On Mon, 19 Jun 2000, Jose M. Sanchez wrote:
> If your E-mail is working this way under Winblows then it was probably not
> by design... but rather luck.
>
> The "mail" entries are the default for Winblows. They are supposed to be
> changed by the user to what is appropriate.
They're also the default because they'll usually work - if the client DNS
info is setup correctly.
In Windows' DNS setup (UNIX equiv. is /etc/resolv.conf) there is a setting
named "Domain Suffix Search Order:" (equivalent to the "search" line in
resolv.conf) that lists anywhere from one to several domains. If you
specify a hostname, for instance, "mail", your computer will try to look
that name up. On the internet, this will fail; no machine is named simply
"mail." Now, your computer will suffix the domains listed in this "Domain
Suffix Search Order" field to the hostname, and attempt to lookup the
hostname again.
Example: my resolv.conf contains "ksu.edu" and "cc.ksu.edu" and
"cis.ksu.edu". Now, let's say I try to contact "polaris" via TCP/IP.
The initial lookup fails - "polaris" does not exist. Next, the computer
tries "polaris.ksu.edu", which again fails. Next, we try
"polaris.cc.ksu.edu", which also fails. Finally, we try
"polaris.cis.ksu.edu" which succeeds. The IP address returned from that
final lookup is used as the address for "polaris," then.
Thus, if you have the correct domains listed in your resolv.conf, or
Windows' TCP/IP stack "Domain Suffix Search Order" field, you can use
"mail" or "www" or "ftp" as easy contact names: no need to type in the
entire fully qualified Internet hostname. Thus, "mail" in the server name
field, will work for many people without any extra configuration.
> The fact that it may be working for you is attributable to the ISP's DNS
> automatically appending the isp's domain to the request...
It's not your ISP's DNS server which adds the suffix: it's your client
that does so!
-Matt Stegman
<[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
> |-----Original Message-----
> |From: Sevatio Octavio [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
> |Sent: Monday, June 19, 2000 4:21 AM
> |To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
> |Subject: [expert] Email Setup with Cablemodem Account - How To?
> |
> |
> |I'm helping someone kick the M$ habit but I'm stuck with AT&T's
> |Cablemodem email setup. Looking at IE Owchluk-Xpress, it has the
> |POP3 and SMTP set as "mail". How do they get away with just
> |"mail"? So if I wanted to use Kmail instead, what would I put down for
> |POP3 & SMTP servers? .... mail.home.com doesn't work and I can't
> |get through to their crappy support center.
> |
> |Seve
> |
>
