Re: [DNSOP] [Ext] Starting a -bis document for RFC 8109: Initializing a DNS Resolver with Priming Queries

[Andrew McConachie <[e-mail]>]

On 6 Aug 2020, at 16:41, Paul Hoffman wrote:

> On Aug 6, 2020, at 4:08 AM, Andrew McConachie <[e-mail]> 
> wrote:
>>
>> What does it mean for a resolver to be primed, or for a resolver to 
>> not be primed? For example, is a resolver considered primed only if 
>> it has all root server names and IP addresses? 50%? At least 1?
>
> Excellent questions, two that the WG can certainly consider. Note that 
> it *is* two questions, the root server names and the associated 
> addresses.
>
> From the text you quote:
>
>>   Priming is the act of finding the list of root servers from a
>>   configuration that lists some or all of the purported IP addresses 
>> of
>>   some or all of those root servers.  A recursive resolver starts 
>> with
>>   no information about the root servers, and ends up with a list of
>>   their names and their addresses.
>
> RFC 8109 indicates that priming means knowing the full set of names 
> and the full set of addresses.
It would be good if this document said that without having to refer back 
to RFC 8109.

>
>> If that were true it would be impossible for the resolver to find 
>> anything. It definitely starts with some information about the root 
>> servers. Maybe change "no information" to "this information".
>
> This distinction is important. A resolver starts with no actual 
> information, but only meta-information: where to get the actual names 
> and addresses for the root server. Is there a better way to say this 
> in the -bis document?
>
Meta-information is information, just like meta-data is data. The 
distinction only depends on context.

How about this for the last sentence, “A recursive resolver starts 
with no cached information about the root servers, and finishes with a 
full list of their names and their addresses in its cache.”

—Andrew