone number, or the name of your billing contact if someone in your accounting department quit and someone else took over. There are some changes, however, that are not covered and actually require a new registration request. These include changing the name of the organization that registered the domain name, transferring the domain name to another party, and changes to the domain name itself. We will automatically send you an invoice for your domain name within seven days. It is up to you how you will receive your invoice; the template asks you to check either e-mail or postal mail. The invoice will include: * your name and address * the date payment is due * the amount due * the period covered by the payment * an invoice number * your domain name * the tracking number that was assigned to your registration request * brief information about paying by check, credit card, or account * a tear off stub to send in with your payment (if you are paying by check) * the address to send your check payment to (note there are two separate remittance addresses, one for e-mail invoices and one for postal invoices; the remittance address appearing on your invoice will depend on which one of these delivery methods you checked in your template) * a phone number and e-mail address you can use to contact our billing department if you have questions You should review this information carefully to make sure it is correct. _________________________________________________________________ Why charge a fee? The hardware, software, engineering talent, staff, infra- structure, and other resources needed to run a domain name registry cost money. Prior to the introduction of fees in September of 1995, the costs associated with managing the domain name registration process were paid by the Federal Government (i.e. subsidized by US taxpayers). The explosive growth of the Internet over the past several years quickly threatened to exceed the government's ability to underwrite domain name registration. The increasingly commercial nature of the Internet also raised questions concerning how appropriate it was to continue government funding of domain name registrations. The National Science Foundation recognized the potential of the Internet to become a mass medium and the need to transition domain name registration from a taxpayer supported activity to one supported by the industry and those using the service. This transfer of costs was always one of the open-ended goals of the National Science Foundation's cooperative agreement with Network Solutions, the company that runs the InterNIC's domain name registration activity. Mid-way through the five year cooperative agreement, an independent panel convened to review the performance of the awardees and recommended the introduction of fees for domain name registrations. These fees were implemented to provide the funds needed to operate and continue to expand the registry in the face of a demand that drove project costs beyond the funding provided by the National Science Foundation. _________________________________________________________________ Step Eight - You pay for your domain registration We offer a range of payment options: check, credit card, First Virtual's VirtualPIN(tm) method, and - for Internet Service Providers - debit accounts. You can pay for your domain with a check by simply making out the check to InterNIC Registration Services and sending it, along with the stub from your invoice, to the address listed on the invoice. There are a variety of ways to use your credit card to pay for your domain. We are implementing an interactive voice response system for our credit card customers. You will be able to simply call the 1-888 number anytime - 24 hours a day, seven days a week - and provide your credit card information to the system to pay for your domain registration fees. First Virtual logo If you are all for electronic commerce but a little nervous about sending your credit card number into cyberspace, you can opt for First Virtual's VirtualPIN(tm), which allows you to use the web to authorize charges to your credit card, but keeps your sensitive credit card information offline - between you, your bank, and First Virtual. Applications for the VirtualPIN(tm) can be found at our website - check out http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/fv/payment. Remember that tracking number? You will need it to use the VirtualPIN payment method. If you frequently register large numbers of domains with us, you may also set up an account with the InterNIC. More detailed information about invoicing procedures and payment options can be found at http://rs.internic. net/help/index.html What happens if you don't pay? Under normal conditions, if we have not received your payment by 12:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on the due date, we will send your administrative, technical, and billing contacts a 15 day "deactivation" notice via electronic mail. In addition, a 15 day deactivation notice will be physically generated and mailed via the U.S. Postal Service to the person you listed as the "registrant" (section three of the template) in your registration template. You have 15 days from the date of this notice to send your payment to the InterNIC. If we do not receive your payment by the deactivation date, we will deactivate your domain name - remove it from the DNS service. Under normal conditions, if your domain name is deactivated you may still have 60 days to send us your payment. We will apply your payment and your domain will be "reactivated." However, if we still have not received your payment by the 61st day following the deactivation date, your domain will be returned to the pool of available domain names, and you will be notified that your domain name has been released and is available for any other party to register. Use our web-based tracking system (and your tracking number!) to check on the status of your account. Again, the URL for the web interface is http://rs.internic.net/cgi- bin/finger. If you are experiencing payment problems, we have implemented a web-based form you can use to report problems with your account, found at http://rs.internic.net/forms/mail_billing1.html. Step Nine - You renew your domain with the InterNIC Following this initial two-year period, you will be charged $50 (US) annually, on the anniversary of your initial registration, to renew your domain name. This fee covers the cost of processing your renewal and also includes updates to your domain name record for that year. Your billing contact will receive an invoice for your domain name renewal, 30 days before it is due. Just as with new registrations, if we have not received your payment by 12:00 PM (Eastern Standard Time) on the due date, we will send your administrative, technical, and billing contacts a 15 day "deactivation" notice via electronic mail, and a 15 day deactivation notice will be physically generated and mailed via the U.S. Postal service to the person you listed as the "registrant" (section three of the template) in your registration template. If you do not pay within 15 days of the date of the deactivation notice, your domain will be deactivated. If you still have not paid sixty days after deactivation, your name will be deleted, removed from the domain name system and the zone files, and returned to the pool of available names for someone else to register. [Number 10 icon] Step Ten - Enjoy your new address on the information superhighway! Domain names represent places to go - answers to questions - things to buy - ways to make money. You can teach a course, sell galoshes, or start a grassroots community organization. With a domain name you can make yourself, and all that you may have to offer, known on the Internet. At the InterNIC, we are standing by, ready to help you turn your ideas into an address. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ ----------------------FEATURE ARTICLE--------------------- WHAT IT MEANS TO BE A REGISTRY by Robin A. Murphy, Rich Landers, David Graves, and Tom Newell, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ What does it mean to be an Internet registry? On the surface, this question seems easy to answer. An Internet registry is responsible for keeping track of domain names, an addressing construct that enables computer-to-computer communication across the networks that comprise the Internet. Without the services of a central naming registry, the Internet would cease to function. While people can employ a wide variety of symbols and mnemonics to remember and convey addresses, Internet connected computers must rely upon more deterministic methods like numeric assignments. For example, if an Internet user wishes to retrieve information from a World Wide Web site at the domain name of "www.example.com", because computers use numeric-based addressing mechanisms (Internet Protocol numbers), an intermediary translation device is required to make that transaction possible. Domain names partner with directory "resolution" techniques to form the Domain Name System (DNS). The DNS is designed to help both users and their applications locate other machines on the Internet, mapping between human-friendly names and their associated numeric IP addresses. However, because addresses on the Internet must be unique - no two machines can use the same IP number and no two domain names may be the same - a central registry is needed to manage the assignment of domain names to provide information about these assignments to the core, or "root" of the Domain Name System. Network Solutions, Inc., the company which operates the InterNIC's Registration Services under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation (NSF), serves as the exclusive registry for the .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov top-level domains. As a full-service registry, Network Solutions also maintains a strong commitment to support the needs of a growing constituency that includes end-users, Internet trainers, Internet service and content providers, K-12 organizations, and higher educational institutions. Since 1993, when Network Solutions began providing registration services to the global Internet community, the Internet has evolved, moving from a network that focused on communication among researchers and educators to an exploding marketplace of products, services, information, and entertainment. Network Solutions has had a front row seat for this transformation. As a result, the company is in a unique position to provide an answer to the question: "What does it really mean to be a registry?" A willingness to grow and change to meet unpredictable demand When Network Solutions took on the registry functions, the system in use for keeping track of domain name assignments consisted of a "flat" text file which was compiled manually and distributed via file transfer protocol (ftp). It was observed that this was not a system well-suited to the scalability of the growing Internet. Network Solutions was faced with devising a way to perform the registry functions that would not only meet the demand, but allow the network to grow at a pace ruled by popular demand rather than technical constraint. Meeting the burgeoning demand for registration services required people, space, talent, and speed. These requirements have real-world financial and organizational implications. Network Solutions has tripled the size of the staff to handle the needs of an exponentially growing customer base. Considerable effort, time, and money have been devoted to recruiting and retaining the engineering talent needed to facilitate innovation and automation - so essential to the development and maintenance of a scalable and rapid registration process. It is a fact of life that when you add more people and more equipment, you need more physical