Naming and Directory Issues in Message Transfer Systems
Name
MIT-LCS-TM-263.pdf
Size
8.13 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
c965634a718864a972a52f29692053bc
Author(s) •
Sirbu, Marvin A., Jr.
Sutherland, Juliet B.
Date Issued
July 1984
Series/Report no.
MIT-LCS-TM-263
Abstract
A message transfer system requires some means for users to determine the addresses of their correspondents. A Directory Service aids users in identifying a particular correspondent and the correspondent's address. In this paper we discuss the technical, economic, organizational and political requirements which must be satisified by a directory service. We develop a language for describing alternative architectures for directory service borrowed from notions of hierarchical computer file system design. We propose a system of naming and directory services which meets the stated requirements based on names which specify a path through a sequence of directories. Finally, we compare our proposal to several alternative designs for directory service which have appeared in the literature.
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