Re: Warning of major NHS IT overspend

[Ian G Batten <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>]

On Thu, 04 Nov 2004, Roger Hayter wrote:

> Not entirely random, in that you cannot nominate a (?primary) DNS server 

The distinction between primary and secondary is an artifact of the
software, not the protocol.  The protocol supports zone distribution,
but the NS records for a zone can a primary and some secondaries, all
secondaries (as they are for ftel.co.uk: you can't get at the primary)
or all primaries (if the zone files are distributed over rsync or
something).

> for a .com or .net domain without getting someone in a hosting company 
> to vouch for the suitability of the hostname and IP with a domain 
> registrar.

I didn't know that.  We hold ftel.co.uk on our own tag (it's one of the
(in)famous pre-Nominet names, dating back to the Salford NRS) and I can
change the NS records ad libitum with a piece of PGP signed mail.

> By saying that people in a domain hosting company are not a 
> random selection of the population I am not claiming any particular 
> degree of expertise or social responsibility, however.

Quite so.  One reason I eventually stopped holding batten-family.org.uk
via a registrar and coughed up the 80 quid per two years it costs to
keep on FTEL's tag was because I was fed up with the antics of hosting
companies.

ian