space and more infrastructure. The logistical challenges of continually growing the registry have been staggering - but they have been met. In 1992, the total domain name space did not exceed 4,000 registered names, grew by fewer that 300 names per month, and accounted for an average of four weeks to process a single registration request. Today, those figures are 900,000 and 85,000 respectively, and registrations are safely and securely completed for over 90% of new registrants in less than 24 hours. A willingness to face problems and find solutions Because the function of a registry is critical to the function of the Internet, problems cannot go unsolved and challenges must be met. Network Solutions is keenly aware of the need to face problems and find rapid, scalable solutions before difficulties even surface. Innovation, hard work, forward-thinking, and research and development are necessary to move the registration process beyond the technological thresholds of the past. A first-hand understanding of the Internet's user community, particularly the varied and often competing interests of this community, is indispensable to fulfilling the registry's mission, as is an awareness of the impact of the Internet's evolving role on our society, our institutions, and our daily lives. Thorough knowledge of existing commercial and legal mechanisms is needed to respond to the inevitable clashes that occur as this new medium collides with a social and legal infrastructure that predates borderless, global communication networks. Against what at times appeared to be insurmountable odds, Network Solutions marshalled the effort needed to overcome challenges presented by volume, speed, reliability, security, law, supply vs. demand, and impartiality. The results of the registry's initiative are evidenced by: * a robust, redundant, and secure development, engineering and support environment for registry operations representing an investment of $4 million in the last year alone towards networking and computing technology. * reduction in the turn-around time for new registration requests - from more than four weeks to less than 24 hours - in the face of exponential growth. * the development of user registration aids and tools that open the process up to a wider, less technically inclined group. * the ability to protect a domain name record and authenticate requests for changes to the record in the form of Guardian, an authentication system which offers multiple levels of security for contacts associated with domain name records. * a policy framework that balances the divergent interests of a broad community, has been successful at minimizing legal conflict, and has helped domain name disputes stay between the conflicting claimants. A willingness to take risks Pioneers in any arena accept risk as part of the bargain; it is impossible to make progress without it. Technology development, business ventures, and legal pursuits all pose certain risks to the parties involved. More often than not, the risk is shared and the outcome of the efforts affect those both directly and indirectly involved. As the first and only international registry of its kind, Network Solutions was charged with engineering the transition of domain name registration from a publicly-supported activity to a fee-for-use system. Although the risks involved in spearheading this unprecedented effort clearly have the potential to affect a broad community, no entity has been or remains more directly affected than the registry itself and the company that operates it. The financial risks for Network Solutions have been substantial. Funding the existing level of registration activity was not an option; Network Solutions had to fund a registry that was capable of handling unpredictable and explosive growth in the demand for its services. Although the registry was initially funded by the NSF under the cooperative agreement, the demand for domain names soon outstripped the government's ability to support the registry's operation. The implementation of registration fees was recommended and approved by the NSF as the next logical step in effecting the transition to a user-supported registry. Network Solutions had to find a way to fund the registry at a level that would support future demand, make financial forecasts about an unprecedented phenomenon, invest the financial resources necessary up front in order to honor its contractual obligations and community responsibility, and implement a fee-for-use system with minimal cost to the user. Balancing the open tradition of the Internet with increasing commercial interest is no small task. Combine this balancing act with developing a commercially viable registry capable of handling unlimited potential demand, and you have Network Solutions. The Internet's emergence as a commercial medium poses unique dilemmas for our society's legal system. Trademark holders and domain name holders often find themselves on opposite sides of the question: Who has the right to use a domain name? Network Solutions, as the registrar for the .com domain, has had to address the legal risks associated with being the registrar - without governmental immunity in situations where no legislative or case law existed to serve as a guide. In an effort to balance the rights of nearly 12 million trademark owners with hundreds of thousands of domain name registrants, Network Solutions crafted a Domain Name Dispute Policy to protect the registry from litigation which could have negatively and severely impacted its ability to manage the domain name space. This policy has been effective at keeping disputes concerning trademarks and domain names where they belong - under the purview of the courts. Network Solutions' policy has been so effective, in fact, that other registries for top level country domains have either adopted the policy or used it as a model for their own policies. Agents of change occupy difficult positions, putting their resources and reputations on the line to achieve new levels of knowledge and possibility for those who will follow. Network Solutions has willingly assumed the risks associated with being an agent of change in light of the opportunity to play an important and necessary role in the development and evolution of the Internet. A willingness to operate under pressure Under the terms of the cooperative agreement between Network Solutions and the NSF, the InterNIC's Registration Services were required to become fully operational on day one of the agreement and to remain fully operational at all times. These requirements removed any possibility of a comfort zone. Network Solutions had to define problems, investigate and come up with solutions, and implement the solutions with no "time-off" for learning or experimentation. There was no margin for trial and error. The growth of the registry took place in full view of the public - like a play without a rehearsal or a publication without a draft. The data that represented the registration record prior to 1993, when Network Solutions took on the registry task, was inherited as a flat file. While a flat-file construction had served the registration requirements of the past, it was inadequate to meet the level of demand facing Network Solutions when they assumed responsibility for registration services. The need to migrate from a flat-file construction to a relational database environment that would scale with demand was clear. This migration took place in a fully operational setting. Network Solutions was not in a position to post signs that said "Closed for renovations - please pardon our dust while we build a better registry." The implementation of a fee for domain name registrations and renewals, a seemingly simple task, necessitated a "back-office" requirement of monumental magnitude. Network Solutions had to implement an invoicing, collections, and reconciliation system that could accommodate both paper and electronic invoices and handle hundreds of thousands of payments by check, credit cards, and electronic methods into a fully operating project overnight - with essentially no phase in period. Relentless increases in workload required equal increases in resources. The organizational structure of the company also felt the pressure of the growth, and Network Solutions continually had to define and reshape itself in ways that accommodated the mission of the registration effort and the needs of the registration services customer. Growth in the size of the staff and the size of the domain name database generated requirements to rapidly expand the operations center network and to provide computer processing power that constantly pushed the envelope of the capabilities of existing hardware and software. Further, this demand pushed the existing staff, particularly software engineers and system administrators, to their limits in integrating the elements and fine-tuning the system to optimize performance. Despite this enormous pressure, Network Solutions has succeeded in repeatedly finding a path from problem to solution, as evidenced by the current success rate of registrations, the reduced turn-around time for processing, easier payment methods, and security options that have been introduced. Most remarkably, for no extended period during the maturation of the registry has the system for domain name registrations in .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov been unavailable to the Internet community. A willingness to play an active role in the evolution of the Internet The Internet is a work in progress. Technological development continues, but equally importantly so do discussions concerning issues such as Internet governance, Internet address management, and equitable distribution of the costs associated with operating a registry, among other topics. As the registrar for .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov, Network Solutions has continually found itself somewhere between the center of activity and the head of the pack in these discussions. It is impossible to serve as a global registry and not be involved in the evolution of the Internet and the attendant issues. What makes a difference is whether this involvement is embraced or ignored. Network Solutions has responded by playing an active role in the Internet community. The Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF), along with the Internet Engineering Steering Group (IESG) provide a framework for gathering feedback and reaching consensus on technical issues facing the Internet community. Network Solutions actively participates in the three IETF meetings each year. At these meetings, representatives of the registry have engaged in lively and open discussion of issues that have an impact on registration activities. This exchange of information has provided Network Solutions with invaluable input, without which the activities of the registry would not represent the consensus of the Internet community. The numeric addresses used by machines on the network - IP numbers - are a finite resource in great demand. Working with the Internet community, Network Solutions drafted guidelines to encourage the responsible and effective use of IP numbers under IPv4. These efforts brought Network Solutions together with other Internet organizations, such as The Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA), the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Federal Networking Council (FNC), the IETF, and IP registries such as Reseaux IP Europeens (RIPE) and the Asia Pacific Network Information Center (APNIC), to explore the best possible methods for overseeing IP number allocation for tomorrow's Internet community. In other fora, Network Solutions is equally active, seeking to lend the benefit of its experience to debate on issues such as new top level domains and Internet