> > The allowed character set for domain names is specified in one of the
> > RFCs to be letters, digits, the hyphen ("-"), and (for separating
> > fields only), the period ("."). (Sorry, I don't remember the RFC
> > number offhand, look in the BIND source distribution CHANGES file.)
>
> RFC2181, section 11, does away with this:
...
Not so fast there - RFC2181 only says that DNS is the wrong place to
enforce the character set. Immediately preceding the section you
quoted it says DNS itself should be transparent because it's a general
purpose database:
Occasionally it is assumed that the Domain Name System serves only
the purpose of mapping Internet host names to data, and mapping
Internet addresses to host names. This is not correct, the DNS is a
general (if somewhat limited) hierarchical database, and can store
almost any kind of data, for almost any purpose.
And after the section you quoted it says:
Note however, that the various applications that make use of DNS data
can have restrictions imposed on what particular values are
acceptable in their environment. For example, that any binary label
can have an MX record does not imply that any binary name can be used
as the host part of an e-mail address.
The original RFC specifying the character set specified it for
Internet hostnames, including the domain portion. RFC2181 says DNS
can be used for other things, so DNS itself should not impose any
restrictions on the character set. If you come up with an application
for using domain name records for something other than naming hosts,
you're free to use any character you want in the "domain name".
However, naming hosts is still the main application of domains, and
the character set restriction on Internet host names still stands, and
if you want to use a domain name for naming web servers, mail servers,
etc., the hostname character set restriction applies.
--
Dick St.Peters, stpeters@NetHeaven.com
Gatekeeper, NetHeaven, Saratoga Springs, NY
Saratoga/Albany/Amsterdam/BoltonLanding/Cobleskill/Greenwich/
GlensFalls/LakePlacid/NorthCreek/Plattsburgh/...
Oldest Internet service based in the Adirondack-Albany region
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.3 : Tue Oct 19 2004 - 23:38:00 EDT