The JANET NRS (Name Registration Scheme) was a pseudo-hierarchical naming scheme used on British academic and research networks in the 1980s. Its purpose was to organise and manage domain names within the JANET network, contributing to the establishment of computer networking familiarities at universities in the United Kingdom and other academic and research institutions. It used a reverse domain name notation.
It was proposed in 1983 and used until the superficially similar Internet Domain Name System (DNS) was fully adopted.[1][2][3][4]
Purpose and structureedit
The JANET NRS was developed to allocate and maintain unique domain names for organisations connected to the JANET network.[5] Its primary purpose was to ensure a standardised and organised approach to domain name registration, facilitating identification and differentiation of institutions and their computer resources on the network.
All NRS names had both a standard (long) and abbreviated (up to 18 characters) form. For example, UK.AC.CAMBRIDGE was the less widely used standard equivalent of the abbreviated name UK.AC.CAM.
For email, interoperability between the "Grey Book" email addressing style of user@UK.AC.SITE and ARPA and USENET addresses of the style user@site.ac.uk was achieved by way of mail gateway at University College London.[2][3][6][7]
Comparison with DNSedit
As Internet usage expanded and commercial entities emerged, the more general Domain Name System (DNS) superseded the NRS. A principal difference with the Domain Name System was that the order of significance began with the most significant part (so called big-endian addresses). Also, NRS names were canonically written in upper case. For example, the University of Cambridge had the NRS name UK.AC.CAM, whereas its DNS domain is cam.ac.uk.
After Internet top-level domains were introduced from 1984, confusion was caused when the least significant part of an Internet address matched the most significant part of an NRS address and vice versa. The ccTLD ".cs" for Czechoslovakia came into use around 1990-2 until 1995. The classic joke was that e-mail intended for UK universities ended up in Czechoslovakia, since many JANET e-mail addresses were of the form user@UK.AC.universityname.CS, where "CS" stood for Computer Science (department).[2][3][6]
Another significant difference from the DNS was the concept of context to name lookups, e.g. 'mail' or 'file transfer'. This made the NRS more sophisticated than the DNS, permitting overloading of names.
Legacyedit
JANET transitioned to using Internet protocols in 1991,[8] and by 1994 the DNS had become the de facto standard for domain names on JANET.[9] The final mail gateway was taken out of service by the end of 1997.[10] Nonetheless, the JANET NRS remains a significant part of the history of network infrastructure and academic networking in the UK. The one remaining legacy of the NRS is the convention of using .uk for the Internet country code top-level domain (ccTLD), rather than .gb as specified by ISO 3166. The UK was the only country with a pre-existing national standard.[11]
^ abMansell, Robin; Mansell, Dixons Chair in New Media and the Internet Interdepartmental Programme in Media and Communications Robin (2002). Inside the Communication Revolution: Evolving Patterns of Social and Technical Interaction. Oxford University Press. p. 208. ISBN978-0-19-829656-0.
^Kirstein, P.T. (1999). (PDF). IEEE Annals of the History of Computing. 21 (1): 38–44. doi:10.1109/85.759368. ISSN 1934-1547. S2CID 1558618. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2020-02-07. From the outset of the project, we aimed not only to carry out innovative research, but also to provide network services to UK and U.S. groups that wished to cooperate.
^"FLAGSHIP". Central Computing Department Newsletter (16). September 1991.
^. Janet webarchive. 1997. Archived from the original on February 16, 2012.
^Milton Mueller (2002), Ruling the Root: Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace, Cambridge, Massachusetts: MIT Press, p. 79, ISBN978-0-262-63298-0
Sourcesedit
Rutter, Dorian (2005). From Diversity to Convergence: British Computer Networks and the Internet, 1970-1995(PDF) (Computer Science thesis). The University of Warwick.