governance. Playing such a pivotal role is not without its drawbacks, however. Taking a stand or making decisions that have the potential to affect millions of users is bound to attract critics. Participation in the evolution of the Internet means considering the needs of today's users against those of tomorrow's users, the interests of the individual or group against those of the broader community. It is impossible to please everyone. Introducing the "fee-for-service" concept to the Internet, a medium that traditionally has been thought of as rightfully free (as government subsidized services often are), was a necessary but contentious undertaking. Network Solutions has assumed a leadership position in all areas affecting or affected by the registry, never retreating from its potential to offer a significant contribution to the evolution of the Internet. A willingness to meet the needs of all customers Network Solutions is required, under the terms of the cooperative agreement, to provide domain name registrations. Running a registry, however, must reach beyond the technical and engineering obligations to include tools, resources, and educational programs that support the registration activity and the user community. As the Internet reaches more and more people, the audience that the registry must support comes from an increasingly wider range of technical backgrounds. Internet Service Providers (ISPs) serving thousands of customers use our services on their customers' behalf. Soccer moms band together to register a domain name and establish a website for their community soccer league. Network administrators for Fortune 500 companies require security for their domain names and associated records. Recognizing that supporting customers is in the best interests of the registry, the Internet, and the company, Network Solutions has aggressively pursued the development of a robust help desk, user-friendly registration tools, documentation, and wide-ranging distribution avenues for these services. Being a global resource means that customers come from every time zone and speak a multitude of languages - hence a help desk with extended hours and multilingual staff is needed to meet the needs of some customers. Simple, non-technical language and step-by-step guidance is essential to serving those from non-technical backgrounds. The fact that Internet access does not always mean graphical capability and World Wide Web access means that services must function at a level that accommodates other, more basic types of Internet access - e-mail and ftp. Automating processes delivers faster service. Implementing an increasingly wider array of payment options provides customers with more choices. Offering elective levels of security provides safety for customers' transactions. In addition, however, Network Solutions is committed to supporting the research and educational community, to whom the Internet owes much of its beginnings. Institutions and organizations in this community will find a range of educational materials and current awareness services designed to assist them with supporting their own Internet end users. Training materials, presentations, tutorials, newsletters, and mailing lists are offered free of charge to help researchers and educators, as well as the broader Internet community, make the most of the medium that represents such an intrinsic part of Network Solutions' activities. What does it mean to be a registry? Being an Internet registry means accepting constant change, embracing challenges, looking at problems as solutions waiting to happen, taking considerable risks because the risks are worth the benefits to the broader community, withstanding constant and unrelenting pressure of all sorts from all directions, listening to critics, stepping up to the plate and honoring the position with active, thoughtful, and considered participation in Internet development, and meeting the needs of potentially anyone from anywhere who needs help with registry services. Network Solutions has been repeatedly recognized for meeting and exceeding expectations for registration and network information center services. In November of 1994, an independent panel of industry experts convened by the National Science Foundation applauded Network Solutions' success in retaining an end user focus while accommodating and nurturing growth. In August of 1996, Network Solutions was awarded the John Dvorak Award for Outstanding Commercial Internet Company of the Year in recognition of its contributions to the Internet community. And most recently, the registry was nominated for one of the Computerworld Smithsonian Awards, which honors innovators whose vision in using information technology produce positive social, economic, and educational change. Over the course of operating the registry, Network Solutions has faced unprecedented and unparalleled challenges. Their efforts have met these challenges and have helped to make the syntax of domain names - example.com - common household language. Every person on the planet who works, shops, learns or plays in .com, .org, .net, .edu, and .gov benefits from the work performed by the registry each day. Perhaps a better question would be "What does it take to be a successful registry?" Network Solutions is working on the answer. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ ----------------------FEATURE ARTICLE--------------------- DIGITAL IDS: ESTABLISHING INTERNET TRUST by Tom Newell, Manager, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ Consider the process of authentication. Authentication is at the heart of commercial exchanges. Pay for groceries by check at the corner market? Show a driver's license. Withdraw money from your bank account? ID please. Even ATM transactions trace the initial establishment of a trusted relationship to proof of identity. Based upon physical recognition, we feel comfortable granting trust to others - in some cases, to such a degree we give them our money! In this digital age, the problem of authentication is made more complex as a result of distributed information exchange, automated processing routines, and the capability to establish and build relationships without physical proximity. Much like crossing the boundaries of our geographic space requires visual proof of identity (passports), traversing the growing virtual expanse of "cyberspace" can sometimes require a similar means of identification and trust building. On the Internet today, it is possible to make credit card purchases, access banking services, use subscription-based content services, and exchange sensitive or private information. But to do it safely and securely requires trust. How do we establish that trust? One method is through the use of Digital IDs. Digital IDs make it possible to prove your identity in electronic transactions, much like a driver's license or a passport does in face-to-face exchanges. With a Digital ID, you can assure friends, business associates, and online services that the electronic information you provide originates from you. On the Internet, you can present a Digital ID electronically to identify yourself or to gain access to online information services. Digital IDs are also known as digital certificates and they make use of "Public Key Cryptography" to associate electronic keys with an "identity," allowing encryption and digital "signing" of electronic messages and exchanges. Using public key encryption techniques, Digital IDs use a public key and a private key. The public key is made available to anyone who wants to interact with the owner of the ID and is used to verify a message signed with the private key. It can also be used to encrypt messages that can in turn only be decrypted using the private key. The security of such messages encrypted in this fashion thus depends upon the protection of the private key in much the same fashion as we protect ATM Personal Identification Numbers (PINs) or our house keys. Digital IDs are issued by a Certification Authority (CA), such as Verisign, and are digitally "signed" by that CA as a "stamp of authenticity." The ID consists of a few common elements including the owners public key, their name, the expiration date of the public key, the name of the CA, a serial number, and the digital signature of the issuer (CA). In their most generally accepted form, Digital IDs are described by the X.509 international standard (see http://www.itu.int/) in order to ensure their interoperability with applications written to conform with the standard. So how do you make use of a Digital ID? Typically used in electronic commerce, Digital IDs allow consumers to establish a "trust" relationship with vendors, determining their identity using the vendors ID issued by a CA. In fact, most of the popular WWW server software supports the Digital ID concept for secure exchanges, facilitating the trust building process. Before issuing the ID to the vendor, a CA such as Verisign has established that the vendor is who they claim by examining business records and other identifying materials. Because a secure exchange is not enough to establish the trust necessary before a consumer provides credit information, Digital IDs provide a more complete solution in assuring the identity of all parties involved in a transaction. There are several types of IDs though they fall into one of two categories - IDs that identify individuals and IDs that identify organizations. Digital IDs are available for individuals to install in their WWW browsers or their S/MIME (Secure/Multipurpose Internet Mail Extensions) applications to gain access to remote services which require a higher degree of authentication. Digital IDs are also available for Internet-based merchants for use within their WWW servers to identify themselves to their customers. Digital IDs are additionally available for vendors who distribute software using the Internet to provide assurance to customers downloading their product. Each ID is available at various "classes" with each class providing a higher degree of assurance and thus requiring more information be provided the CA before the ID is issued. Want to learn more? I recommend the following: An introduction to Digital IDs http://digitalid. verisign.com/id_intro.htm Digital ID Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) http://digitalid. verisign.com/id_faqs.htm Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) http://world.std. com/~franl/pgp/ A comprehensive collection of PGP information 1997 RSA Data Security Conference (January 28-31, 1997) http://www.rsa.com/conf97/ S/MIME: Anatomy of a Secure E-mail Standard http://www.ema.org/html/pubs/mmv2n4/s-mime.htm _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ ----------------------FEATURE ARTICLE--------------------- CALL IT IN THE AIR: CLIENT-SIDE SCRIPTING ON THE WEB by Dan Rinzel, Webmaster, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ What is all this Scripting Stuff? Anyone keeping an ear out for the latest developments in the development of Web sites has doubtless stumbled across a bewildering list of "new languages" in which Web sites can be designed. JavaScript(tm), LiveWire, JScript, VBScript, ActiveX(tm), and Java(tm) lead an often confusing parade of these somewhat mis-named "scripting languages," which can in turn leave even seasoned Web developers pondering whether the need for HyperText Markup Language (HTML) is passing away. The short answer to this is "not any time soon." Even the most robust of these tools requires some "hook" into the Web world, and that hook is invariably through at least one html tag in a Webpage. And yet, even the weakest of these languages can take Webpages in directions that the tags of html were never designed to go. The ability to create custom surfing experiences is the glittering coin offered by client-side