Search Again: Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? From: andrew kagan Date: Friday, July 30, 1999 Time: 2:14:00 pm Points taken, Chris...I recommend you ease up on the Java (liquid kind)! ----- Original Message ----- From: Men & Mice Support <cbuxton@menandmice.com> To: QuickDNS Talk <quickdns-talk@lists.menandmice.com> Sent: Friday, July 30, 1999 9:38 AM Subject: Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? > >> PTR records are almost totally irrelevant for a server. > > > >You mean a nameserver, right? > > No, I mean any server. As in for any service. As I stated, the exception is > for mail servers. > > What does a web server care what its PTR record shows? Or an FTP server? > What do the clients care? > > >The only other reason I've needed PTR records is to download software with > >export restrictions, where the host uses the PTR to authenticate the > >computer's physically located in the US. > > Right. That's a client issue, not a server issue. Even then, it's really > silly, because a guy in Brazil could change his PTR record to resolve to, > for example, www.ibm.net, or user1234.dialup.ibm.net, or whatever. He can > find a valid dialup username by just reading his web logs. > > For that matter, he could just register a US domain name (e.g. > brazilian.com) and then create hostnames (with associated PTR records) > within that. > > They should use IP address ranges, which are at least harder to forge. > Addresses are assigned in blocks by country. Within each country, they are > assigned to individual businesses or government agencies as that country > sees fit. So to get an IP address that lies in a US block, you either have > to be in the US, or have some sort of cross-border routing setup. > > Reverse mapping for clients is useful for other things, though, such as > tracking down a spammer or other system abuser. Also, there are many > servers (ftp servers especially) that won't let you in if you don't have a > PTR record for your address, but again, this is a PTR record for the > *client*, not the server. > > Sorry for the rant, but this reliance on PTR records for evidence of US > location is one of my pet peeves. > ____________________________________________________________________ > Chris Buxton Men & Mice > cbuxton@menandmice.com http://www.menandmice.com >

Messages In This Thread: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Jimi Sweet on Jul 29, 1999 at 10:32:00 am Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 29, 1999 at 11:09:00 am Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Steve Linford on Jul 29, 1999 at 11:27:00 am Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by andrew kagan on Jul 29, 1999 at 12:57:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 30, 1999 at 8:21:00 am Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by andrew kagan on Jul 30, 1999 at 12:23:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 30, 1999 at 12:34:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by andrew kagan on Jul 30, 1999 at 1:14:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 30, 1999 at 1:38:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by andrew kagan on Jul 30, 1999 at 2:14:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Mia''s Virtual Post Office on Jul 30, 1999 at 5:59:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Mia''s Virtual Post Office on Jul 30, 1999 at 6:02:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 30, 1999 at 10:56:00 pm Re: Multiple CNAMES... who cares? by Men & Mice Support on Jul 30, 1999 at 11:10:00 pm