DNSEXT Working Group                       Olafur Gudmundsson (NAI Labs)
INTERNET-DRAFT                                           2001/January/25
<draft-ietf-dnsext-message-size-03.txt>

Updates:A new Request for Comments is now available in online RFC 2535, libraries.

        RFC 2874 3226

        Title:      DNSSEC and IPv6 A6 aware server/resolver message
                    size requirements

Status of this Memo

   This document is an Internet-Draft and is in full conformance with
   all provisions of Section 10 of RFC2026.

   Internet-Drafts are working documents of the Internet Engineering
   Task Force (IETF), its areas, and its working groups.  Note that
   other groups may also distribute working documents as Internet-
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   Internet-Drafts are draft documents valid for a maximum of six months
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   time.  It is inappropriate to use Internet-Drafts as reference
   material or to cite them other than as ``work in progress.''

   The list of current Internet-Drafts can be accessed at
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   Comments should be sent to the authors or the DNSEXT WG mailing list
   namedroppers@ops.ietf.org

   This draft expires on July 20, 2001.

   Copyright Notice

   Copyright (C) The Internet Society (2001).  All rights reserved.

Abstract
        Author(s):  O. Gudmundsson
        Status:     Standards Track
        Date:       December 2001
        Mailbox:    ogud@ogud.com
        Pages:      6
        Characters: 12078
        Updates:    2874, 2535

        I-D Tag:    draft-ietf-dnsext-message-size-04.txt

        URL:        ftp://ftp.rfc-editor.org/in-notes/rfc3226.txt

This document mandates support for EDNS0 (Extension Mechanisms for
DNS) in DNS entities claiming to support either DNS Security
Extensions or A6 records.  This requirement is necessary because these
new features increase the size of DNS messages.  If EDNS0 is not
supported fall back to TCP will happen, having a detrimental impact on
query latency and DNS server load.

1 - Introduction

   Familiarity with the DNS[RFC1034, RFC1035], DNS Security
   Extensions[RFC2535], EDNS0[RFC2671] and A6[RFC2874] is helpful.  This document updates RFC 1035[RFC1035] Section 2.3.4 requires that DNS messages over UDP
   have a data payload of 512 octets or less. Most DNS software today
   will not accept larger UDP datagrams.  Any answer that requires more
   than 512 octets, results in a partial and sometimes useless reply
   with the Truncation Bit set; in most cases the requester will then
   retry using TCP.  Furthermore, server delivery of truncated responses
   varies widely 2535
and resolver handling of these responses also varies,
   leading to additional inefficiencies in handling truncation.

   Compared to UDP, TCP is an expensive protocol to use for a simple
   transaction like DNS: a TCP connection requires 5 packets for setup
   and tear down, excluding data packets, thus requiring at least 3
   round trips on top of the one for the original UDP query.  The DNS
   server also needs to keep a state of the connection during this
   transaction.  Many DNS servers answer thousands of queries per
   second, requiring them to use TCP will cause significant overhead and
   delays.

1.1 - Requirements

   The key words ``MUST'' ``REQUIRED'', ``SHOULD'', ``RECOMMENDED'',
   and ``MAY'' in this document are to be interpreted as described in RFC 2119.

2 Motivating factors

2.1 - DNSSEC motivations

   DNSSEC[RFC2535] secures DNS 2874, by adding new requirements.

This document is a Public Key signature on each
   RR set.  These signatures range in size from about 80 octets to 800
   octets, most are going to be in the range product of 80 to 200 octets.  The
   addition of signatures on each or most RR sets in an answer
   significantly increases the size of DNS answers from secure zones.

   For performance reasons and to reduce load on DNS servers, it is
   important that security aware servers and resolvers get all the data
   in Answer and Authority section in one query without truncation.
   Sending Additional Data in the same query is helpful when Extensions Working Group of the server
IETF.

This is authorative for the data, and this reduces round trips.

   DNSSEC OK[OK] specifies how now a client can, using EDNS0, indicate that
   it is interested in receiving DNSSEC records.  The OK bit does not
   eliminate the need for large answers for DNSSEC capable clients.

2.1.1 Message authenticaion or TSIG motivation

   TSIG[RFC2845] allows for the light weight authentication of DNS
   messages, but increases the size of the messages by at least 70
   octets.  DNSSEC Proposed Standard Protocol.

This document specifies an Internet standards track protocol for computationally expensive message
   authentication SIG(0) using a standard public key signature.  As only
   one TSIG or SIG(0) can be attached to each DNS answer
the size
   increase of message authentication is not significant, but may still
   lead to a truncation.

2.2 - IPv6 Motivations

   IPv6 addresses[RFC2874] are 128 bits Internet community, and are represented in the DNS
   by multiple A6 records, each consisting of a domain name requests discussion and a bit
   field.  The domain name refers to an address prefix that may require
   additional A6 RRs suggestions
for improvements.  Please refer to be included in the answer.  Answers where the
   queried name has multiple A6 addresses may overflow a 512-octet UDP
   packet size.

