Advanced ccTLD Workshop Assessment and Planning Guide
This assessment form is to help us determine what topics and direction to taken when we finalize a course outline for upcoming ccTLD workshops. We wish to customize the workshop topics to areas that will be useful to you. The more information you can give us in this assessment document, the better we will be able to do this.
1. SELF-ASSESSMENT
1a. Describe a major challenge that you have faced over the last months or years in operating and developing the registry operation.
Please include:
* The policy and the technical aspects of the challenge. * Interested parties who were involved in the process. * Solutions, if any, you have deployed to solve the challenge(s). * Tools or training that were included in your planning process.
THE MAJOR CHALLENGE THAT WE FACE ON THE MALAWI .MW CCTLD IS THE DEMAND FOR GREATER AUTOMATION AS WE FACE AN INCREASING NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS PER DAY. WE HAVE SO FAR BEEN COPING WITH DOING SEMI- MANUAL REGISTRY UPDATES, ZONE FILE UPDATES AND BILLING. HOWEVER, THE NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS PER DAY IS NOW EXCEEDING 50 AND IT HAS BECOME VERY DIFFICULT TO MAKE SURE THAT ALL TRANSACTIONS ARE DONE MANUALLY ON TIME.
WE WROTE OUR OWN REGISTRY SOFTWARE USING PUBLICLY AVAILABLE WEB DEVELOPMENT TOOLS, PHP AND MYSQL DATABASES. THE DNS USES BIND. THE REGISTRY SOFTWARE DOES NOT SO FAR GENERATE NOR UPDATE DNS ZONE FILES, WE MANUALY COLLECT ENTRIES FROM REGISTRY AND UPDATE ZONE FILES.
BILLING IS ALSO DONE BY MANUALLY RUNNING A SCRIPT PERIODICALLY.
OUR REGISTRY IS A SINGLE POINT AND SINGLE REGISTRAR/REGISTRY SYSTEM BUT WE WOULD LIKE TO MIGRATE TO HAVING MULTIPLE REGISTRARS.
WE NEED MORE TRAINING ON IMPLEMENTING AND RUNNING A REGISTRAR/REGISTRY SYSTEM WITH MULTIPLE REGISTRARS AND PROTOCOLS LIKE EPP
1b. Describe the projects on which you are currently working to solve or deploy, and their importance (ranking).
Please include:
* Interested parties involved in the process. * Plans for new hardware or software. * Additional skills or training that would support your project.
WE WOULD LIKE TO FIND A SOLUTION AND SOFTWARE THAT WOULD ALLOW US TO (A) AUTOMATE THE REGISTRY AND ZONE FILE GENERATION AND UPDATES, (B) MOVE TO A REGISTRY THAT CAN HANDLE MULTIPLE REGISTRARS POSSIBLY USING EPP.
WE CONTINUE TO DEVELOP MODULES FOR OUR REGISTRY ON PHP BUT PROGRESS HAS BEEN SLOW.
WE EMBARKED ON A PROJECT TO INSTALL THE BRAZILLIAN .BR REGISTRY SOFTWARE BEING MADE AVAILABLE BY .BR BUT WE FOUND THIS TO BE UNSATISFACTORY BECAUSE IT IS NO LONGER MAINTAINED AND DOES NO USE EPP.
WE ARE CURRENTLY INTERESTED IN, STUDYING AND TESTING THE FRED REGISTRY SOFTWARE DEVELOPED AND BEING DISTRIBUTED BY THE .CZ REGISTRY. THIS IS MUCH MORE PROMISING AS A SOLUTION FOR US.
1c. Describe the major areas where you plan to spend resources (time, money) in the next two years and how important they are to your registry.
Please include:
* A timeline (within 6 months, within 2 years, ..).
WITHIN 6 MONTHS: FINALIZE AUTOMATION OF TAKING NEW REGISTRATIONS, AUTOMATION OF ZONE FILE GENERATION AND UPDATING, MOVE TO EPP OR BETTER, AUTOMATE BILLING, RUN MULTIPLE REGISTRARS, DEVELOP POLICY FOR RUNNING MULTIPLE REGISTRARS
WITHIN TWO YEARS: TRAIN LOCAL REGISTRARS IN MALAWI TO USE THE REGISTRY AND BECOME REGISTRARS, IMPLEMENT DNSSEC, IMPLEMENT IDN
* Additional requirements (staff, tools, software, etc.).
WE NEED TO ACQUIRE AND IMPLEMENT A FULLY AUTOMATED REGISTRY. WE ARE SERIOUSLY CONSIDERING FRED WITH EPP
WE NEED TO GAIN TRAINING ON EPP, FRED AND SUCH LIKE REGISTRY SOFTWARE, AND WE NEED TO DEVELOP CAPACITY TO DEVELOP BETTER REGISTRY POLICY
AS OF NOW WE HAVE ADEQUATE STAFF BUT THEY NEED TRAINING.
* How did these topics make your list.
(scaling issue, customer demand, value add service etc.)SCALING IS A MAJOR ISSUE FOR US AT .MW. OUR CURRENT SEMI-MANUAL OPERATION DOES NOT SCALE VERY WELL. AS THE NUMBER OF TRANSACTIONS PER DAY INCREASED WE WOULD LIKE TO IMPLEMENT A SYSTEM THAT SCALES BETTER THAN OUR CURRENT SYSTEM.
