March 23, 1999
DR 3300-1
APPENDIX H
OPEN SYSTEMS ADDRESSING
1PURPOSE
This Appendix establishes the policy for the management and use of Open Systems Network Service Access Point (NSAP) addresses and X.400 Message Handling System (MHS) Originator/Recipient (O/R) names within the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).
2 BACKGROUND
Open systems utilize hardware and software based on industry standards that allow interoperability among the equipment of different vendors. To permit interoperability, each component in an open system must be uniquely identified with an assigned address that is in accordance with a national or international standard. The address is a coded label assigned to an object, device, or item of data to identify its location or to designate the originating and receiving terminals for data transmission purposes. Generally, names are the addresses assigned to electronic mail or message handling systems users.
3 REFERENCES
Source Publication Title/Subject
ITU-TSS Recommendation Messaging Handling X.400 MHS Systems (MHS): System Model Service Elements
GSA Electronic Messaging Instructions to (E-Mail) Registration Applicants Services
NIST FIPS Pub 146-2 Profiles For Open Systems Internetworking Technologies (POSIT)
NIST Special Pub 500-217 IGOSS-Industry/Government Open Systems Specification
4 ABBREVIATIONS
ADMD - Administrative Management Domain
AFI - Authority and Format Identifier
ANSI - American National Standards Institute
AR - Area
CIO - Chief Information Officer
DDA - Domain-Defined Attribute
DSP - Domain Specific Part
ES - End Section
GSA - General Services Administration
IDI - Initial Domain Identifier
IDP - Initial Domain Part
ISO - International Standards Organization
ISSTD - Information Systems Security Telecommunications Division
ITU-TSS - International Telecommunications Union- Telecommunications Standards Sector
NFC - National Finance Center
NIST - National Institute for Standards and Technology
NSAP - Network Service Access Point
NSD - Network Services Division
NSEL - Network Selector
OCFO - Office of the Chief Financial Officer
OCIO - Office of the Chief Information Officer
PRMD - Private Management Domain
PTT - Postal Telephone and Telegraph
RD - Routing Domain
TSO - Telecommunication Services and Operations
USDA - United States Department of Agriculture
5 POLICY
a This directive augments other internal and external regulations that establish general policies governing all telecommunications networks, systems, hosts, and routers using Open Systems protocols. When a conflict exists, this directive takes precedence.
(1) The Office of the Chief Information Officer (OCIO) is the GSA-designated Open Systems registration authority for all USDA NSAP addresses and X.400 MHS O/R names by delegation from the Secretary of Agriculture. The Chief Information Officer, has redelegated the following registration authority responsibilities to OCIO-Telecommunications Services and Operations (TSO):
(a) Assignment of USDA NSAP addresses and X.400 O/R names, and
(b) Administration and maintenance of required databases for managing these addresses and names.
(2) All USDA NSAP addresses and X.400 MHS O/R names shall comply with FIPS PUB 146-2, POSIT, and NIST Special PUB 500-217, IGOSS.
(3) All existing and future NSAP addresses and X.400 MHS O/R names shall be registered with OCIO-TSO.
(4) All USDA NSAP addresses shall comply with the values identified in Table H-1 of this directive.
(5) The Office of the Chief Financial Officer (OCFO) /National Finance Center (NFC) code for each agency, as listed in Table H-2, shall be included in the Routing Domain (RD) component of the NSAP address in order to uniquely identify the agency except for the agency codes AW, DB, ES, FA, NA, OA, OU, and PP which must be changed to the substitute codes as indicated. This accommodates the requirements for the NSAP DSP to contain only hexadecimal characters.
(6) All USDA X.400 MHS O/R names shall comply with the values identified in Table H-3 of this directive, with the only exceptions enumerated in items (7), (8), and (9) of this section.
(7) The OCFO/NFC Agency Name Abbreviation from Table H-2 shall be used for the Organization Name in the X.400 MHS O/R name, except for the use of specially registered Organization Names requested by an agency. Requests for use of special Organization Names shall be coordinated by OCIO-TSO for approval by the registration authority.
(8) The OCFO/NFC Agency Name Abbreviation from Table H-2 with a leading delimiter of "." shall be appended to the end of the PRMD name identified in Table H-3 for any X.400 MHS O/R name registered with the FTS2000 MHS service in accordance with the General Services Administration (GSA) E-Mail Registration Services Instructions to Applicants. For agencies or staff offices with multiple PRMDs, a numeric suffix shall be included to distinguish the PRMDs. An agency or staff office shall request a technical waiver to use a special PRMD name which shall be coordinated with GSA by OCIO/Network Services Division (NSD) for approval by the registration authority. The special PRMD name will be valid only during the life of the FTS2000 contract.