2.3 Root server and TLD server motivations

   The current number edition of root servers is limited to 13 as that is the
   maximum number of name servers and their address records that fit in
   one 512-octet answer for a SOA record.  If root servers start
   advertising A6 or KEY records then the answer for the root NS records
   will not fit in a single 512-octet DNS message, resulting in a large
   number of TCP query connections to the root servers.  Even if all
   client resolver query their local name server
"Internet Official Protocol Standards" (STD 1) for information, there
   are millions of these servers.  Each name server must periodically
   update its information about the high level servers.

   For redundancy, latency
standardization state and load balancing reasons, large numbers status of
   DNS servers are required for some zones.  Since the root zone this protocol.  Distribution
of this memo is used
   by the entire net, it unlimited.

This announcement is important sent to have as many servers as
   possible.  Large TLDs (and many high-visibility SLDs) often have
   enough servers that either A6 or KEY records would cause the NS
   response to overflow IETF list and the 512 byte limit.  Note that these zones with
   large numbers of servers are often exactly those zones that are
   critical RFC-DIST list.
Requests to be added to network operation and that already sustain fairly high
   loads.

2.4 UDP vs TCP for DNS messages

   Given all these factors, it is essential that any implementation that
   supports DNSSEC and or A6 deleted from the IETF distribution list
should be able sent to use larger DNS messages than 512
   octets.

   The original 512 restriction was put in place IETF-REQUEST@IETF.ORG.  Requests to avoid fragmentation
   of DNS responses.  A fragmented UDP message that suffers a loss of
   one of the fragments renders the answer useless and the query must be
   retried.  A TCP connection requires a larger number of round trips
   for establishment, data transfer and tear down, but only the lost
   data segments are retransmitted.

   In the early days a number of IP implementations did not handle
   fragmentation well, but all modern operating systems have overcome
   that issue thus sending fragmented messages is fine
added to or deleted from that
   standpoint.  The open issue is the effect of losses RFC-DIST distribution list should
be sent to RFC-DIST-REQUEST@RFC-EDITOR.ORG.

Details on fragmented
   messages.  If connection has high loss ratio only TCP will allow
   reliable transfer of DNS data, most links have low loss ratios thus obtaining RFCs via FTP or EMAIL may be obtained by sending fragmented UDP packet in one round trip is better than
   establishing a TCP connection to transfer a few thousand octets.

2.5 EDNS0 and large UDP messages

   EDNS0[RFC2671] allows clients to declare the maximum size of UDP
an EMAIL message they are willing to handle.  Thus, if the expected answer is
   between 512 octets and the maximum size that the client can accept, rfc-info@RFC-EDITOR.ORG with the additional overhead of a TCP connection can be avoided.

3 - Protocol changes:

   This document updates [RFC2535] and [RFC2874], by adding new
   requirements.

   All RFC2535-compliant servers and resolvers MUST support EDNS0 and
   advertise message size of at least 1220 octets, but SHOULD advertise
   message size of 4000.  This value might be too low to get full
   answers body
help: ways_to_get_rfcs.  For example:

        To: rfc-info@RFC-EDITOR.ORG
        Subject: getting rfcs

        help: ways_to_get_rfcs

Requests for high level servers and successor of this document may
   require a larger value.

   All RFC2874-compliant servers and resolver MUST support EDNS0 and
   advertise message size of at least 1024 octets, but SHOULD advertise
   message size of 2048.  The IPv6 datagrams special distribution should be 1024 octets,
   unless addressed to either the MTU
author of the path is known.

   All RFC2535 and RFC2874 compliant entities MUST be able to handle
   fragmented IP and IPv6 UDP packets.

   All hosts supporting both RFC2535 and RFC2874 MUST use the larger
   required value in EDNS0 advertisements.

4 Acknowledgments

   Harald Alvestrand, Rob Austein, Randy Bush, David Conrad, Andreas
   Gustafsson, Jun-ichiro itojun Hagino, Bob Halley, Edward Lewis
   Michael Patton and Kazu Yamamoto were instrumental in motivating and
   shaping this document.

4 - Security Considerations:

   There are no additional security considerations other than those in
   RFC2671.

5 - IANA Considerations:

   None

References:

[RFC1034]  P. Mockapetris, ``Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities''
           STD 13, RFC 1034, November 1987.

[RFC1035]  P. Mockapetris, ``Domain Names - Implementation and
           Specification'', STD 13, RFC 1035, November 1987.

[RFC2535]  D. Eastlake, ``Domain Name System Security Extensions'', RFC
           2535, March 1999.

[RFC2671]  P. Vixie, ``Extension Mechanisms for DNS (EDNS0)'',  RFC
           2671, August 1999.

[RFC2845]  P. Vixie, O. Gudmundsson, D. Eastlake, B. Wellington,
           ``Secret Key Transaction Authentication for DNS (TSIG)'', RFC
           2845, May 2000.

[RFC2874]  M. Crawford, C. Huitema, ``DNS Extensions to Support IPv6
           Address Aggregation and Renumbering'', RFC2874, July 2000.

[OK]       D. Conrad, ``Indicating Resolver Support of DNSSEC'', Work in
           progress, draft-ietf-dnsext-dnssec-okbit-xx.txt, November
           2000.

Author Address

      Olafur Gudmundsson
      NAI Labs/Network Associates
      3060 Washington Road (Rt. 97)
      Glenwood, MD 21738
      USA
      <ogud@tislabs.com>

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