[WXC/VFX] Will xnet change your reverse DNS settings?

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andynz

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Topic # 58826 20-Mar-2010 13:32

I have been running a mail server for a number of years now on an Xnet HSI with static IP. I recently became aware of some mail servers rejecting mail from us due to the reverse DNS entry not matching our mail server host name.

There was a post about this in 2007 and Xnet said they might offer the facility to alter the reverse DNS in the future. Does anyone know if they are doing it and have had it done for themselves?

Thought I would ask first in the forum for peoples experience beofre talking to Xnet CS.

Cheers
Andy

Ragnor

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Reply # 309456 20-Mar-2010 22:56

Don't know whether they will but have you made sure you have SenderID, SPF and DomainKeys setup in your DNS for your mailserver, they can make a big difference with mail rejection/spam flagging in my experience.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_ID
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DomainKeys
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sender_Policy_Framework

LennonNZ

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Reply # 309465 20-Mar-2010 23:27

SenderID, SPF and DomainKeys are anti Forgery systems not Anti Spam systems.. A mail server should NOT mark mail from domains which have these records as less spammy.

Ragnor

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Reply # 309469 20-Mar-2010 23:36

LennonNZ: SenderID, SPF and DomainKeys are anti Forgery systems not Anti Spam systems.. A mail server should NOT mark mail with these in them as less spammy if a domain has therse records..

In practice many recieving servers/system do seem to check for these things when classifying a message.

Anyway he's getting mail rejected outright not marked as spam, some recieving servers are very silly/strict and will do that if you don't have some of these things setup.

LennonNZ

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Reply # 309477 21-Mar-2010 07:31

Ragnor:
LennonNZ: SenderID, SPF and DomainKeys are anti Forgery systems not Anti Spam systems.. A mail server should NOT mark mail with these in them as less spammy if a domain has therse records..

In practice many recieving servers/system do seem to check for these things when classifying a message.

Anyway he's getting mail rejected outright not marked as spam, some recieving servers are very silly/strict and will do that if you don't have some of these things setup.

If a mail server classifies a piece of email as LESS spammy is it passes the SPF, SenderID and DomainKeys tests then it is broken. You can if you want mark a piece of email as MORE spammy if it fails the tests.

andynz

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Reply # 309491 21-Mar-2010 09:41

Actually I should clarify the rejection I am getting was some time back. I reason for asking about the reverse DNS was finding that it can be a reason for rejection if the reverse DNS does not match your servers header hostname.

aw

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Reply # 312753 30-Mar-2010 10:13

To be honest, I find it easier to configure mail servers I manage to relay all outgoing mail via the ISP's SMTP server instead of delivering it directly.

You still of course have your own SMTP server listening for incoming mail.

Is that an option for you?

andynz

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Reply # 312756 30-Mar-2010 10:20

Yes that's what I have ended up doing. Having looked into the acceptance rules for the likes of Hotmail it just isn't worth doing anything but using the ISP's SMTP. There are times when delivery via Xnet SMTP takes a few minutes to some servers, not quite sure why that happens as direct delivery from my SMTP was instantaneous.

Thanks for the advice.