Re: [DNSOP] DNS Terminology: Glue

[Casey Deccio <[e-mail]>]

On Fri, Mar 13, 2015 at 5:32 PM, Tony Finch <[e-mail]> wrote:

> Casey Deccio <[e-mail]> wrote:
> >
> > It seems like a reference to delegation NS records is also in order,
> based
> > on previous discussion:
> >
> > From:
> > "... the authoritative delegation (NS)..."
> >
> > To:
> > "... delegation or authoritative name server (NS) records (i.e., above or
> > below the zone cut)..."
>
> I prefer "apex NS records" for the ones below the zone cut. RFC 1034 uses
> "top node" - it seems the term "apex" was introduced with DNSSEC.
>
>
I could (alternatively) go for the use of "top node", e.g.,

"... delegation name server (NS) records or those at the top node (i.e.,
above or below the zone cut)..."

because RFC 1034 4.2.1 includes it as part of authoritative data (referring
to NS and SOA records):

"Data that defines the top node of the zone (can be thought of as part of
the authoritative data)."

Although, still "authoritative" seems to me more intuitive than "top node".

"Zone apex" seems ill-defined.  In namespace terms, a name is a name and
corresponds to a node in the namespace tree.  However, RFC 4033 (section 2)
seems to make "delegation point" and "zone apex" appear as though they were
two different nodes:

   Delegation Point: Term used to describe the name at the parental side
      of a zone cut.  That is, the delegation point for "foo.example"
      would be the foo.example node in the "example" zone (as opposed to
      the zone apex of the "foo.example" zone).  See also zone apex.

...

   Zone Apex: Term used to describe the name at the child's side of a
      zone cut.  See also delegation point.

But in the definition of "Authoritative RRset" "zone apex" is being used to
refer to both sides of the cut:

      ...All RRsets at the zone apex are
      authoritative, except for certain RRsets at this domain name that,
      if present, belong to this zone's parent.

I would not use "apex" for this reason.

Casey