DNS size

[Mark_Andrews at isc.org]

> Developers in my area have asked what is the largest size whole domain
> you can have ie, character size. 
> xxxxxx.xxxxxxx.xxxxxxxx.xxxxxxx.com.
> I know that a single domain name can be 63 characters but is there a limit
> on the whole or is that based on the operating system.
> 
> Thanks
>  Dave
	
	The maximium uncompressed wire length is 255 octets.
	This give a maximum hostname lenght of 253 characters.
	The maximum number of character reqired to store a arbitary
	domain name in ascii is just under 1k.

	Also what you are calling a "single domain name" is known as
	a label.
	
	Mark
--
Mark Andrews, Internet Software Consortium
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: marka at isc.org