All,
After testing (thanks Rubens) it appears that the i5's SMTP server does
not validate incoming addresses during the SMTP transaction as I'd
originally thought. If it did, then bogus addresses would immediately be
rejected with a 550 code. Instead, the server accepts the message, as is,
with a 250 code and sends it to some store-n-forward service inside MSF.
MSF then validates the addresses at its leisure (500 milliseconds or so)
and emails a "Non Delivery Report" (NDR) to the sender if it finds a bad
address.
This is exactly in accordance with section 6.1 of RFC2821. However
Spamcop, being possessed of the infinite arrogance of those who "know
better", has reinterpreted the RFC such that those who send NDRs are now
considered spam sources and are subject to blacklisting. (See:
http://www.spamcop.net/fom-serve/cache/329.html).
Guess it is time to open an IBM ticket. With any luck there is a way to
configure the SMTP server so that it can query the SDD before accepting
the message, but I'm not going to bet the farm on it. The alternative
would seem to be to store NDRs internally and have our secretary
periodically review the folder. I'm looking for volunteers to tell her
that she has another thing to add to her job description...
JK
On Tue May 22 16:20 , Scott Klement sent:
Hi John,
> Chris: I'm picking my way through unfamiliar terminology here, but
we're a
> very small shop and don't have a separate mail gateway. If I
understand
> our config correctly, our i5 smtp server grabs anything that the
router
> sends to that particular IP address. The email is immediately accepted
or
> rejected depending on whether there is an SDD entry.
Is this true? It will definitely reject mail address to a user with no
SDD entry -- and it'll do it immediately (not by sending back a
message)? Did you test that?
I didn't think the SMTP server knew anything about SDD entries.
---- Msg sent via Internet America Webmail -
http://www.internetamerica.com/
midrange.com
