Directory Services for a Nationwide Network

这项研究涉及到在全国范围内发现、识别和定位资源的问题。这项研究基于两个基本原则。首先，用户应该能够使用一组描述资源的属性或属性来标识资源。例如，不是必须知道处理器的名称或地址，用户应该能够声明他或她想要具有特定体系结构、运行特定操作系统、支持给定软件包并且可通过特定通信协议访问的处理器。命名系统应该负责定位与这种描述匹配的资源。第二个宗旨是，全国范围内的网络命名系统将高度分散。这种权力下放的主要原因与其说是规模问题，不如说是自治问题。这样的网络预计将由一组自治系统组成，每个自治系统负责管理和命名自己的资源。例如，国家研究和教育网络横跨数千个自治组织。这样一个网络的命名系统可能是按比例分散的。研究人员正在研究用一组属性识别资源的方法，并探索搜索大的、高度分散的命名空间的技术。这项工作是基于他们设计和使用两个实验性命名系统的经验：Profile和Universal。

This research concerns the problem of discovering, identifying and locating resources in a nationwide network. The research is based on two fundamental tenets. The first is that users should be able to identify a resource with a set of attributes or properties that describe the resource. For example, rather than having to know the name or address of a processor, the user should be able to state that he or she wants a processor that has a particular architecture, runs a certain operating system, supports a given software package, and is reachable via a specific communication protocol. It should be the naming system's responsibility to locate a resource that matches such a description. The second tenet is that the naming system for a nationwide network will be highly decentralized. The primary reason for this decentralization is not the problem of scale so much as the problem of autonomy. Such a network is expected to consist of a collection of autonomous systems, each of which is responsible for managing and naming its own resources. For example, the National Research and Education Network spans thousands of autonomous organizations. The naming system for such a network probably will be decentralized proportionally.The researchers are investigating methods for identifying resources with a set of attributes, and exploring techniques for searching a large, high decentralized name space. This effort is based on their experience designing and using two experimental naming systems: Profile and Univers.