Re: [IMail Forum] Clairfication of RFC 2821 (5. AddressResolution and Mail Handling)

[R. Scott Perry]

>OK folks!  I need your help.  This is for all of you RFC experts out there.
>My interpretation of RFC2821 (5.  Address Resolutions and Mail Handling) is
>that
>
>- If MX record(s) exist for a domain then the SMTP client should deliver to
>those records in order of priority and if not sucessful (in the configured
>amount of tries set in the SMTP client) return the mail back to sender.  It
>should never deliver to the A record of a domain if MX records exist but are
>not responding.
>
>Am I correct in this interperation?

I would say so.  The key is that the A record *should* be used, but only if 
the MX records do not exist.  If there are any MX records, the A record 
should not be used.  I'm not sure of the status of RFC2821 (which just came 
out about 2 months ago), but it appears that prior RFCs should probably be 
interpreted the same way as well (although older ones aren't quite as clear).

                                                            -Scott

Declude: Anti-virus, Anti-spam and Anti-hijacking solutions for 
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