






                    NIC.DDN.MIL - DDN Network Information Center


            _A_d_d_r_e_s_s:
               DDN Network Information Center
               Suite 200
               14200 Park Meadow Drive
               Chantilly, VA 22021

            _E_m_a_i_l: NIC@NIC.DDN.MIL (for general user questions)

            _P_h_o_n_e: 1-800-365-DNIC
               (703) 802-4535
               FAX: (703) 802-8376


            _D_e_s_c_r_i_p_t_i_o_n

            The Network Information Center (NIC)  is  located  in  Chan-
            tilly,  VA,  and is managed by Network Solutions of Herndon,
            VA (as sub-contractors to Government Services, Inc.) The NIC
            host  computer is a SUN 470 which runs the SUN 4.2 operating
            System.  The NICs hostname is NIC.DDN.MIL and  its  Internet
            address is 192.112.36.5.  The NIC provides general user ser-
            vices via telephone, electronic mail, and U.S. postal  mail.
            The  NIC  operates  a  toll  free  telephone  service Monday
            through Friday from 7AM to 7PM Eastern  Standard  Time.   In
            addition to the telephone service, the NIC maintains several
            role mail boxes to answer user questions  via  E-mail.   The
            telephone numbers and mail boxes are listed below:

               Toll-Free: 1-800-365-3642
               International: 1-703-802-4535

            NIC's Role Mailbox Accounts:


            NIC@NIC.DDN.MIL           General user assistance, document
                                      requests
            REGISTRAR@NIC.DDN.MIL     User registration and whois updates
            HOSTMASTER@NIC.DDN.MIL    Host, domain, network changes
                                      and updates
            _________________________
            The information in this section is provided  in  accor-
            dance  with the copyright notice appearing at the front
            of this guide.




            July 8, 1992                NNSC        Section 6.2,  Page 1








            ACTION@NIC.DDN.MIL        NIC Computer Operations
            SUGGESTIONS@NIC.DDN.MIL   Comments on NIC Services
            SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL       Automatic mail service
            SCC@NIC.DDN.MIL           General Security related informa-
                                      tion and support


            The NIC works closely with network Host Administrators, Node
            Site  Coordinators, domain administrators, network coordina-
            tors, network protocol groups, vendors, contractors, govern-
            ment agencies, and military sponsors to assist new users and
            potential subscribers in obtaining pertinent network  infor-
            mation.

            The  NIC  provides  databases  and  information  servers  of
            interest to network users, including the WHOIS "white pages"
            registry, the NIC/Query browsing system,  TACNEWS,  and  the
            official  DoD  Host  Name Service. The NIC is the source for
            official DDN protocol documents (other than  the  MIL-STDs),
            as  well  as  other  DDN  documents,  and  maintains the RFC
            (Request for Comments) collection.  Many of the online files
            are  available  through  the  NIC's  automatic mail service,
            SERVICE@NIC.DDN.MIL.

            The NIC registers hosts  and  domains,  assigns  IP  network
            numbers and Autonomous System Numbers, and provides hostname
            translation tables and domain name system  server  files  to
            the  DDN Internet.  The NIC also registers network users and
            issues MILNET TAC access cards.

            ONLINE FILES

            The NIC maintains many online files that  are  available  to
            network  subscribers via the file transfer protocol (FTP) or
            Kermit.  These files contain  information  about  protocols,
            site  personnel,  hosts, and other subjects relevant to net-
            work users.  See the file netinfo/00netinfo-index.txt for an
            index  to  the files in the netinfo directory.  See also the
            DDN New User Guide or contact the NIC User  Assistance  ser-
            vice  for more information. Other publicly accessible direc-
            tories include PROTOCOLS, RFC, IEN, SCC, and DDN-NEWS.  Each
            of   these   directories   has   an   index  in  the  format
            00directory-index.txt or  directory-index.txt  in  order  to
            allow users to quickly identify the files they need.

            REGISTRATION SERVICES

            The NIC is responsible for the registration of users, hosts,



            July 8, 1992                NNSC        Section 6.2,  Page 2








            domains,  IP network numbers, and autonomous systems numbers
            (ASNs) for organizations connected to the DDN Internet.