April 11, 2024
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The JANET NRS Name Registration Scheme was a pseudo hierarchical naming scheme used on British academic and research networks in the 1980s Its purpose was to organise and manage domain names within the JANET network contributing to the establishment of computer networking familiarities at universities in the United Kingdom and other academic and research institutions It used a reverse domain name notation Contents 1 History 2 Purpose and structure 3 Comparison with DNS 4 Legacy 5 See also 6 References 6 1 SourcesHistory editIt was proposed in 1983 and used until the superficially similar Internet Domain Name System DNS was fully adopted 1 2 3 4 Purpose and structure editThe JANET NRS was developed to allocate and maintain unique domain names for organisations connected to the JANET network 5 Its primary purpose was to ensure a standardised and organised approach to domain name registration facilitating identification and differentiation of institutions and their computer resources on the network NRS second level domains consisted of UK AC JANET academic and scientific sites UK CO commercial and UK MOD Ministry of Defence Any organisations not falling into these categories were given their own second level name e g UK BL British Library or UK NEL National Engineering Laboratory All NRS names had both a standard long and abbreviated up to 18 characters form For example UK AC CAMBRIDGE was the less widely used standard equivalent of the abbreviated name UK AC CAM For email interoperability between the Grey Book email addressing style of user UK AC SITE and ARPA and USENET addresses of the style user site ac uk was achieved by way of mail gateway at University College London 2 3 6 7 Comparison with DNS editAs Internet usage expanded and commercial entities emerged the more general Domain Name System DNS superseded the NRS A principal difference with the Domain Name System was that the order of significance began with the most significant part so called big endian addresses Also NRS names were canonically written in upper case For example the University of Cambridge had the NRS name UK AC CAM whereas its DNS domain is cam ac uk After Internet top level domains were introduced from 1984 confusion was caused when the least significant part of an Internet address matched the most significant part of an NRS address and vice versa The ccTLD cs for Czechoslovakia came into use around 1990 2 until 1995 The classic joke was that e mail intended for UK universities ended up in Czechoslovakia since many JANET e mail addresses were of the form user UK AC universityname CS where CS stood for Computer Science department 2 3 6 Another significant difference from the DNS was the concept of context to name lookups e g mail or file transfer This made the NRS more sophisticated than the DNS permitting overloading of names Legacy editJANET transitioned to using Internet protocols in 1991 8 and by 1994 the DNS had become the de facto standard for domain names on JANET 9 The final mail gateway was taken out of service by the end of 1997 10 Nonetheless the JANET NRS remains a significant part of the history of network infrastructure and academic networking in the UK The one remaining legacy of the NRS is the convention of using uk for the Internet country code top level domain ccTLD rather than gb as specified by ISO 3166 The UK was the only country with a pre existing national standard 11 See also editColoured Book protocols Internet in the United Kingdom History Non Internet email addressReferences edit Wells Mike 1988 11 01 JANET the United Kingdom Joint Academic Network Serials 1 3 28 36 doi 10 1629 010328 ISSN 1475 3308 a b c Houlder Peter January 19 2007 Starting the Commercial Internet in the UK PDF 6th UK Network Operators Forum Archived from the original PDF on 2020 02 13 Retrieved 2020 02 12 a b c Reid Jim April 3 2007 Networking in UK Academia 25 Years Ago PDF 7th UK Network Operators Forum Archived from the original PDF on August 20 2007 Retrieved 2020 02 12 The Hidden Prehistory of European Research Networking Trafford Publishing ISBN 978 1 4669 3935 6 GR guide axion physics ubc ca Retrieved 2023 08 16 a b Mansell Robin Mansell Dixons Chair in New Media and the Internet Interdepartmental Programme in Media and Communications Robin 2002 Inside the Communication Revolution Evolving Patterns of Social and Technical Interaction Oxford University Press p 208 ISBN 978 0 19 829656 0 Kirstein P T 1999 Early experiences with the Arpanet and Internet in the United Kingdom PDF IEEE Annals of the History of Computing 21 1 38 44 doi 10 1109 85 759368 ISSN 1934 1547 S2CID 1558618 Archived from the original PDF on 2020 02 07 From the outset of the project we aimed not only to carry out innovative research but also to provide network services to UK and U S groups that wished to cooperate FLAGSHIP Central Computing Department Newsletter 16 September 1991 Rutter 2005 p 92 Janet UK Quarterly Report to the Janet Community July 1997 to September 1997 Janet webarchive 1997 Archived from the original on February 16 2012 Milton Mueller 2002 Ruling the Root Internet Governance and the Taming of Cyberspace Cambridge Massachusetts MIT Press p 79 ISBN 978 0 262 63298 0 Sources edit Rutter Dorian 2005 From Diversity to Convergence British Computer Networks and the Internet 1970 1995 PDF Computer Science thesis The University of Warwick Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title JANET NRS amp oldid 1183265372, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
