VeriSign SMTP reject server updated

Sat Sep 20 20:21:57 UTC 2003

on 9/20/2003 3:01 PM Sean Donelan wrote:

> Is it possible for the client resolver code to distinguish between a 
> wildcard answer and an explicit answer?  Or would the require another 
> flag passed between the client and a recursive name server?
> 
> If this was available, it would mail clients and other things
> interested in the specific domain name could get the answers they want.
> While other stuff would get the wildcard answers.

Internet architecture generally favors abstracting higher-layer data away
from lower-layer services. EG, we don't have ~BGP that routes :80 traffic
separate from :25 traffic, nor do we have a URI syntax that allows you to
refer to svc/tcp separate from svc/udp, nor do we have a naming service
that allows for service-specific address responses. Although any of these
could could be emulated, it wouldn't do anything for today's apps.

My feeling is that this architectural design feature is becoming more and
more of a restraint as complexity seeps in, the conflation of DNS error
codes being just one of many examples.

-- 
Eric A. Hall                                        http://www.ehsco.com/
Internet Core Protocols          http://www.oreilly.com/catalog/coreprot/