AOL problems connecting to SOG sites

[Holly Snyder]

Cynthia,

You probably know all about reverse DNS by now, but just in case, take a look at this FAQ. I wouldn't have thought it was a big deal not to have a reverse DNS entry, as it appears many servers are missing that entry. But as Mike found, it may make a difference with some ISP's, at least in the case of mail servers. In any case you can have St. Louis Internet make sure your web sites are set up properly.

Holly

[Cynthia Daniel]

Mike,

I posted the information on AOL not to convince you, but for the information of all readers. I think it's time for you to write to the AOL Legal department again - breach of contract? Even if that's not correct, perhaps it will get their attention.

All,

My isp wrote the following in regards to the most recent DNS things we've been doing:

(1) There is no requirement for reverse DNS lookups on HTTP service per the RFC's. In fact, there's no requirement to use reverse DNS for any service, however, most ISP's check Email servers and their reverse DNS to eliminate SPAM. That doesn't apply to the below.

(2) The missing DNS entries listed in your first item are not in my network, thus I have no control over them

(3) There is a reverse DNS for your site, try checking again; as it comes up fine here.

(4) In the case of reverse DNS, only one domain name can be listed; therefore, sites going to the same IP address (such as your multiple domains going to portraitartist.com) can only have one domain name associated with them. For example: portraitartist.com and prtraits.com both have the ~same~ IP address but a reverse DNS lookup on the IP address can only provide one domain. This is the main reason reverse DNS isn't used for anything useful except to check Email servers and some VPN connections.

This should not have anything to do with AOL unless the boneheads are smoking crack and decided it would be nice to attempt a reverse-DNS validation, which if they do it will make hundreds of thousands of sites inaccessible....

- Greg