ICANN participation

• The ICANN Bylaws (Article VII, Section 3(b)) describe the DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee as follows:

There shall be a DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee. The initial chairman of the DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee shall be appointed by the Board; subsequent chairs shall be elected by the members of the DNS Root Server System Advisory Committee pursuant to procedures adopted by the members. The responsibility of the Root Server System Advisory Committee shall be to advise the Board about the operation of the root name servers of the domain name system. The Root Server System Advisory Committee should consider and provide advice on the operational requirements of root name servers, including host hardware capacities, operating systems and name server software versions, network connectivity and physical environment. The Root Server System Advisory Committee should examine and advise on the security aspects of the root name server system. Further, the Root Server System Advisory Committee should review the number, location, and distribution of root name servers considering the total system performance, robustness, and reliability.

• The committee includes representatives of organizations responsible for operating the world's thirteen root nameservers and other organizations concerned with stable technical operation of the authoritative root server system. ICANN Director Jun Murai has been appointed chair of this committee.
     
•     RSSAC Statements:
  • RSSAC statement on ICANN's proposed next steps for IDN deployment in the root zone

   
• The committee meets periodically, usually in conjunction with IETF meetings. The committee's organizational meeting was held in Singapore on 2 March 1999. Here is a list of committee meetings:

• Projects the committee has been pursuing include:
   
  • The committee conducts projects under a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) between ICANN and the U.S. Government's National Institute for Standards and Technology (NIST) and National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA).
    
    The CRADA has been extended twice.
    
    
  • The statement of work under the CRADA is as follows:

The Statement of Work (SoW):The parties will collaborate on a study and process for making the management of the Internet (DNS) root server system more robust and secure. The collaboration will address:

Operational requirements of root name servers, including host hardware capacities, operating system and name server software versions, network connectivity, and physical environment.Examination of the security aspects of the root name server system and review of the number, location, and distribution of root name servers considering the total system performance, robustness, and
reliability.Development of operational procedures for the root system, including formalization of contractual relationships under which root servers throughout the world are operated.

The study will address the technical management of the entire Internet (DNS) root server system, including all (currently thirteen) root servers located throughout the world and the techniques and equipment for generating, maintaining, and distributing authoritative root zone files. The study will include formulation of the operational procedures, requirements, and protocols referenced above through engineering analysis and will be accomplished with appropriate consultation with affected parties, including existing operators of the Internet root server system, through use of collaborator's Root Server System Advisory Committee and otherwise. After operational procedures, requirements, and protocols are formulated, they will be evaluated by implementing them in a controlled manner on the Internet (DNS) root server system. Any change(s) in the designated authoritative source for root zone files must be approved by the Department of Commerce in a separate document and nothing in this SoW or this Agreement is intended to direct such a change.

• In late 1999 and early 2000, the committee engaged in a major project to ensure that the root nameserver system operated smoothly through the various Y2K events. The committee issued a Y2K statement on 15 July 1999.
   Work is proceeding on defining appropriate agreements and technical measures to operate the root nameserver system according to the guidance in RFC 2870. These requirements will be incorporated in a memorandum of understanding between each operator and ICANN. A model of the MoU has been developed.
   The committee has been working on the development of a plan to enhance the architecture of the root-zone editing and distribution system. Jun Murai gave a presentation at the ICANN meeting in July 2000, after which the ICANN Board directed that a proposal be prepared for implementing the enhanced architecture, for presentation to the U.S. Department of Commerce.
   The committee, with the help of the Cooperative Association for Internet Data Analysis (CAIDA), is engaged in gathering traffic and performance measurements and conducting statistical analysis of the measurements and other data to better understand the performance of the root nameserver system and to plan for future reconfigurations.
   
• The committee is studying new technical developments that may affect the requirements for the root nameserver system, including IPv6, DNSSEC, and IDN.
   
• Comments and quesitons to the Committee should be directed to <rssac-comments@icann.org>.