Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!rpi!usc!orion.oac.uci.edu!ucivax!gateway From: koorland@vancouver.osiware.bc.ca (Neil Koorland) Newsgroups: comp.protocols.iso.x400 Subject: X.400 Questions Message-ID: <9103261026*koorland@vancouver.osiware.bc.ca> Date: 26 Mar 91 21:59:32 GMT Lines: 39 Approved: usenet@ICS.UCI.EDU > 1) Is there currently any definition of X.400 running over TCP/IP? RFC 1006 specifies the mapping of ISO Transport over TCP, which is the most commonly used method of running X.400 over TCP/IP in the Internet. > Assuming that the various Internet bodies see X.400 as the way to > go (by the way, do they?), then how will they transition from SMTP > style addresses to X.400 addresses? There is a significant degree of support for X.400 in the Internet but not not universal or even majority support. In any case there is and always will be a need for SMTP<->X.400 gateways. The mapping between RFC 822 (format used by SMTP) and X.400 is specified in RFC 987 and RFC 1148, including the address mapping. > 2) I've noticed that a lot of vendors are using X.400 as a way to > gateway between different proprietary email systems (as opposed to > incorporating X.400 style addresses directly into the user interface > of the email product). Is my observation correct? In the case of > using X.400 as a gateway and not incorporating X.400 style addresses > into the user interface, does it then become the duty of the X.400 > administrator to setup a correspondence in the gateway between the > X.400 name and each of the corresponding names in the proprietary email > system? This makes me think that X.400 would be expensive to maintain. It really depends on the non-X.400 addressing structure. For some (e.g. RFC 822) there is an algorithmic mapping which requires minimal table maintenance. For others there is more administrative overhead. However the maintenance is not prohibitive with any reasonable system since most address mapping only affects the most significant portions of the address i.e. at the domain level. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- Neil Koorland OSIware Inc. Tel: +1-604-436-2922 200-4370 Dominion St Fax: +1-604-436-3192 Burnaby, B.C. CANADA V5G 4L7 Internet: ------------------------------------------------------------------------------