Why is an eMail to karl@202.34.123.45 not possible ?

We have a deidcated server with a fixed IP (e.g =202.34.123.45)
and a running mail server but NO domain associated with it.

I tried to send several times from serveral mail accounts from all over the world
emails to an eMail account on this server (e.g. to karl@202.34.123.45).
Unfortunately this doens't work.

The SMTP mail delivery system seems to need a domain name and NOT an IP. Why?

For web pages I can write http://202.34.123.45
Why is such a trick not possible for emails ?

Tim

On 2006-12-20, Tim Tuples <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote:
> and a running mail server but NO domain associated with it.
> I tried to send several times from serveral mail accounts from all
> over the world
> emails to an eMail account on this server (e.g. to karl@202.34.123.45).
> Unfortunately this doens't work.

And 'doens't work' means? what kind of error is returned?
Davide

--
C makes it easy to shoot yourself in the foot, C++ makes it a little
harder, but when you do, it blows away your whole leg.

Tim Tuples wrote:
>
> For web pages I can write http://202.34.123.45
> Why is such a trick not possible for emails ?

Because normally, a server will look up an MX record when it needs to
deliver mail, not an A record. Have you tried "karl@[202.34.123.45]"?

In news:458984cd$0$5724$(E-Mail Removed),
Tim Tuples <(E-Mail Removed)> typed:
> We have a deidcated server with a fixed IP (e.g =202.34.123.45)
> and a running mail server but NO domain associated with it.
>
> I tried to send several times from serveral mail accounts from all
> over the world emails to an eMail account on this server (e.g. to
> karl@202.34.123.45). Unfortunately this doens't work.
>
> The SMTP mail delivery system seems to need a domain name and NOT an
> IP. Why?
>
> For web pages I can write http://202.34.123.45
> Why is such a trick not possible for emails ?
>
> Tim

What you're looking for is referred to as "acceptance of domain literals"
(see RFC1123). Without knowing anything about your mail server, I couldn't
possibly guess how to set it up (nor whether your senders' servers will like
it, even if you do).

Seriously, I would just register a domain name and start using it. It
doesn't cost much, and if this server isn't just a plaything//lab/home
server, it's well worth it.

PS: I noticed you'd set the followup-to to a single group, the
winxp.network_web one - if you want people to be able to participate in the
thread, best not to do that. At any rate, this isn't a WinXP issue.