OUR CUSTOMERS ARE DEMANDING BETTER AND FASTER HANDLING ON THE BILLING SYSTEM AND ON UPDATING THEIR RECORDS. THIS IS NOW PROVING DIFFICULT FOR US TO CATCH UP ON THE CURRENT SEMI MANUAL SYSTEM
HOWEVER, WE ARE ALSO AWARE THAT WE WILL GET BETTER PERFORMANCE IF THE PAYMENT SYSTEM IN MALAWI ALSO MOVES FORWARD TO IMPLEMENT ONLINE AND CREDIT CARD PAYMENTS.
* Probability of actual deployment.
(not very likely, rather likely, very likely, unavoidable).OUR IMPLEMENTATION OF FRED OR SUCH REGISTRY IS NOW VERY LIKELY. HOWEVER WE NEED TO UNDERSTAND EPP BETTER AND WE NEED MORE TRAINING ON RUNNING A REGISTRAR/REGISTRY MODEL WITH MULTIPLE REGISTRARS. WE ALSO NEED TO UNDERSTAND THE BACKGROUND SOFTWARE AND DATABASES BETTER SO THAT WE CAN MAINTIAN SUCH REGISRIES OURSELVES.
DEMAND REQUIRES THAT WE MOVE TO BETTER AUTOMATION, IT IS UNAVOIDABLE.
2. GENERAL TECHNICAL QUESTIONS
These questions are for the individual or individual from your organization who will be attending. Please be sure to answer questions about knowledge of specific items as they pertain to yourself. Please check all boxes that apply to you.
2a. How would you rate yourself in terms of Linux or Unix use?
[__] Never used either
[__] Beginner: Just getting started. Have worked at the command line some.
[__] Intermediate: I've installed Linux or Unix, edited files, installed software, stopped and started services.
[x] Advanced: I use it regularly. Editing files, installing software, configuring services and troubleshooting problems.
2b. What is your experience using DNS?
[x] I understand how DNS works and use tools like dig to query the DNS.
[x] I've installed BIND/NSD/Other, configured zones, etc.
[x] I know about or am interested in DNSSEC, TSIG, DNS with IPv6, etc.
[x] I do all of the above.
[] Other, please describe: ___________________________________
2c. Security
[x] I'm responsible for securing network servers and services at my location.
[x] I'm responsible for securing the network at my location.
[x] I use cryptographic security with services such as ssh, ssl, pgp, dnssec, digital certificates, etc.
[__] I do not need to deal with security issues in my position.
[] Other, please describe: ___________________________________
2d. Network Monitoring
[x] I've installed, configured and use network monitoring software such as Nagios, mrtg, Smokeping, snmp, etc.
[__] Our organization uses network monitoring software which I take advantage of, but do not maintain.
[__] I have not used or installed network monitoring software.
[__] Other, please describe:
2e. Tools
Which Operating System are you running on your servers?
LINUX / FEDORA / SOLARIS
Which Operating System are you running on your Desktop/Laptop?
DESKTOP: LINUX / FEDORA
LAPTOP: WINDOWS XP
What is your favorite text editor?
PICO / NOTEPAD
List your top 5 most used command line tools:
PICO / DIG / TAIL / GREP / SSH / SCP
List your top five most used applications or programming tools:
FIREFOX, PEGASUS MAIL, PUTTY, GSVIEW, PHP, PERL
3. TOPICS FOR HANDS ON TRAINING:
Looking at your current needs and plans, list five topic areas where you would like additional training for your technical staff.
1 BUILDING OUT YOUR REGISTRY
2 SINGLE TO MULTIPLE REGISTRY TO REGISTRAR MODEL (EPP)
3 REGISTRY TOOLS
4 TICKET SYSTEMS/HELPDESK (RT/TRAC)
5 SSL/DIGITAL CERTIFICATES
6 SCRIPTING & AUTOMATION
7 SERVICE LEVEL AGREEMENTS (SLAS)Possible topics include:
* Backup/Rsync Practical
* Building out Your Registry
* Cryptographic Methods
* Databases
* DNSSEC
* DSC
* Logging
* MRTG/RRDTool
* Nagios w/Examples
* Network Monitoring/Management
* Operating System Basics
* PGP
* Registry Tools
* Revision Control in Practice
* Scripting & Automation
* Security
* Service Level Agreements (SLAs)
* Single to Multiple Registry to Registrar Model (EPP)
* SmokePing
* SNMP
* SSL/Digital Certificates
* Ticket Systems/Helpdesk (RT/Trac) 4. ANYTHING ELSE?
If there is anything else you wish to tell us about your experience or expectations for this workshop please do so below.
IT WOULD BE GREAT IF THERE COULD BE A FUNCTIONAL MULTIPLE REGISTRAR SYSTEM DURING THE WORKSHOP BUT IT COULD BE EVEN BETTER IF PARTICPANTS COULD IMPLEMENT OR BUILD ONE THEMSELVES BY THE END OF THE WORKSHOP