Re: [cobalt-users] RAQ2 - Still Can't send mail to AOL HELP!

["E.B. Dreger" <eddy+public+spam@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

> Date: Thu, 24 Jan 2002 18:44:00 -0800
> From: Jeff Lasman <jblists@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>

(snipping throughout)

> That's because your upstream (whoever provided you your
> IP#s) did NOT delegate your IP#s to you.  I've been pointing
> out on this list for at least three years that you cannot do
> your own reverse DNS unless your upstream provider gives you
> the authority.

DNS debunked:  Who cares about "whois".  The information there
isn't worth <insert favorite phrase> when it comes to name
resolution.

DNS is a hierarchy.  The top-level domain says where to go for
"com", which says where to go for "cobalt.com", which says where
to go for "www.cobalt.com".

Same for reverse DNS.  The in-addr.arpa zone is delegated just
like any other.

> Yes.  Definitely.  AOLs behavior in not forwarding mail when
> there's no reverse DNS is extremely well known and well
> documented.

Nor is AOL the only one.  The most prominent example, perhaps,
but several sites refuse mail with absent reverse DNS.

> Either your upstream delegates reverse DNS authority to you, or
> he does reverse DNS, or you find another provider.

Watch out for upstreams that claim it's a major, expensive
operation to do.  It isn't.  If your provider claims that it'll
take a week and a few hundred dollars, it's time to go shopping.
Tell them to read RFC 2317.


Eddy

Brotsman & Dreger, Inc. - EverQuick Internet Division
Phone: +1 (316) 794-8922 Wichita/(Inter)national
Phone: +1 (785) 865-5885 Lawrence
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