[council] Clarified Technical Name Server Checks Published

[Glen de Saint Géry <Glen@xxxxxxxxx>]

Council FYI

Clarified Technical Name Server Checks Published

8 June 2009

ICANN has published a revised procedure, entitled "Technical requirements for 
authoritative name servers", on the IANA website. 

When a domain operator within an IANA-managed zone (such as a top-level domain 
operator) wishes to change their authoritative name server delegation details, 
ICANN performs technical checks against the proposed servers. These tests are 
designed to check minimal conformance with technical standards to ensure the 
domain will function correctly. 

The previous technical conformance criteria available on the IANA website were 
published in 2001, and did not comprehensively reflect current practice. 
Recognising the need for better documentation, staff also felt that the intent 
of the checks could be better fulfilled by implementing improved evaluation 
techniques. 

ICANN published the current set of tests performed and solicited public 
feedback on those tests. Useful contributions were received from many parties, 
both through the public comment period, and through subsequent discussions at 
operator forums. This feedback, particularly from the top-level domain operator 
community, formed the basis of the revised requirements. 

In the procedures, the technical checks performed are advisory. If the domain 
operator does not meet all the criteria, if they can show Internet stability is 
not harmed then the technical changes can still be accepted. 

Technical requirements for authoritative name servers 
http://www.iana.org/procedures/nameserver-requirements.html 

Call for public comments on technical check procedure 
http://www.icann.org/en/announcements/announcement-18aug06.htm 

Comments received during call for public comments 
http://forum.icann.org/lists/techcheck-comments/

Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat
gnso.secretariat@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://gnso.icann.org