Subject: [DNSOP] draft-ietf-dnsop-terminology-bis and "recursive resolver"

From: Ted Lemon <[email-masked]>
Date: Thu, 19 Jan 2017 13:51:33 -0500

I'm updating a document for another working group, and Ralph Droms in his last call comments on that document asked me to use "recursive resolver" instead of "caching name server", referencing draft-ietf-dnsop-terminology-bis.   That document doesn't actually define "recursive resolver," but instead "full service resolver," which means almost, but not quite, the same thing.   The document does use the term "recursive resolver" fairly liberally despite there not being a definition for it.   Given that "recursive resolver" is in such common use, including in this document, I think the document should include a definition for "recursive resolver".

To me, it would make sense to say that a recursive resolver is a resolver that acts in recursive mode.   We would expect it to do caching, which would make it a full-service resolver, but it might not.