scripting tools, and Web site developers would be well served to watch the coin closely while it is airborne. Request-Response A brief overview of the transaction structure of the Web, known as HyperText Transfer Protocol (HTTP), should suffice to show why these tools should supplement the toolbox of any Web Developer, alongside tags and tags. _________________________________________________________________ For an introductory analysis of HTTP see the InterNIC 's 15 Minute Series module on HTTP, available at: http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/15min/mkmodule.cgi/http/sld01.html For a detailed technical specification, see http://www.graphcomp.com/info/specs/http10.html _________________________________________________________________ Succinctly, a Web transaction consists of a request by a browser computer (a client) to a host computer (a server) where a Web site resides. The server responds to the client with the page requested, or an error message of some kind. That request may spawn several other requests, for image files to load onto a page, or for some reaction to the user clicking the 'Submit' button on a form, but the "request-response" structure is the basic unit of HTTP. HTML, in turn, developed as a series of codes to tell the client what to do with the page returned: special layout instructions that could include links, or opportunities to make further HTTP requests. In this model, the client is primarily a "slave" to the server - receiving input from the server, but not using any of its own computer power for anything other than layout decisions. As the expanding explosion of Web traffic hit, it became clear that serious limitations to this transaction structure exist. It may be fine to request a simple text page from a server one or two hops away, but to engage in multiple repetitions of request-response (such as those required by many forms that must be validated) with a server halfway around the world that is also responding to requests from tens of thousands of other clients is tedious at best, bad business at worst, and, thanks to these new "client-side scripting languages," increasingly unnecessary. What developers of browser software discovered was that, by "exposing" many client events (mouse clicks, text typed in a text box) to a script compiler that is a piece of the browser, web servers could send instructions coded directly into Webpages, that could be run ONLY IF certain conditions were met by the individual user, and could dynamically reflect user input, using the computing power of the client without reference to the server. For an example of the difference, see the Web version of this article at http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/feb97/ scripts.html * Client-side Scripting Form: No additional requests made. All the interpretation is done right on your machine. * Server-side Scripting Form: Two additional requests, plus time for the server to interpret the input before returning. Note that the client-side script was able not only to "capture" what you typed, but make a decision about it and return HTML that contained a "dynamic" tag for background color - the same behavior that the server-side script did. In addition, the client-side script was able to take advantage of the browser software's ability to manage client-side objects and create a new window (which will close itself after 3 seconds) or alert box. >From this frivolous example, you can see the performance advantages to using the client's processing power to alleviate bottlenecks on the server, and you can see some of the functions it is possible to build using one of the client-side scripting languages... What about Java? Everything's Java Now, Right? Despite its mass media popularity, Java, along with the other Object-Oriented Programming Languages (OOPLs) like Visual Basic(r) and C++, doesn't really fit into this niche. Both Java "applets" and ActiveX "controls" can be embedded into html pages, using tags like , or , and they can use the client's computing power to provide interactivity, animation, and other sophisticated additions to Web functionality, but they are independent pieces of code, written in whichever OOPL is needed, and they are requested separately from the html in which they are embedded. If the client's browser supports the OOPL, it might be compiled (turned from a text file of instructions to a binary executable or program) by the client, saving a step, but without a run-time scripting language as well, it is impossible to call the applet or control with parameters that depend on what the user does. So How do I Write a Client-side Script? The pre-eminent run-time scripting language is Netscape(tm) Communications' JavaScript, which (perhaps unadvisedly) borrowed the name of Sun MicroSystems(r)'s Java OOPL. However as Danny Goodman, author of the JavaScript Bible, 2nd Ed. (IDG Books), notes: "Java is not JavaScript - JavaScript is not Java." (See his article at http://www.dannyg.com/javascript/ javavsjavascript.html to alleviate some of the confusion.) JavaScript is currently in release 1.1, but that release is only supported by Netscape's release 3.0 of its Navigator(tm) browser. JavaScript 1.1 contains several significant enhancements over version 1.0 - which is supported by Navigator 2.0 and above, and by Microsoft(r)'s Internet Explorer browser release 3.0 (though they refer to their particular flavor as "JScript"). An excellent treatment of the differences between the two (or three) implementations of J(ava)Script can be found in Shelley Powers's article "Whose JavaScript is it, Anyway?", available at http://www.javacats.com/us/articles/Jsart.html. Suffice it to say that two of the most important things that all the flavors of J(ava)Script contain are Event Handlers and a way to access some of the information Objects in the browser to use them. Event Handlers are accessed by syntax like OnClick or OnMouseOver, which can activate certain functions when the user clicks a button or moves the mouse over a picture, link or form area. Browser information access is provided through an "object model," which bears some similarity to the Java object model, and is where much of the naming confusion arose. For example, if a web developer needs to check whether the user typed anything into the "lastname" field on the form named "creditcard" in the frame named "main" on the open window, she may access this by querying in her script for: window.main.creditcard.lastname.value that is - the value 'property' of the lastname 'object' in OO-speak (lastname is then a 'member' of the form object creditcard and so on). and in fact she can query the length property of window.main.creditcard.lastname.value, which, if it is equal to zero, may run alert("You must enter a Last Name"), which will cause the alert box to pop up ONLY IF the user leaves that field blank, all without sending the form anywhere for validation. There are a number of other events and objects (including any frames or Java applets embedded in a page), as well as a great deal of information, available to JavaScript writers, including the browser and version (useful for implementing scripts or parts of scripts only if the browser that can understand them is running). There are also a number of JavaScript 'methods' (another OO term) that can be implemented, such as 'history.go(-1)', which sends the user back one in their history list, producing a different effect for each user. For a full explication of the JavaScript syntax, see Netscape's newly-retooled JavaScript Guide, at http://home.netscape.com/eng/mozilla/3.0/handbook/javascript/index.html VBScript The Web wouldn't be the Web without an alternative to JavaScript. Indeed there are some weaknesses to the language - its inability to accept variables in some of its native functions, its case sensitivity, and its lack of "inheritance" (another OO concept where an object can "inherit" the properties and methods of its "parent" object) - which make it difficult to use in some advanced applications. And the Web today would certainly not be the Web without Microsoft developing a competing product to Netscape's. Microsoft's VBScript, patterned closely on its Visual Basic OOPL, provides some competition to the J(ava)Script family. It, too, is an evolutionary language, and VBScript 1.0, compilable by Internet Explorer 3.0, is on its way to VBScript 2.0, currently in beta development along with Internet Explorer 4.0. VBScript's main strengths lie in its ability to handle dates and times, and manipulate strings and arrays of numbers or strings. Its syntax is also case insensitive, and will be very familiar to programmers used to Visual Basic. VBScript 2.0 will also reportedly implement a public and private inheritance scheme (allowing for partial or 'public-only' inheritance), and access to the browser and version information that JavaScript can currently access. And, since ActiveX is also a Microsoft product, VBScript has access to the members of any page, and can provide context-sensitive validation or output of ActiveX controls, as well as Java applets. For further information on VBScript, ActiveX and their relation to the Internet Explorer browser, see Microsoft's explanation of the "Active Desktop" paradigm, available at: http://www.microsoft.com/activex/actx-gen/apwhat.htm. Where to Now, then? With so many tools to choose from at this point, Web developers are faced with the somewhat perplexing task of choosing just the right tool suited for the job, the developer's own fluency, and the target audience. The major browser corporations have a much more dynamic effect on client-side scripting than they do even on the syntax of html, and look to do so for some time. However, the current push from all participants seems to be toward integration, at least on the surface. Products in the works and in their neonatal phases: * Netscape's recent release is called "LiveWire," which allows html/JavaScript to be dynamically inserted into Webpages from the server, without exposing the script to the "View Source" capabilities of browsers (whence it can be copied into other developers' pages), and integrates JavaScript more closely with Java applet technology. Scripts can be "pre-compiled" by servers, and referenced from directly within html tags. * Microsoft has recently published the ActiveX Scripting interface, a standard which integrates JScript and VBScript for Internet Explorer 3.0 to allow developers to handle interaction among a variety of software components, including Java Applets and ActiveX Controls written in other languages, using any scripting language that supports this interface. * On another front, Netscape, Microsoft and Borland International(r), a major player in OO Programming and Development, have recently submitted specifications for a vendor-neutral version of a client-side scripting language to ECMA, a European member association of the ISO (International Standards Organization). According to information at the Microsoft site, "...the vendors are working together for a common specification."