Path: utzoo!utgpu!news-server.csri.toronto.edu!cs.utexas.edu!usc!samsung!spool.mu.edu!agate!ucbvax!INDYVAX.IUPUI.EDU!IJAH400 From: IJAH400@INDYVAX.IUPUI.EDU ("James A. Harvey") Newsgroups: comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains Subject: Re: hostname == domainname Message-ID: Date: 19 Jun 91 17:25:00 GMT Sender: daemon@ucbvax.BERKELEY.EDU Distribution: inet Organization: The Internet Lines: 43 In article <24652@natinst.natinst.com>, brian@natinst.com (Brian H. Powell) writes: > I run a UUCP site called "natinst". We registered a domain (a long >time ago) and have since sent out mail with return address "user@natinst.com". >When we get them here via UUCP, our canonical hostname (from /etc/hosts) is >"natinst.com", so it's no problem to route the mail to the proper destination. > Now, we're going to be joining the internet. I created a BIND database >for the "natinst.com" domain to test things out. There's not a way, in >this database, to declare "natinst.com" (or rather "natinst.com.") as a host. >This makes sense; the host "natinst" should be declared in the ".com" database. >To do this is philosophically illegal, no? (I.e., have a host right under a >top-level domain.) This is completely false. You are authoritative for every little piece of information about the name natinst.com, the SOA RR, NS RRs, so why should A RRs be treated any differently? One thing to keep in mind is that if you name a host this way, natinst.com must be it's canonical name. > As I see it, I have no recourse but to change our canonical hostname >to "natinst.natinst.com" (actually anything.natinst.com, except that to >avoid the UUCP name change, use "natinst"). I still plan to have outgoing >mail show "user@natinst.com", and accept incoming mail for "user@natinst.com". No. No. Mail is (well, can be) an entirely separate issue. If you like, you can have a host named natinst.com (an A RR for the name natinst.com) and an MX RR for natinst.com also, pointing to natinst.com. Then both ancient (look for A RRs only and don't handle MX RRs) and modern (MX-grokking) mailers will speak to you, and you won't have to do any address-rewriting to make it look right. > This change seems like the "right" thing to do. Any comments as to the >correctness of this, and of alternatives? > Thanks. Now's the time to decide to do it the right way, or rather, to decide what the right way is for you... >Brian H. Powell, M/S 56-14 National Instruments Corp. > brian@natinst.com 6504 Bridge Point Parkway > uunet!cs.utexas.edu!natinst!brian Austin, Texas 78730-5039 > AppleLink:NATINST (512) 338-9119 Jim Harvey, IUPUI Computing Services, ijah400@iupui.edu or harvey@indiana.edu BITNET: IJAH400@INDYVAX UUCP: {...backbones...}!iuvax!iugate!harvey