(9) Under the current FTS2000 X.400 MHS O/R addressing constraint, a temporary waiver has been granted to those agencies identified in Table H-4 who have established O/R naming conventions that do not meet the X.400 MHS O/R naming requirements of this directive. This waiver is valid for only these existing PRMDs identified in Table H-4 and during the life of the FTS2000 contract.
(10) To allow for an orderly transition from FTS2000, in both cases above (8) and (9), the agency or staff office shall submit a detailed transition plan to OCIO/Telecommunications Services and Operations (TSO). The plan will include the agency's plan for a final transition to compliance with X.400 including major milestones and completion dates.
6 RESPONSIBILITIES
a Office of the Chief Information Officer will:
(1) Develop and maintain Department-wide policies and guidelines for implementing NSAP addresses and X.400 O/R names in accordance with FIPS, ANSI, OSI, and ITU-TSS recommendations and standards; and
(2) Review and provide comments on all agency supplements and agency-unique directives relating to this policy.
b Office of the Chief Information Officer-Telecommunications Services and Operations will:
(1) Assist the agencies in specifying the unique value to be used in the NSAP address RD field. This value will include the two digit OCFO/NFC agency code from Table H-2;
(2) Assist the agencies in defining general conventions for the allocation of the AR, ES, and NSEL fields of the NSAP address which meet agency requirements;
(3) Assist the agencies in defining general conventions for the allocation of the Organizational Unit(s), Personal Name and Domain-Defined attributes for the X.400 MHS O/R name;
(4) Coordinate agency and staff office requests to use special PRMD names with GSA for approval by the registration authority;
(5) Maintain electronic NSAP Address and O/R Name registration request forms which solicit important information from an agency when an NSAP address or an X.400 MHS O/R name allocation is requested;
(6) Receive and process agency registration request forms for NSAP addresses and X.400 MHS O/R names. The pertinent NSAP address components and O/R name attributes will be assigned according to the agency defined conventions;
(7) Coordinate agency and staff office requests to use special organization names for approval by the registration authority;
(8) Coordinate agency and staff office requests for technical waivers of the X.400 MHS O/R naming requirements of this directive for approval by the registration authority; and
(9) Maintain a data base of NSAP Addresses and X.400 MHS O/R names which is accessible to all USDA agencies and other Administrative Authorities.
c Agencies and Staff Offices will:
(1) Comply with the NSAP addressing and X.400 MHS O/R naming convention identified in this directive;
(2) Request assistance from OCIO-TSO, as necessary, in defining conventions for allocating the NSAP RD, AR, ES, and NSEL fields and the O/R organizational Unit(s), Personal Names, and Domain-Defined attributes;
(3) Complete and submit a request form for each NSAP Address or O/R Name allocation requested. The completed request form will be submitted preferably by electronic mail to OCIO-TSO; and
(4) Submit a detailed plan to OCIO/TSO for the transition of the use of an unofficial O/R Naming convention or special PRMD name(s) to full compliance with X.400.
7 FORMS
a Obtain X.400 O/R Names by submitting form "USDA X.400 MHS O/R Name Registration Request Form".
b Obtain NSAP addresses by submitting form "USDA NSAP Address Registration Form".
These forms are available from OCIO-TSO and may be obtained electronically by sending a request to:
"addman@tasc.usda.gov" (Internet Address) or
These forms are available on-line and are located on the following computer host:
"http://www.net.usda.gov/email/index.html" (Internet WWW URL)
8 DEFINITIONS
a Address. The uniquely coded label assigned to an object, device, or item of data to identify its location.
b Administration Management Domain. A Message Handling System (MHS) management domain owned and managed by an administration. An administration is either the central Postal Telephone and Telegraph (PTT) service in a country or, in the U.S., a common carrier recognized by the ITU-TSS (e.g., AT&T, Sprint, MCI).
c Area. A two-octet value in the NSAP address which allows delegation of naming authority below the Routing Domain authority.
d Domain. A defined set of applications, systems, users, or organizations interrelated by virtue of being administered by a common authority.
e End System. A six-octet value in the NSAP address which allows the definition of unique systems within an Area authority.