(See http://www.microsoft.com/jscript/us/techinfo/Standards.htm) In the meantime, despite the bewildering number of tools at the developer's disposal, a niche for client-side scripting definitely exists, opening the door wider to the "custom-surfing" experience, where Webpages tailor themselves to the individual user's needs, choices, or customer types. The coin is definitely in the air, and whether it will come down heads or tails is anybody's guess at the moment. Further Surfing... NETSCAPE LANGUAGES JavaScript Language Specification http://home.netscape.com/eng/javascript/index.html LiveWire Developer's Guide http://developer.netscape.com/library/documentation/livewire/appdev.html The JavaScript Index v3.0 A huge collection of code snippets & examples - a message board & demos - http://www.c2.org/~andreww/javascript/ Danny Goodwin's JavaScript Site Materials collected by the author of The JavaScript Bible - http://www.dannyg.com/javascript/ MICROSOFT LANGUAGES What Is VBScript? - Microsoft(r) Visual Basic(r) Scripting Edition http://www.microsoft.com/vbscript/us/vbstutor/vbswhat.htm Microsoft Announces ActiveX Scripting http://www.microsoft.com/corpinfo/press/1996/jul96/jscriptpr.htm ActiveX(tm) Controls http://www.microsoft.com/workshop/prog/controls/controls.htm INDEPENDENT ASSESSMENTS Just whose JavaScript is it, anyway? Shelley Powers's excellent treatment of differences between browser treatments of scripting languages - http://www.javacats.com/us/articles/Jsart.html Employing Anti-Explosion Tactics Some good information on making your scripts compatible for multiple browsers - http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Pines/4721/019701.html _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________REGULAR ARTICLE______________________ END USER'S CORNER: THE FUTURE OF THE MAC AND THE INTERNET by Pete DeVries, Internet Tools Specialist _________________________________________________________________ This month we turn the End User's Corner over to Pete DeVries, Net Scout's Internet Tools Specialist for his views on the state of Apple. He attended the Macworld conference and has worked with the Windows, UNIX, and Macintosh OS for many years, in support, development and training capacities. He is the author and maintainer of Net Scout's Scout Toolkit (http://wwwscout.cs. wisc.edu/scout/toolkit/). [Jack Solock] _________________________________________________________________ Competition has been the driving force for the rapid advancement in Internet applications, and the future of Apple Computer will have a major impact on the future direction of the Internet. Will open standards, multiple vendors and competition still exist, or will the future of the Internet be controlled by one just one company? To understand these issues one needs to understand the current state of Apple and the role it plays in what many feel is a war of "everybody vs. Microsoft." Much has been written of the anticipated demise of Apple Computer Inc. (http://www.apple.com) This prediction began when IBM first shipped its first PC and has continued unabated for the last 16 years. Despite recent serious set backs, Apple had sales of $2.1 billion last quarter and has $1.8 billion in cash reserves. In 1996 Apple ranked 5th in US sales and 4th in world-wide sales for a total of over $9 billion dollars. Apple has made some serious mistakes and has significant challenges ahead; however, if you already like the Macintosh you should not fear buying a new Mac because of fears that the company may disappear. Even if Apple's more ambitious plans fail, you will still get improved versions of Mac OS (System 7) for several years. The decision of whether or not to buy a Mac should be based on specific needs and how important ease of use and other features are to you. Macs are still the easiest computers to use. They are still the computer of choice for most Web design firms, publishers and multimedia specialists. Until it was made public in InfoWorld, Microsoft's own Web site contained animated GIF files created using the Mac-only program GifBuilder. Although many feel the Mac Operating System (OS) is still arguably "better" than Windows95, it does have its weaknesses when compared to WindowsNT and UNIX. Those operating systems support the following advanced features: -pre-emptive multitasking (applications can truly multitask by sharing the processor) -memory protection (a crashed program can't crash the entire machine) -symmetric multiprocessing (the OS and unmodified applications can use multiple processors) These are important features, and Apple recognized it needed to add them to its operating system. Their own attempts to develop a new OS internally were running behind schedule so they decided to look outside the company for an OS that met their needs. This OS would serve as the foundation for a new industrial-strength Mac OS. This is not that unusual. Microsoft did not develop the original version of MS-DOS or several of its other programs; it bought them from other companies. Early reports suggested that Apple planned to go with the BeOS (http://www.be.com/), but some employees at Next (http://www.next.com/) thought their OS would make a better choice and called Ellen Hancock, Apple's Chief Technology Officer. This led to several meetings between Apple and Next which resulted in Apple's purchasing Next Inc. for $400 million. It also brought the return of Steve Jobs, one of the original founders of Apple, as a consultant. Jobs was also the founder of Next and the chairman and CEO of Pixar (http://www.pixar.com), the computer animation company that created the movie Toy Story. What's Next? Apple does not plan to abandon the owners of older Macs or those who still want to use System 7. It plans to continue to make enhancements to System 7 for the next several years. At the same time they are working on combining the Macintosh strengths in ease of use and multimedia with the fully object-oriented Next OS's strengths in pre-emptive multitasking, memory protection, symmetric multiprocessing, and rapid application development. This new OS is code named Rhapsody. Apple's dual OS strategy (http://macos.apple.com/macos/releases/rhapsody/osroadmap.html) is available on their Web site. In the Macworld '97 keynote session Jobs noted that the code that is both the most reliable and takes the least amount of time to create and debug is the code that the programmer doesn't have to write. The strengths behind Next's OS and its development environment are that they are completely object-oriented and produce reusable code quickly. Jobs went on to say that in the Next/Rhapsody environment, 80% of the code a programmer needs has already been written for him or her. This advantage allows two people working in a garage to develop a program every bit as feature-rich as a large company's 150-person programming team. This should allow Rhapsody developers to create new applications much more quickly and more cheaply than on competing platforms. I have seen the advantages of this toolbox approach in my own development efforts. When I worked the Integrated Microscopy Resource (http://www.bocklabs.wisc.edu/imr.html) at the University of Wisconsin - Madison, we developed a 4-Dimensional microscope that allowed a user to view the behavior of cells at several focal planes through the specimen as well as over time. The final data sets were about 1GB, so we needed to use some form of compression. Rather than write our own compression routines we simply used those available from QuickTime. This allowed the team to concentrate on other parts of the project. When the PowerMacs shipped, our code worked automatically with the new PowerPC-native QuickTime. Our team's code did not have to be rewritten to take advantage of this much faster processor. The Next's development environment gives programmers even more tools and an object-oriented development environment that will allow developers to take better advantage of existing code as well as their own previously created code to develop new applications more quickly than other environments. Next has been very successful in the mission-critical enterprise market because their tools have allowed developers to create large robust complex programs in a very short time. If complex programs are made easier to develop, then more small innovative companies can compete. Currently the software market has become dominated by large software companies. It is almost impossible for a small company to develop mainstream applications anymore. The questions for many Mac users are: will this new OS work on my current hardware, and how soon will it be available? Apple has said that the new OS will run on all of its "currently shipping Macs." I assume this to mean PCI PowerMacs and currently shipping PowerBooks. Users of older Macs will still be able to run newer versions of System 7 and Mac applications, but not Rhapsody or Rhapsody applications. To keep this in perspective, some PCs sold in the last two years are not able to run the current version of WindowsNT. Developers' releases of Rhapsody will be available in the summer of 1997, so developers can get started on the next generation of applications. In early 1998 the "Rhapsody Premier" release will let early adopters get started with the new operating system and applications. Later that year the "Rhapsody Unified" release will be available which will allow regular Mac applications to run in a "compatibility box" process under the Rhapsody OS. This unified release of Rhapsody will allow you to run older applications (except for the few that make direct hardware calls) along with the new Rhapsody applications. If an older Mac application crashes, it will not affect the Rhapsody OS or the other Rhapsody applications. This compatibility box will be fully native as well as fast and have its features synchronized with the improved versions of System 7. If Apple is able to successfully develop Rhapsody by combining the Mac interface with the powerful features of a fully object-oriented operating system with pre-emptive multitasking, memory protection and symmetric multiprocessing, it will have a more advanced operating system than WindowsNT. For Microsoft to develop a fully object-oriented version of WindowsNT it would have to start from the ground up. Will Apple be able to ship Rhapsody on schedule? The Next OS, OpenStep, already runs on Intel and Sparc processors. They created but never shipped a version for the PowerPC. Porting OpenStep directly to the PowerPC should not be very difficult. Creating a new Mac-like interface for Rhapsody and porting over Mac technologies such as a full featured version of the QuickTime Media Layer will be more difficult. Apple has already created software called the Macintosh Application Environment for several versions of UNIX that allow UNIX users to run Mac applications, so creating the compatibility box may not be that difficult. MacWeek has an article (http://www. macweek.com/top_stories/nw_metrowerks.html) on a new tool being developed by Metrowerks (http://www.metrowerks.com) that will let developers quickly port their Macintosh applications to Rhapsody It is unclear if Apple will be able to meet the deadlines it has set for Rhapsody. Apple has, in some cases, orchestrated transitions such as this incredibly well. The transition of the Mac OS from the 68K line of processors to the PowerPC line of processors was very smooth. However, some of Apple's plans have not been completed on schedule. One reason for optimism is that Apple has acquired several hundred software engineers from Next who will help with the transition. The highly regarded top engineer from Next, Avie Tevanian, has been put in charge of the project. Apple as a platform alternative Jim Barksdale, the CEO of (Netscape (http://www.netscape.com/), told the audience at the MacWorld Expo that Netscape has worked and will continue to work closely with Apple and is a strong supporter of Apple. Netscape has and will continue to incorporate and support Apple and Apple technologies such as the QuickTime Media Layer (QTML), CyberDog, HotSauce, and Rhapsody in their product line. He also said that he is a Mac user and over the last ten years has purchased 10 Macs with his own money for himself and his family - including two Performas just this Christmas. He said that Netscape will ensure that Macs will be able to cooperate fully with their Communicator Suite (http://www.netscape.com/comprod/products/communicator/index. html) on corporate networks. Eric Schmidt, Chief Technology Officer of Sun Microsystems (http://www.sun.com/), told the audience, "We believe that the Mac is the ideal client for the front-end for the kinds of machines that we sell." Sun and Apple are working together to integrate QTML and OpenDoc into Java. He also stated that Apple is a supporter of the "pure Java" initiative whose goal is to keep Java an open cross-platform standard. (This initiative is to counter Microsoft's plans to incorporate Windows-only features into Java.) Dr. Schmidt stated, "Apple gets it about the Net...The network future is too big for any single company or individual to dominate. That is what choices are about." He commended Dr. Amelio for acquiring Next: "In 1993, Sun licensed NextStep, [but] we did not have the foresight to buy the company!" In closing he said, "On behalf of Sun, and I think the entire industry, I would like to congratulate Gil for the foresightedness to bring to all of us the very best operating system technology in the world." These are strong endorsements from individuals who realize how important Apple is to the success of their own companies. There is a chance that an alternative "Network Computer" (NC) environment might develop in which inexpensive NCs running Java applications break the Wintel dominance, but that will probably not be a viable option for another year or two. In the meantime, these vendors need a desktop alternative to Wintel and at this time the only one is Apple. In January I went to MacWorld in San Francisco to learn more about Internet tools, Apple's future plans and gauge the vitality of the Apple community. There were a record 80,000 attendees. Eager Mac users wanted to see the latest hardware and software as well as learn what to expect from Apple's recent acquisition of Next. Despite Apple's 3Q '97 loss of $120 million, the vendors and attendees I talked with were excited and optimistic about Apple's future. Most felt that the company would survive recent setbacks. Many were encouraged by the number of Mac clone makers including Power Computing (http://www.powercc.com/), Motorola (http://www.mot.com/GSS/MCG/products/systems/ds/starmax/SMfamily. htm), and Umax (http://www.supermac.com/). Although it is not yet shipping, a Mac-compatible PowerPC system (http://www.chips.ibm. com/products/ppc/Developers/longtrl/longtrail.html) was demonstrated at the IBM booth. The first day of the conference was dominated by the nearly three-hour keynote. With only 4,000 seats and an enthusiastic crowd, you had to queue up early to get a seat. After a humorous introduction featuring scenes from the movie "Independence Day" and references to oppressive dark forces bent on global domination, actor Jeff Goldblum introduced Apple's CEO Dr. Gil Amelio. Amelio told the audience that Apple was taking its current problems very seriously and was working on improving its operating system, hardware products and ability to forecast demand. He noted that the $120 million loss was largely due to Apple's over-projection of demand for its lower-priced Performa line and under-projection of demand and delivery of PowerBooks and high-end PowerMacs. A speaker from Corel demonstrated Corel Office for Java (http://officeforjava.corel.com/) running within the Mac Java virtual machine. This suite includes integrated word processor, spreadsheet, and charting modules. Since the suite's applications are written in Java they will run unmodified on any computer that has a Java virtual machine, including Windows, UNIX, and Mac. Kim Polese, from Marimba (http://www.marimba.com/), demonstrated Castanet. She explained that, "Castanet is a complete system for the automatic delivery and updating of software, applications, and content across the Net." The system allows users to tune into channels that deliver items automatically to their machines in the background. This technology eliminates the need to install or update software. Castanet is available for several operating systems. Apple will be bundling the Marimba tuner with the Mac OS and the Mac OS runtime for Java. Frank Casanova from Apple Research lab followed with demonstrations of new technologies that Apple has developed. Here is a brief summary of the technologies demonstrated: HotSauce (http://hotsauce.apple.com/) - A Meta Content Framework (MCF) technology that allows you to view local and online information in a number of different formats. HotSauce allows you to fly through the content of a Web site as well as reorganize disparate chunks of information on the Net or on your hard drive in a way that makes sense to you. V-Twin (http://www.research.apple.com/research/tech/V-Twin/ default.html) - This technology allows you to find information easily. Frank demonstrated how complex mathematical models allow it to summarize long messages into a few main points. Vastly improved speech software allows your email and other documents to be read to you. Bullet points, URLs and other constructs that used to sound funny on the current speech manager are now easily understandable. Apple Data Detectors (http://www.research.apple.com/research/ tech/AppleDataDetectors/Default.html) - This technology recognizes email addresses, URLs, phone numbers, etc., within text documents and knows how to deal with them. Click on an email address in your word processor and it launches your email program, filling in the "To:" section. The individual applications don't need to be programmed to understand these data types; they are understood and recognized by the operating system. QuickTime Media Layer (http://quicktime.apple. com/qtml/ qtml.html) - Apple is committed to making its technologies cross-platform. At the meeting they announced QuickTime 2.5 for Windows which allows Windows users to create as well as play QuickTime movies. Another Apple Engineer demonstrated QuickTimeVR 2.0 (http://quicktimevr.apple.com/) , which pulls together QuickTimeVR, QuickTime and QuickDraw3D. In these virtual worlds you not only move around, but can encounter and interact with other objects -- in this case, a rotating cube with each side of the cube playing a different QuickTime movie. Steve Jobs then appeared and received a standing ovation. He explained how the Next/Rhapsody operating system and developer tools would allow developers to create applications in a fraction of the time it would take traditionally. Conference attendees responded enthusiastically, marking the success of the Macworld conference. After Jobs's presentation a representative from the PowerPC chip licensee Exponential Technologies (http://www.exp.com/) compared the Photoshop performance of a Mac with a 450 MHz Exponential PowerPC chip, to that of a 200MHz Pentium Pro. The PowerPC chip was much much faster. Exponential plans to have 533MHz chips available in volume by late summer. Later I saw several machines running with 450MHz Exponential chips at various booths on the show floor. For more information on the Exponential processor, check out the article from Byte magazine at URL: http://www.byte.com/art/9612/sec10/art1.htm. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________REGULAR ARTICLE______________________ 15 MINUTE SERIES UPDATE by Anna Carts, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ New Modules We have recently released ten new modules! This brings the total number of modules in the 15 Minute Series (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/) to 41. The titles of the most recently released modules are as follows: 1. What is a virus? 2. What is a domain name? 3. What is an Internet Service Provider? 4. What is html? 5. What is a web page? 6. What is WAIS? 7. What is a packet? 8. What is Lynx? 9. What is Microsoft Internet Explorer? 10. What is IPv6? The following ten modules are currently in development. Look for them in the coming months. 1. What is the Domain Name System? 2. What is Domain Name Service? 3. What is a name server? 4. What is a top level domain? 5. What is MIME? 6. What are standard features of e-mail programs? 7. Who is RIPE? 8. Who is APNIC? 9. Who is IAHC? 10. What is electronic commerce? _________________________________________________________________ 15 Minute FAQs As always, we encourage your feedback, questions, and ideas. You can contact us via e-mail at 15min@internic.net or by using our feedback form (http://rs. internic.net/nic-support/15min/ form.html). Reminder: When you submit a question to us, please try to provide as much of the following information about your situation as possible, so that we may better address your question: 1. Platform used (PC, Macintosh, etc.). 2. Version of PowerPoint or PowerPoint Viewer. 3. Name and version of web browser. 4. Filenames or titles of modules that you are trying to download. 5. Name and version of decompression software being used. 6. The word-for-word text of any error messages you receive. Here is a summary of some recent questions we have received. Q: I have downloaded some of your '15 Minute' files in html format, but I am not familiar with the format *.gz. Is it a compression format requiring a special utility, or do I need to change the setup in my Netscape to read these files?? A: The .tar.gz file is a compressed, archived file. The .gz extension indicates that the file was compressed using a compression utility for the UNIX platform (gzip). The .tar extension indicates that the file was "packed" (many files combined into a single file, or archive, for easier transport and storage). A file with the .tar extension needs to be "unpacked" using either the untar command on a UNIX machine, or via a decompression utility that can handle the .tar extension. More information about handling both the .tar and .gz extensions is provided in our 15 Minute Series help documentation: http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/help.html You do not need to change anything in your Netscape browser, as the files are in a format that is intended for download and not for viewing via the web. If you want to view a module online, simply select the "Preview module now" option from the index you have requested (this option obviously is available via the web interface only). For a more in-depth discussion, check out "Unraveling the Mysteries of .tar.gz files..." provided later in this edition of the 15 Minute Series Update. Q: How do I download or purchase the 15 Minute Series? May I use the modules in a class this semester? A: The 15 Minute Series is provided free of charge and is available for downloading from either of the following locations: http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/15min/ ftp://rs.internic.net/NIC-support/15min/ Both sites include introductory information and documentation to help you use the training modules. As for using the modules, you are free to use the modules in a class or any other setting, as long as you comply with the copyright notice provided at the 15 Minute Series Web site and FTP site. Q: I have tried to preview some of the 15 Minute Series materials and an "Invalid handle" error appears. I'm using Microsoft Internet Explorer. Any idea what the problem is? A: Unfortunately, we are at a loss to explain the "Invalid Handle" error. We have received a few questions similar to this one. We have tested viewing, downloading and decompressing the 15 Minute Series materials using a variety of popular browsers running on several operating sytems. In our Microsoft Internet Explorer tests, we have not experienced the "Invalid handle" error, and we cannot recreate it. If any of you have experienced this error, and can shed some light on it, please contact us via e-mail at 15min@internic.net. _________________________________________________________________ Unraveling the Mysteries of .tar.gz files... BACKGROUND The html versions of the 15 Minute Series modules have .tar.gz extensions. For example, the html version of the "What is a browser?" module is named "browser.tar.gz". The html versions of the modules are available by searching or browsing the modules at the 15 Minute Series Web site http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/ 15min/, or via anonymous ftp from ftp://rs.internic.net/ NIC-support/15min/. Recently, we have received a large amount of mail with questions related to downloading, decompressing and "unpacking" the html versions of the 15 Minute Series modules. In this section, we hope to clarify what a .tar.gz file is and give you pointers on how to handle them. WHAT IS A .TAR.GZ. FILE? In simple terms, a .tar.gz file is an archived file that has been compressed. Let's examine each piece of the .tar.gz extension. THE .TAR EXTENSION The .tar extension indicates that the file is an archive. An archive is basically a file that consists of many files that have been combined into a single file. In order to get to the individual files that make up an archive, you have to "unpack" or "extract" the files. THE .GZ EXTENSION The .gz extension indicates that the file was compressed using a compression utility, called gzip, on a UNIX platform. To use a .gz file, you need to decompress it using a decompression utility that can handle the .gz extension. SO HOW DO I MAKE IT WORK? For the sake of argument, let's say that you want to download the browser.tar.gz file from an index page that you generated from our Web site. The first step is to click on the "Download Entire Module as html" button. This will likely result in a dialog box, prompting you to choose what you would like to do with this file (i.e., pick an application or save it). The best choice is to save the file. The actual wording for this choice will vary, depending on the browser you are using. By choosing the "save file" option, you will be presented with a "save" dialog box. Treat this like you would any save dialog box. You can choose a specific directory that you'd like to save the file in; however, it is important to remember which directory (if any) that you saved the browser.tar.gz file in. As part of the saving process, you must also check to be sure that the correct file name is being saved. For example, in Windows95, the file name is automatically changed so that it contains only one extension. Thus, the browser.tar.gz file would appear in the save dialog box as "browser_tar.gz". If this happens, you must retype the entire filename so that it appears as "browser.tar.gz". If this step is neglected, you will not be able to properly decompress and extract the files. Once you have saved the .tar.gz file, you are ready to decompress and extract the file. In order to do this, You will need a decompression software utility that can handle the .tar.gz file extension. WinZip for the PC and UnStuffit with DropStuff Expander Enhancer for the Mac are examples of decompression utilities that can handle the .tar.gz file extensions. Shareware.com (http://www.shareware.com) is one place you can visit for information on obtaining decompression software for Macintosh or PCs. We will describe the process for decompressing and extracting the files using the WinZip utility for PC. The first step is decompressing, or "unzipping" the file. With WinZip, all you need to do is drag the browser.tar.gz file into the WinZip application. This results in a screen in which all of the files that make up the .tar.gz file are listed. In other words, you'll see all of the .html files and all of the image files that make up the module. The second step in this process is to extract, or "unpack" the files. With WinZip, this involves selecting the "extract" command, which will present a dialog box prompting you to select where you want to extract the files. It is suggested that you extract the files directly to the hard drive. This is because, when the files are extracted, a directory structure is created for you. This directory structure contains all of files that make up the module. For example, when the browser module is extracted to the C: drive, a directory structure similar to the following is created: c:\browser\sld01.html c:\browser\sld02.html c:\browser\sld03.html c:\browser\sld04.html c:\browser\sld05.html c:\browser\sld06.html c:\browser\sld07.html c:\browser\images\15minibar.gif c:\browser\images\redsq.gif c:\browser\images\leftarrow.gif c:\browser\images\rightarrow.gif At this point, you can use the "What is a browser?" module directly on your hard drive, eliminating the need for an Internet connection. Also, the entire directory structure could be placed onto a local web server. Although we have provided our examples using a PC platform, the concepts involved remain the same for other platforms. _________________________________________________________________ The 15 Minute Series takes to the high seas! [Seal of the USS Theodore Roosevelt] Recently, we received a request to help out with the Internet training of the crew aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, currently stationed in the Mediterranean Sea. The individual who contacted us via e-mail, MMC David E. Lauthers, explained that the ship has limited Internet access and that downloading the modules would prove to be difficult. We agreed to an experiment that would test the viability of sending the compressed PowerPoint versions of the modules as attachments via e-mail. As MCC Lauthers stated, "This should be an excellent test, considering the scope of the transfer of the material from your location to the Navy's Internet account and then via satellite to the ship." The experiment worked well! MMC Lauthers received the modules and unzipped them without any problems. He has used the template to create custom Pegasus E-Mail training, as a supplement to the "What is Electronic Mail?" module. The modules are planned to be utilized as part of "School of Ship" training. MMC Lauther explains, "School of Ship is basically a class where all newly reported personnel who report to the ship are briefed on the various aspects of the ship, and receive basic information about variety of topics." To facilitate this training, MMC Lauthers has created a separate group (in Microsoft Windows) that contains the modules. Within this group, he has created an icon for each module, which, when clicked on, will launch the module in the PowerPoint Viewer. In addition, he has created one continuous slide show that contains all of the modules. He explains that the computer containing the modules is part of a network on the ship that many people have remote access to. The project on the USS Theodore Roosevelt is still in its early stages, but MMC Lauthers reports, "I have found the modules to be very informative, but still simple enough for the person with little or no Internet experience." We will be using the lessons learned in this experiment to explore other alternative delivery methods for the 15 Minute Series modules. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________REGULAR ARTICLE______________________ CALENDAR OF EVENTS by Ashleigh Dockery, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ FEBRUARY, 1997 CALENDAR OF EVENTS _________________________________________________________________ AGENTS '97: The First International Conference on Autonomous Agents February 4-7, 1997 City, ST http://www.gina.com/wire/tn/tn960840.htm Telecommunications & Information Policy: Doing it Right in Minnesota February 6, 1997 Cowles Auditorium, S. Minneapolis, MN ISOC Symposium on Network & Distributed System Security February 10-11, 1997 San Diego, CA http://info.isoc.org:80/conferences/ndss97/ NANOG: North American Network Operator's Group February 10-11, 1997 San Francisco, CA http://www.nanog.org Association for Educational Communications & Technology National Convention February 12-16, 1997 Albuquerque, NM Colloquium on Scholarly Communication Issues Sponsored by: Faxon Institute February 12-13, 1997 Washington, DC ConTEXT '97: A Conference on Textbooks & Technology February 13-15, 1997 Houston, TX ALA Midwinter Meeting February 14-20, 1997 Washington, DC http://www.ala.org/alaevents/mw97prospectus/ Libraries as Leaders: Integrating Systems for Service Sponsored by: Online Computer Library Center, Inc. February 14, 1997 Washington, DC http://www.oclc.org Datanet Security 1997: Annual International Conference and Exhibition on Internet Security February 17-20, 1997 Miami, FL http://www.datasec.net Internet Expo & Email World February 17-19, 1997 San Jose, CA I2 - Internet & Intranet Expo February 18-20, 1997 Boston, MA Web Design & Development February 22-26, 1997 San Francisco, CA Publishing in the New Millennium II/Managing the Transition:Product Development & Marketing on the WWW Sponsored by: NFAIS, The National Federation of Abstracting and Information Sciences February 23-26, 1997 Philadelphia, PA http://www.pa.utulsa.edu/nfais.html Ongoing Events Classroom Connect Training Seminars Various Locations http://www.classroom.net/classroom/conf.html _________________________________________________________________ MARCH, 1997 CALENDAR OF EVENTS _________________________________________________________________ ACM Association for Computing: The Next 50 Years of Computing March 1-5, 1997 San Jose, CA 7th Conference on Computers, Freedom, & Privacy March 11-14, 1997 Burlingame, CA http://www.cfp.org Spring Internet World '97 March 12-14, 1997 Los Angeles, CA http://www.iworld.com/events/ Museums and the Web Sponsored by: The Getty Information Institute March 16-19, 1997 Los Angeles, CA http://www.archimuse.com 17th Annual Microcomputers in Education Conference: Mastering the Electric Classroom March 17-19, 1997 Tempe, AZ http://MEC.ed-asu.edu/97 Internet & Electronic Commerce Expo March 17-20, 1997 New York, NY Internet World Asia '97 March 19-21, 1997 Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia http://www.iworld.com/events Security & Access for Multimedia Services March 21-22, 1997 Florence, Italy InterOp DotCom San Jose March 24-26, 1997 San Jose, CA Canadian National Internet Show March 28-31, 1997 Toronto, Ontario, Canada http://www.cyberplex.com/CyberPlex/cnis/CNIShome.html Ongoing Events Classroom Connect Trainining Seminars Various Locations http://www.classroom.net/classroom/conf.html __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________REGULAR ARTICLE______________________ REGISTRATION SERVICES PERFORMANCE MEASURES FOR DECEMBER, 1996 by Rich Landers, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ PURPOSE The following performance measures are provided in accordance with the requirements of Amendment 4 to Cooperative Agreement No. NCR-9218742, Network Information Services Manager(s) for NSFNET and the NREN: INTERNIC Registration Services. PERFORMANCE Communication Received by InterNIC Registration Services Type Number of contacts E-mail to hostmaster@internic.net 222,718 Postal/fax N/A Phone 35,981 Information Server Performance Type Connections Retrievals Gopher 1,111 1,175 WAIS 34,797 21,130 FTP 77,898 146,999 Mailserv n/a Telnet 91,638 HTTP n/a WHOIS Queries Client Server 1,350,624 14,411,766 Second-Level Domain Registration Summary These figures are cumulative from August 1993 through December, 1996 Top-level domain Number COM 795,989 EDU 3,309 ORG 53,141 NET 44,431 GOV 548 Other 194 TOTAL 897,612 Registration processing time frames Backlog for manually processed requests as of December 31st was: + Domains: 1 day + Hostmaster questions: 1 day + Contact templates: 3 days + Host templates: 2 days + Billing email questions: 7 days _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________REGULAR ARTICLE______________________ WHAT'S IN A NAME? [THE NIC] by Tom Newell, Manager, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ Each month the InterNIC develops this column to share interesting, and hopefully useful, demographic information related to the domain name system and the registration