comparc@twwells.uucp (comp.archives) (03/29/89)
Tad Guy sent me e-mail to tell me of a nameserver that you can access
via e-mail. I tried it, it works! This ends my Internet address
woes: from now on, I can verify them myself! Thanks Tad.
He forwarded a posting to me about this server; it is appended to
this message.
---
Bill
{ uunet | novavax } !twwells!bill
send comp.archives postings to twwells!comp-archives
send comp.archives related mail to twwells!comp-archives-request
---
This is from Volume 5, Issue 2 of the CSNET Forum Digest:
Date: Mon, 23 Jan 89 18:42:37 -0500
From: "Daniel Long" <long@sh>
To: Network Information Discussion <Info-nets@Think.COM>
Subject: Re: Who's the Mail eXchanger?
[Robert Elz <kre@munnari.oz.au>, U. of Melbourne, Australia, writes:]
Since the interbit gateways don't handle MX, and there are a
vastly growing number of names accessible only via MX
lookups, might it be a reasonable idea for someone on the
internet running a nameserver that can do MX lookups (say
bind 4.8, or jeeves, or something) to offer a mail server
which would perform an MX lookup, and return the answers to
the requestor ?
I would expect something like
From: me@wherever
To: mx-lookup@frieldly.internet.site
Subject: ignored
domain.name.one
domain.name.two
...
which would mail back to "me@wherever" the results of MX
lookups of "domain.name.one", etc.
This would need to be at a "real" internet site (ideally,
one with its name in hosts.txt, and certainly one with an
A record in the nameserver databases). It shouldn't be too
difficult. And it should cut down on info-nets queries like
this one.
Anyone want to volunteer?
kre
CSNET will volunteer. You can mail to "nslookup@sh.cs.net" as described above
and get back a mail message containing all the nameserver records (not just the
MX ones) for the named domains.
Send only domain names or IP addresses, one per line, to nslookup@sh.cs.net.
For assistance with this service, contact cic@sh.cs.net.
Hope this helps,
Dan Long
CSNET Technical Manager
---------------------------
Date: Thu, 26 Jan 89 16:45:56 EST
From: Murph Sewall <SEWALL%UCONNVM.BITNET@mitvma.mit.edu>
Subject: nslookup@sh.cs.net
I ***LOVE*** it!!! Since I haven't had access to this stuff before, I
have a question. I know what MX = is good for, but NS = mystifies me
a little. I gather that 'rutgers.edu' for instance, can find Claris.COM
(actually Apple.COM can find it even more easily because they are
directly connected, but I just happened to know that). Also, what
is the interpretation of the A = records (besides the numeric address of the
MX)? [The CIC answers this one below; read on! -Ed.]
*** Thank you VERY much for a MUCH NEEDED service ***
----------------------Original message----------------------
claris.com NS = RUTGERS.EDU, AOS.BRL.MIL, HARVARD.HARVARD.EDU
bunny.gte.com MX = relay2.cs.net (10), relay.cs.net (20)
relay2.cs.net A = 192.31.103.5
relay.cs.net A = 192.31.103.4, 128.89.0.93
devnet3.hac.com MX = hac2arpa.hac.com (20)
---------------------------
Date: Thu, 2 Feb 89 14:22:26 EST
From: Charlotte Mooers <mooers@sh.cs.net>
Subject: NS, A, MX -- What Do They Mean?
The Internet has implemented a distributed database called Domain Name
Servers, or (sometimes) Name Servers, for supplying information about
all the organizations and host computers in the Internet and its
associated non-IP networks, such as CSNET PhoneNet. When an Internet
host wants to send mail, it begins by sending queries to domain name
servers.
==>The NS record (Name Server) contains the names of the domain name
servers that know about the destination host. There must be at
least two. The top-level domain server at the DDN NIC usually
supplies this information.
==>The A record (IP Address) is supplied by the domain name server
for the destination host. On the Internet, all hosts can reach
all other hosts by simply knowing the IP address.
==>The MX record (Mail eXchanger) is supplied by the domain name
server for the destination host. The MX record gives the name of
the Internet host that accepts mail for the destination host. For
PhoneNet hosts, this is always relay.cs.net. Once relay.cs.net
gets the mail, it knows how to reach the appropriate gateway host
over PhoneNet.
Unfortunately, some Internet hosts that query domain name servers are
not able to handle MX records at all. They can receive the MX records
but their mail systems (mailers) don't know how to use them. This is
the problem with the BITNET gateways to the Internet.
See also "Question of the Day: How Do MX Records Work for IP Hosts?"
in CSNET-FORUM v4 #5. Send a message to info-server@sh.cs.net with
the following text in the body of the message:
request: info
topic: forum4-5
[ end of included text from csnet-forum v5n2 ]