nanog mailing list archives

Re: News of ISC Developing BIND Patch


From: bdragon () gweep net
Date: Thu, 18 Sep 2003 15:06:04 -0400 (EDT)


On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 bdragon () gweep net wrote:

If the goal were unique identification, MAC addresses would do just fine.
No need for DNS.

MAC addresses are not without authority delegation. The IEEE is the ultimate
authority in said case.

Yep... But have you seen any controversy about who gets which block of MAC
addresses recently?  They're not scarce, and every block is just as good
as any other block.

There is no controvery because there is both close cooperation (those who
choose the mac addresses aren't the great unwashed masses of spammers
and those with nebulous business plans) and a singular authority to
arbitrate in the event of collisions.

Any solution which requires uniqueness also requires a singular ultimate
authority.

Not really.  You can just take random numbers. If you have enough bits
(and a good RNG) the probability of collision would be less than
probability of an asteroid wiping the life on Earth in the next year.

While collisions are unlikely, they are not impossible, and humans being
humans, the general public is unlikely to cooperatively resolve collisions
without a central authority.

RNG is not uniqueness, it is merely pseudo-uniqueness.

So, again, when uniqueness is required, a single central authority
is also a requirement.

<snip>


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