network name 101100010100110.net

Steve Atkins steve at blighty.com
Mon Oct 18 02:48:57 UTC 2010


On Oct 17, 2010, at 7:16 PM, James Hess wrote:

> On Sat, Oct 16, 2010 at 11:46 PM, Day Domes <daydomes at gmail.com> wrote:
>> I have been tasked with coming up with a new name for are transit data
>> network.  I am thinking of using 101100010100110.net does anyone see
>> any issues with this?
> 
> The domain-name starts with a digit, which is not really recommended,  RFC 1034,
> due to the fact a valid actual hostname  cannot start with a digit,

A valid actual hostname can start with a digit. Many do.
I'm guessing 3com may have had something to do with
that trend.

RFC 1123 2.1 clarified that a couple of decades ago, so I doubt
you'll find any running software that doesn't agree.

> and, for example,
> some MTAs/MUAs,  that comply with earlier versions of standards still in use,
> will possibly have a problem  sending e-mail to the flat domain, even
> if the actual hostname is
> something legal such as mail.101100010100110.net.
> 
> Which goes back to one of the standard-provided definitions of domain
> name syntax used by RFC 821 page 29:

There are several less obsolete RFCs that specify email addresses,
they're all quite specific about what a valid hostname is in an email
sense. 5321 is the latest, I think, section 4.1.2.

Cheers,
  Steve





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