            To register a new user with  the  NIC,  send  a  request  to
            registrar@nic.ddn.mil,  the  NIC's  role  mailbox  for  user
            registrations.  The template for user registration data  can
            be  found in the online file netinfo/user-template.txt.  The
            NIC registers users from the Military  Community,  primarily
            by  accepting  and  processing  templates  from  MILNET host
            administrators. These requests often  involve  TAC  Access--
            i.e.,  dialup  access to a MILNET host via a Terminal Access
            Controller.  The NIC issues and distributes TAC Access Cards
            to  users  who  require  the  service.   In general, the NIC
            registers users from the Internet community only if they are
            POCs for a domain or a network.

            To include a new host in the DDN  Internet  Host  Table,  an
            administrator   must   complete   the   template   found  in
            netinfo/ihost-template.txt   file   and   return    it    to
            HOSTMASTER@NIC.DDN.MIL.  To be included in the Host Table, a
            host must act as a domain or IN-ADDR server, be  a  gateway,
            or be essential for mail routing.

            Twice weekly, host information is  generated  into  the  DDN
            Internet Host Table as netinfo/hosts.txt, which is a listing
            of the hosts, gateways, and networks attached to the  Inter-
            net  and registered with the NIC.  From this file, two addi-
            tional files are generated: hosts.txt.Z, a  UNIX  compressed
            version of the hosts.txt file; and mil-hosts.txt, a complete
            listing of MILNET hosts from the hosts.txt file.

            Domains are registered via the domain template found in  the
            NIC  online  file  netinfo/domain-template.txt.   New domain
            information is installed in the seven DNS root servers twice
            weekly.    Information  on  the  root  servers  is  kept  in
            netinfo/root-servers.txt.  The domains registered  with  the
            NIC are listed in netinfo/domain-info.txt.  A listing of the
            netaddresses of the domain servers for individual  top-level
            domains can be found in netinfo/domains.txt.

            To obtain an IP network number  assignment,  a  network  POC
            must   complete  the  template  in  netinfo/internet-number-
            template.txt and returns the template  to  HOSTMASTER.   The
            file   netinfo/networks.txt  contains  a  complete  list  of
            government-sponsored networks.

            Address-to-hostname inverse resolution is  accomplished  via
            IN-ADDR  domains,  which  are  registered in the domain root



            July 8, 1992                NNSC        Section 6.2,  Page 3








            servers via an IN-ADDR template sent to the HOSTMASTER mail-
            box.   This  template is located in the file netinfo/inaddr-
            template.txt.

            To obtain an autonomous system numbers (ASNs) assignment,  a
            user  must  complete  the  template  found  in  netinfo/asn-
            template.txt  and  submit  it   to   HOSTMASTER@NIC.DDN.MIL.
            Assigned ASNs are listed in netinfo/asn.txt.

            POC  information  on  individuals  who   are   not   already
            registered  with  the NIC is extracted from domain, network,
            and ASN templates and  automatically  placed  in  the  WHOIS
            database.

            _W_h_o _C_a_n _U_s_e _t_h_e _R_e_s_o_u_r_c_e

            Anyone who is connected to the Internet can  use  the  NIC's
            WHOIS services or obtain its public netinfo files via FTP.

            _M_i_s_c_e_l_l_a_n_e_o_u_s

            The NIC maintains various mailing lists. Information can  be
            obtained  from  its  User  Assistance personnel as described
            above.

            _S_u_p_p_l_e_m_e_n_t_a_r_y _D_o_c_u_m_e_n_t_s _o_n _n_n_s_c._n_s_f._n_e_t

            WHAT-THE-NIC-DOES.TXT available in the netinfo directory.

            References Available on the Internet:

            The NIC has Requests For Comment (RFCs), Internet  Engineer-
            ing  Notes (IENs), For Your Information (FYI) documents, and
            other miscellaneous network  resource  and  reference  files
            available in its netinfo, rfc, and ien directories.
















            July 8, 1992                NNSC        Section 6.2,  Page 4