f Network Selector. A one-octet value in the NSAP address which specifies transport layer service. This value is usually fixed by vendor implementations of OSI protocol products.
g Octet. A sequence of eight adjacent binary digits (byte), usually operated upon as a discrete unit.
h Private Management Domain. A MHS management domain owned and managed by a private organization.
i Registration Authority. The Chief Information Officer (CIO) for executive departments, establishments, and government corporations, as identified in the United States Government Manual. The CIO may appoint a senior registration official to represent his/her organization. The registration official will register, through delegation of registration authority from GSA, its own subordinate address space, maintain a database of MHS addresses within its management domain, and shall make this data base available to other registered authorities upon request. The assignment of USDA NSAP addresses and X.400 O/R names and the administration and maintenance of required databases have been redelegated to OCIO-TSO.
j Routing Domain. A two-octet value in the NSAP address which allows delegation of naming authority below the Administrative Authority. The OCFO/NFC code for the requesting agency from Table H-2 will be included in the value.
k X.400 MHS. The set of ITU-TSS, recommendations approved in 1984 and revised in 1988 and 1993, that describe the system model and service elements of a message handling system. X.400 MHS is the mandatory Open Systems electronic mail standard.
9 COPIES OF RELATED DOCUMENTS
a Copies of FIPS are available from:
National Technical Information Service (NTIS)ATTENTION: Sales Office, Sills Building, 5285 Port Royal Road, Springfield, VA 22161,TEL (703) 487-4650
b Copies of the specifications and related documents can be obtained from:
ANSI and ISO American National Standards Institute Documents,11 West 42nd Street, New York, NY 10036, TEL (212) 642-4900, FAX (212) 302-1286
ITU-TSS and National Technical Information Service CCITT, ATTENTION: Sales Office, Sills Building Recommendations,5285 Port Royal Road,Springfield, VA 22161, TEL (703) 487-4650
Table H-1
USDA NSAP Address Structure
An NSAP address is an identifier that uniquely distinguishes one end system from another in a network of systems. The NSAP address consists of two major parts. The Initial Domain Part (IDP), consisting of the Authority and Format Identifier (AFI) and the Initial Domain Identifier (IDI), have been defined and values of 47 and 0005 have been assigned by the International Standards Organization (ISO). The remaining portion of the NSAP is the Domain Specific Part (DSP). In IGOSS, NIST defined a seventeen-octet structure for the DSP. GSA has assigned a value of 80 for the DSP Format Identifier (DFI). GSA has assigned an AAI value of 000500 for USDA. NIST has assigned a two-octet null value of 0000 to the Reserved component of the DSP. A detailed description of the address structure is given in Section 4.1.1 of the IGOSS-Industry/Government Open Systems Specification (NIST Special Publication 500-217).
NSAP ADDRESS* |
||||||||
IDP |
DSP |
|||||||
AFI |
IDI |
DFI |
AAI |
Rsvd |
RD |
AR |
ES |
NSEL |
1 |
2 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
2 |
2 |
6 |
1 |
47 |
0005 |
80 |
000500 |
0000 |
Agency Code See Table H-2 |
xxxx |
xxxxxxxxxxxx |
xx |
Legend
* Field size are in octets.
* Component values are hexadecimal, except AFI & IDI, which are binary coded decimal digits.
NSAP - Network Service Access Point
AAI - Administrative Authority Identifier
IDP - Initial Domain Part
Rsvd - Reserved for future use
DSP - Domain Specific Part
RD - Routing Domain (See Table H-2)
AFI - Authority and Format Identifier
AR - Area
IDI - Initial Domain Identifier
ES - End System
DFI - DSP Format Indicator
NSEL - Network Selector
Table H-2
USDA OCFO/NFC Agency Listing
The current agency abbreviation and agency code as defined by the USDA OCFO/NFC. The OCFO/NFC Agency Code is required in the RD field of the NSAP address. The Agency Name Abbreviation is required to specify the Organization Name and, as an exception, to extend the PRMD name of the X.400 MHS O/R name.
