Date: Fri, 8 Apr 94 04:30:01 PDT From: Packet-Radio Mailing List and Newsgroup Errors-To: Packet-Radio-Errors@UCSD.Edu Reply-To: Packet-Radio@UCSD.Edu Precedence: Bulk Subject: Packet-Radio Digest V94 #31 To: packet-radio Packet-Radio Digest Fri, 8 Apr 94 Volume 94 : Issue 31 Today's Topics: BBS-to-Internet address transformations Send Replies or notes for publication to: Send subscription requests to: Problems you can't solve otherwise to brian@ucsd.edu. Archives of past issues of the Packet-Radio Digest are available (by FTP only) from UCSD.Edu in directory "mailarchives/packet-radio". We trust that readers are intelligent enough to realize that all text herein consists of personal comments and does not represent the official policies or positions of any party. Your mileage may vary. So there. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: 7 Apr 1994 22:43:55 -0700 From: network.ucsd.edu!not-for-mail@network.ucsd.edu Subject: BBS-to-Internet address transformations To: packet-radio@ucsd.edu [Some of you (well, Hank, anyway) seem to have missed this proposal the first time around. Here it is again.] Any hambbs-to-internet gateway which forwards mail will be required to 1) be fully registered (both A and MX records) with the AMPR.ORG domain server. 2) be able to utilize MX records for mail exchange on the internet. 3) be capable of accomodating a routing table large enough to handle all the ham packet BBSs that will be routing to the internet through it, and automatically update that table. 4) be able to generate MX records as required and submit them to the central ampr.org database maintenance robot, either automatically or by hand. The procedure is: When mail arrives from an AX.25 bbs at a ham-to-internet gateway system, the gateway 1) updates its routing table for that BBS to reflect the routing hints contained in the return address. E.g., mail arriving at the WB6KDT gateway FROM WB6XYZ@WB6CYT.#SOCA.CA.USA.NOAM generates a routing table entry of WB6CYT #SOCA.CA.USA.NOAM (or whatever the gateway needs to know to reach the bbs via packet) 2) the bbs from line is rewritten* as From: WB6XYZ@WB6CYT.AMPR.ORG and the mail is injected into the internet 3) An MX record for WB6CYT.AMPR.ORG is established (if it does not already exist)**, pointing to the gateway system (in this example, WB6KDT.AMPR.ORG) with a preference value equal to the number of stations the message took to make it to the gateway from the bbs where it originated. Yes, it's a bit elaborate. But it's RIGHT. It's clearly the way it ought to be done. Let's do it. - Brian * Yes, rewriting addresses is supposed to be a sin. It's unavoidable when you change addressing methods between networks, so in this case we have to do it. I don't like that either but there's no choice. ** Yes, there's a timing problem here if a reply message is sent before the nameserver gets updated and propagated. It's a one-time problem, though, and could be solved by pre-registration. After all, how many BBSs are there near each gateway system? ------------------------------ End of Packet-Radio Digest V94 #31 ****************************** ******************************