Service Applications Area Director: o David Crocker: dcrocker@mordor.stanford.edu Area Summary reported by David Crocker/Silicon Graphics The Service Applications Area encompasses support capabilities for system configuration and query and for structured inter-process communication. Mail-Based File Distribution BOF (MAILFTP) This BOF was tasked with discussing interest in developing a mail-based file transfer capability. It grew out of an initial effort by Marko Kaittola. The MAILFTP BOF started with a brainstorming on problems in the area. Identified issues were file name, size, type and structure, application type, gateways, bulk distribution, update mechanisms and file system hierarchies. A number of tools and protocols were identified which address some of the problems listed. Limited user need and expert time lead to the conclusion not to start a working group to solve the open problems in a coherent way. Domain Name System Working Group (DNS) The DNS Working Group discussed the status of the DNS MIB documents, the status of the DNS Security effort, the formation of the proposed DNS security working group, and the status of current SIPP DNS efforts. The group heard presentations from Ed King on DNS Vendor Requirements, and from Masataka Ohta on Dynamic Host Configuration. The Service Applications Area Director, Dave Crocker, also discussed a plan to conclude the current working group with the publication of the DNS MIB, and start the DNS Security effort as a newly-constituted working group. He explained that this was part of the general IETF effort to limit use of on-going, open-ended working groups, instead favoring ones with specific focus. Minimal OSI Upper-Layers Working Group (THINOSI) The THINOSI Working Group is pursuing use of that portion of the OSI stack which is above Transport and below specific user applications. It encompasses Session, Presentation, ACSE and ROSE. The THINOSI meeting was small but effective. As discussed on the mailing list, the present cookbook will be split into two documents. The profile aspects (i.e., subsetting of the OSI upper-layers as used by the basic communication applications) would be split out as a small document that just cites the OSI standards and other stable open documents. This would be targeted on the standards track. The rest of the cookbook (most of it) would be progressed as Informational. Discussion also showed that as well as the THINOSI target of reducing the processing needed to deal with the standard OSI protocols, there was a requirement in many circles for reduced bandwidth (i.e. a different protocol) to support some of the OSI upper-layer functions---many people had assumed this was what THINOSI was doing. The THINOSI mailing list will be opened for discussion on this, at least until an appropriate forum is established. Service Location Protocol Working Group (SVRLOC) The SVRLOC Working Group is developing a resource location protocol. The working group held two sessions at this IETF. The first went into the details of the Internet-Draft that has been submitted by the chairs. There were few comments about the wire specification as described except for issues about the size of several fields and the scaling issues of the protocol, and the use of the directory agent in the protocol. These issues were addressed in the afternoon session which was more design oriented. A proposal for directory agent discovery and use was worked out and will be written up by the working group chair. The issue of directory agent and service discovery out of the campus was punted as future work.