process. We will include here in table and graphic format, indications of the size of the "name space" available for Internet trainers to use in curriculum development. In this month's column, we provide: + Cumulative Registration Numbers + New Registrations by Month + Domain Name Update Requests by Month + Root Name Server Information If a particular demographic would be of interest, let us know and we will work to include the information in future columns. Suggestions for future material may be sent to meter@internic.net. _________________________________________________________________ CUMULATIVE REGISTRATIONS The figures below describe the total second-level names from the Top Level Domains of .COM, .NET, .ORG, .GOV, and .EDU as well as the two-letter country codes. The numbers reflect the total registrations at that point in time. The actual number of active domains for the TLD's indicated is actually lower accounting for name deletions (non-payment, requested deletions, etc.). Information cut-off date: 12/31/96 Cumulative Registrations (1296) Jan-96 226,189 Feb-96 263,760 Mar-96 306,347 Apr-96 351,786 May-96 400,903 Jun-96 456,456 Jul-96 513,018 Aug-96 579,504 Sep-96 654,790 Oct-96 740,867 Nov-96 825,642 Dec-96 897,662 _________________________________________________________________ NEW DOMAIN REGISTRATIONS BY MONTH The figures below describe the total second-level names from the Top Level Domains of .COM, .NET, .ORG, .GOV, and .EDU as well as the two-letter country codes. The numbers reflect the total registration actions completed for the given month. Information cut-off date: 12/31/96 New Registrations (by Month) Jan-96 27,430 Feb-96 37,571 Mar-96 42,587 Apr-96 45,439 May-96 49,117 Jun-96 55,553 Jul-96 56,562 Aug-96 66,486 Sep-96 75,286 Oct-96 86,077 Nov-96 84,725 Dec-96 72,020 _________________________________________________________________ DOMAIN NAME UPDATE REQUESTS BY MONTH The figures below describe the monthly request rate for modification of information for the second-level names of the Top Level Domains of .COM, .NET, .ORG, .GOV, and .EDU as well as the two-letter country codes. Information cut-off date: 12/31/96 Update Requests (by Month) Jan-96 11,504 Feb-96 15,265 Mar-96 17,961 Apr-96 18,222 May-96 19,950 Jun-96 33,005 Jul-96 25,095 Aug-96 35,192 Sep-96 43,624 Oct-96 141,893 Nov-96 128,024 Dec-96 152,816 _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR by Hope Glass, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters to the Editor is intended as a question and answer section for InterNIC-related questions of a general nature. Specific questions related to the status of a registration request should be sent to hostmaster@internic.net. _________________________________________________________________ Note from the InterNIC News: We are including the following letter from First Virtual to inform webmasters of the opportunity to support the United Cerebral Palsy Association. Dear Internet Community: I am writing to ask for your assistance in helping First Virtual Holdings support an extremely worthwhile non-profit organization, the United Cerebral Palsy Association. First Virtual has worked in conjunction with this organization to create a unique transactional banner advertisement or VirtualTAG tm . The VirtualTAG allows for charitable donations to be made from within the banner without needing to leave the hosting web site. Our goal is to work within the Internet community to give this VirtualTAG exposure on as many sites as possible and to help raise funds for this exceptional organization. To learn more about how you can participate in this program please go to URL: http://www.1virtualplace.com/charity/ Sincerely, Tom Daniel VP Merchant Services First Virtual Holding Inc. _________________________________________________________________ Question from Rob Yoegel: Do you have a count on the amount of registered domain names (.com, .org and .edu) that I can use in a story for Target Marketing magazine? I would cite InterNIC as the source. Thanks, Rob Yoegel Response from InterNIC News: Hi Rob, Each month the InterNIC News features a column that details the Registration Services Performance Measures. The column is entitled "Performance Measures," and can be found at the following URL: http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/stats.html Here you will find the information you have requested. Warm regards, Hope _________________________________________________________________ Send questions and comments to editor@internic.net. We look forward to hearing from you! _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ GET THE INTERNIC NEWS by Hope Glass, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ The InterNIC News will be published monthly. You may visit the InterNIC Support Services Web Site (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support) to see the latest issue (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/) and to peruse back issues (http://rs.internic.net/nic-support/nicnews/archive/). The newsletter will also be made available in a plain-text version, for access at the InterNIC's FTP site (ftp://rs.internic.net/NIC-support/newsletter/) and for distribution via an electronic mailing list. To subscribe to the newsletter distribution list, you may either use our Web-based interface at http://rs.internic.net/cgi-bin/lwgate/NEWSLETTER/, or simply send e-mail to listserv@internic.net with the command SUBSCRIBE NEWSLETTER [YOUR NAME] in the body of the mail message. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ MEET THE STAFF OF THE INTERNIC NEWS by Hope Glass, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ WHO'S WHO ON THE INTERNIC NEWS STAFF Hope Glass is the Editor of the InterNIC News. She is in charge of all editorial activities of the publication. _________________________________________________________________ Dan Rinzel is Delivery Manager for the InterNIC News and Webmaster for the InterNIC Information and Education group, with responsibility for maintenance and development of all aspects of the user interface of the InterNIC external and internal Web Sites. _________________________________________________________________ Ashleigh Dockery, as Event Coordinator for NSI, is responsible for coordinating NSI/InterNIC's involvement in industry tradeshows, as well as designing, implementing, and managing NSI conferences and meetings. _________________________________________________________________ Dabe Murphy is a UNIX Systems Administrator and acts as the technical "jack-of-all-trades" for the InterNIC Information and Education group. _________________________________________________________________ Peter Crowe is a digital artist for the InterNIC Information and Education group and functions as a traditional graphic artist. He is also a PC systems specialist with an emphasis in software/hardware troubleshooting, networking and a healthy interest in 3D modeling and animation. _________________________________________________________________ Rich Landers is the Special Projects Coordinator for the InterNIC Information and Education group. He is also a regular contributor to the InterNIC News. _________________________________________________________________ Anna Carts is the Training Materials Specialist for the InterNIC Information and Education group. She supports the development of the 15 Minute Series training modules. _________________________________________________________________ Jack Solock is a Special Librarian with InterNIC Net Scout Services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He is regularly featured in the End User's Corner of the InterNIC News. _________________________________________________________________ Agnes Tatarka is the new "Lead Webmaster." She and members of the web team will be providing technical and graphic support to the Information and Education Services group. _________________________________________________________________ Robin Murphy serves as the project manager for the 15 Minute Series. She also conducts community outreach and provides project management and product development for a range of InterNIC services aimed at the research and education community. She is a regular contributor to the InterNIC News. _________________________________________________________________ As Manager of the InterNIC Information and Education Services Group, Tom Newell coordinates all customer information and education programs, including Internet-based information services, WWW resources and tools development, research and education liaison activities, community liaison activities, electronic mailing list administration, and tradeshow, conference, and events planning. Tom also serves as the contract liaison for the Net Scout Services project of the InterNIC, hosted at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. Finally, Tom coordinates project integration efforts for the InterNIC and NSI which have a WWW component. _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ AWARDS AND RECOGNITION by Hope Glass, Information & Education Services _________________________________________________________________ The InterNIC News has been the recipient of the following awards and commendations: * A Four-star rating and "Gold Site" award from NetGuide: " [****] " - see http://www.netguide.com/server-java/NGPage/ SearchBrowseResultsDetail?SiteApp.SiteID=84362 * A Looksmart Editor's Choice Award from the Looksmart Search Engine: _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ USER FEEDBACK by Tom Newell, Manager, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE TO SEE IN THE INTERNIC NEWS? Our goal is to produce an interesting, informative publication that addresses the needs of the Internet's diverse population, both information providers and information seekers. Tell us what you'd like to see in future issues of the InterNIC News How can we address your information needs? We also welcome any contributions you are willing to make to the InterNIC News. The InterNIC staff looks forward to working closely with you to inform the Internet community about your R&E projects, technological developments, and user services. You may contact the editor of the InterNIC News via e-mail at editor@internic.net. In addition to story ideas or contributions, we sincerely appreciate your comments and suggestions on how we can make this newsletter a publication that satisfies the needs of the Internet community. Please note that we can only respond to questions and comments that are accompanied by a valid e-mail address. Thank you for your input. Tom Newell Manager, Information and Education Services liaison@internic.net _________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________ / _/__ / /____ ____/ |/ / _/ ___/ / |/ /__ _ _____ _/ // _ \/ __/ -_) __/ // // /__ / / -_) |/|/ (_-< /___/_//_/\__/\__/_/ /_/|_/___/\___/ /_/|_/\__/|__,__/___/ _____________________EDITORIAL SEGMENT____________________ USING MATERIAL FROM THE INTERNIC NEWS by Hope Glass, InterNIC Information and Education Services _________________________________________________________________ You are encouraged to use and redistribute the InterNIC News, provided the following conditions are met: Permission to copy or use material from the InterNIC News is hereby granted subject to inclusion of the following statement: "This article is reprinted with permission from the InterNIC News, published by the InterNIC." This newsletter and its contents may not be sold for profit or incorporated in commercial documents without the written permission of the copyright holder. This material is based on work sponsored by the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement #NCR-9218742. The Government has certain rights in this material. _________________________________________________________________