USDA ORGANIZATION |
||
Code |
Abbreviation |
Name |
01 |
SEC |
Office of the Secretary |
02 |
AMS |
Agricultural Marketing Service |
03 |
ARS |
Agricultural Research Service |
07 |
RHS |
Rural Housing Service |
08 |
RMA |
Risk Management Agency |
10 |
FAS |
Foreign Agricultural Service |
11 |
FS |
Forest Service |
13 |
OC |
Office of Communications |
14 |
OGC |
Office of the General Counsel |
15 |
RUS |
Rural Utility Service |
16 |
NRCS |
Natural Resources Conservation Service |
18 |
ERS |
Economic Research Service |
20 |
NASS |
National Agricultural Statistics Service |
22 |
CSREES |
Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service |
23 |
OIG |
Office of Inspector General |
30 |
FNS |
Food and Nutrition Service |
32 |
RBCS |
Rural Business-Cooperative Service |
34 |
APHIS |
Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service |
36 |
GIPSA |
Grain Inspection, Packers and Stockyards Administration |
37 |
FSIS |
Food Safety and Inspection Service |
38 |
OCE |
Office of Chief Economist |
42 |
OBPA |
Office of Budget and Program Analysis |
76 |
OCIO |
Office of the Chief Information Officer |
90 |
OCFO |
Office of Chief Financial Officer |
92 |
OALJ |
Office of Administrative Law Judges |
94 |
OCR |
Office of Civil Rights |
96 |
OHRM |
Office of Human Resources Management |
98 |
OO |
Office of Operations |
*AW |
AARC |
Alternative Agriculture Research and Commercialization Center |
*DB |
OSDBU |
Office of Small and Disadvantaged Business Utilization |
*ES |
OES |
Office of the Executive Secretariat |
*FA |
FSA |
Farm Service Agency |
*NA |
NAD |
National Appeals Division |
*OA |
OAS |
Office of Administrative Support |
*OU |
OUT |
Office of Outreach |
*PP |
OPPM |
Office of Procurement and Property Management |
* To meet the requirement for use of hexadecimal encoding of the NSAP, these alphabetical character agency codes must be substituted for as indicated below:
Assigned Substitute
Code Code
AW 04
DB 05
ES 17
FA 09
NA 12
OA 21
OU 24
PP 25
Table H-3
X.400 MHS O/R Name Attributes
The X.400 MHS O/R naming hierarchy has been defined to support globally unique Open Systems names for organizations and individuals. Form 1, Variant 1 of the ITU-TSS Recommendation X.400 MHS defines hierarchical attributes which can be used to construct an O/R name. As shown in the following table, the O/R name is formed by several required and optional fields that uniquely identify a user anywhere on a MHS. The first four hierarchical X.400 O/R attributes (Country name, ADMD, PRMD and Organization name) are assigned predefined values per this directive. The remaining X.400 MHS O/R attributes (Organization Unit names, Personal names and Domain-Defined attribute) are designated at the discretion of the agency.
X.400 MHS O/R NAME |
||
Attribute |
Length* |
Assigned Value |
Country Name |
3 |
'US' |
Administration Management Domain (ADMD) Name |
16 |
'ATTMAIL' |
Private Management Domain (PRMD) Name |
16 |
'GOV+USDA' |
Organization Name |
64 |
Agency Abbreviation (See Table H-2) |
Organizational Unit Name(s) (Four possible unit attributes) |
4 X 32 |
Agency Unit Abbreviated (Hierarchical) |
Personal Name |
|
|
Surname |
40 |
User's Surname |
Given Name |
16 |
User's Given Name |
Initial(s) |
5 |
User's Initial(s) |
Generational Qualifier |
3 |
User's Generational Qualifier |
Domain-Defined Attribute (DDA) |
Varies |
System Domain Defined Type and Value |
* The value identified for each attribute is the maximum ASCII character length allowed by the X.400 MHS standard.
Table H-4
USDA X.400 MHS PRMD Name Exceptions
The following agencies have received temporary waivers for PRMDs that do not comply with the USDA X.400 MHS O/R naming convention. These PRMDs are only valid for the term of the FTS2000 contract. The agency abbreviations enclosed in parentheses identify the original agency abbreviation with which the PRMD is registered, before the Departmental organization of 1994 was achieved.
Agency Abbreviation |
Private Management Domain (PRMD) |
AMS |
gov+amsdc |
APHIS |
gov+usda.aphis1 |
gov+usda.aphis2 |
|
FSA (ASCS) |
gov+usda.ascswa1 |
gov+usda.fsa |
|
FAS |
gov+usda.fas |
FSA (FCIC) |
gov+usda.fcic.dc |
FCS (FNS) |
gov+usda.fns |
FS |
usda.fs.x400 |
usda.fs.x400a |
|
OCIO |
gov+usda.oirmfc |
gov+usda |