In this episode of PING, APNICs Chief Scientist Geoff Huston discusses a new proposed DNS resource record called DELEG. The record is being designed to aid in managing where a DNS zone is delegated.

Delegation is the primary mechanism used in the DNS to separate responsibility between child and parent for a given domain name. The DELEG RR is designed to address several problems, including a goal of moving to new transports for the name resolution service the DNS provides to all other Internet protocols.

Additionally, Geoff believes it can help with cost and management issues inherent in out-of-band external domain name management through the registry/registrar process, bound in the whois system and in a protocol called Extensible Provisioning Protocol or EPP.

There are big costs here and they include some problems dealing with intermediaries who manage your DNS on your behalf.

Unlike whois, EPP, and registrar functions, DELEG would be an in-band mechanism between the parent zone, any associated registry, and the delegated child zone. It’s a classic disintermediation story about improved efficiency and enables the domain name holder to nominate intermediaries for their services, via an aliasing mechanism that has until now eluded the DNS.

Read more about DELEG on the APNIC Blog and on the IETF website.

• DNS and the proposed DELEG record (APNIC Blog)
• ‘Extensible Delegation for DNS‘ (IETF draft)
• Extensible Provisioning Protocol (EPP) (IETF RFC)