Outcome of terminology discussion

["Drummond Reed" <drummond.reed@cordance.net>]

In the special XRI TC call yesterday we also clarified terminology. Since ED
07 of XRI Resolution 2.0 Working Draft 10 will be adding an Overview section
to explain the "big picture" of XRI resolution architecture, I plan to put
definitions of the key terms in that section.

Following is the initial proposed wording for these definitions (remember,
all of this being in the context of XRI resolution). Please do send me any
feedback on this wording directly to the list as that will save us review
time on ED 07.

RESOLVER: a software module that makes XRI resolution requests from an
authority resolution service and optionally performs trusted resolution
verification and service endpoint selection.

LOCAL RESOLVER: the XRI resolver that runs in the local environment of the
application initiating XRI resolution, i.e., typically a client library or
local process that will be called by a local API. The equivalent of a DNS
resolver on a local machine. Local resolvers may do their own local caching
of XRDs.

PROXY RESOLVER: a resolver that is remote to the application initiating
resolution and therefore must be called using some form of network protocol.
The XRI Resolution 2.0 specification specifies one interface for a proxy
resolver using the HTTP protocol; any number of other interfaces via HTTP or
other protocols could be defined. A proxy resolver will typically invoke a
local resolver to do its own work. A proxy resolver will also typically
handle caching, especially if it serves a large network of local resolvers.

AUTHORITY RESOLUTION SERVICE: a network service, typically running on a
server, that answers XRI resolution requests from resolvers (either local
resolvers or proxy resolvers). Authority resolution services may optionally
offer lookahead resolution, in which case they will invoke their own local
resolver to make authority resolution requests of other authority resolution
services. Authority resolution services will typically cache resolution
requests from their own database as well as lookahead resolution responses.

Note that a single machine can host a local resolver, proxy resolver, and
authority resolution service all at the same time. This is particularly
efficient from a caching standpoint, as an XRD retrieved for any one of the
three roles can be reused by all three.

=Drummond