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Subject: Re: [IANA #411617] Application for port-number: couchdbs
From: Jan Lehnardt <jan@apache.org>
In-Reply-To: <E8907394-A1F5-42C0-9526-674EC07AF13F@tumbolia.org>
Date: Tue, 1 Mar 2011 22:20:05 +0100
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References: <RT-Ticket-411617@icann.org>
 <20101203134740.02FFE301BA@isvc1.lax.icann.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-4926-1291415794-1975.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <1D36C180-89A6-4B01-B20D-B7449D77AF1F@tumbolia.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-10472-1291449868-753.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-21698-1292353723-1107.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-19734-1293209496-1340.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-16342-1294342322-101.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <9D56872A-02B4-42AE-928D-A4EEB38D3DF7@tumbolia.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-16343-1294344292-1633.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <rt-3.8.HEAD-5622-1297197788-652.411617-6-0@icann.org>
 <E8907394-A1F5-42C0-9526-674EC07AF13F@tumbolia.org>
To: dev@couchdb.apache.org

Well done, Noah, thanks!

Cheers
Jan
--=20

On 1 Mar 2011, at 18:52, Noah Slater wrote:

> Hello,
>=20
> CouchDB is a document database that implements a RESTful JSON API via =
HTTP. All interaction between the server and client is made via standard =
HTTP 1.1 responses and requests. The database only makes use of standard =
HTTP 1.1, and does not add any features.
>=20
> While CouchDB speaks vanilla HTTP, just like a WWW server on TCP 80, =
it does so in a constrained manner. The specific URLs exposed, and =
database-specific consequences of using a GET or a POST request (for =
example) are formalised for client and server.
>=20
> Additionally, CouchDB only exposes an API via HTTP. It does not serve =
up web pages for human consumption. TCP 80 is reserved for uses of HTTP =
that serve up World Wide Web pages. These two use-cases for HTTP a quite =
different, and call for different ports.
>=20
> Many CouchDB users want to install a WWW server on a host, at the same =
time as a CouchDB server. While both server daemons speak the same =
network protocol, they both have very different uses. And both daemons =
cannot listen on the same port for connections.
>=20
> And just like one might want to host a MySQL database server on the =
same host as an Apache WWW server, many people want to host a CouchDB =
database server too. And just like MySQL has TCP allocated 3306 for =
this, CouchDB has TCP 5984.
>=20
> The problem we're having now is that users want to run a CouchDB =
database server with newly enabled TLS/SSL feature. Because of the way =
HTTP 1.1 works with TLS/SSL, you cannot listen for secure connections on =
the same port as non-secure connections.
>=20
> This is because the WWW server must know the host before the proper =
secure handshake can be initiated. Upgrading to TLS/SSL within a regular =
 HTTP 1.1 request would have fixed this problem, but this was never =
properly implemented by many clients.
>=20
> To solve this problem, most WWW servers additionally listen on a new =
hostname and TCP 443 combination for each TLS/SSL site they accept =
connections for. It is the only interoperable way to accept secure and =
non-secure connections at the same time.
>=20
> Because CouchDB is a non-WWW HTTP 1.1 server that requires the ability =
to serve secure and non-secure connections from the same host, it is =
therefor requested that a secure port be allocated, so that the same =
solution as WWW HTTP 1.1 can be implemented.
>=20
> Thank you,
>=20
> Noah
>=20