tcp/udp, clarification please

[Michael Kjorling]

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Wrong. Any sane DNS implementation will first try using UDP, and (in
case the response is truncated) MAY retry the query using TCP. I
belive the RFCs say MAY and not MUST. Can't remember in what RFC the
meaning of these words were codified, but it is there somewhere.

Zone transfers always work over TCP, though. There may be other parts
of DNS which uses TCP by default, and as someone (was it Kevin?)
pointed out a while back some ancient platforms don't have UDP in
their IP stack so they are stuck with TCP.

I can't belive so many people want to "secure" their DNS servers by
only allowing UDP... it causes major trouble and at the _very_ least
serious delays if the response is too big to fit into a single UDP
packet and TCP is blocked.


Michael Kjörling


On Oct 10 2001 17:40 +0100, arvid at carlander.ac wrote:

> Eoin,
>
> TCP is used normally and UDP is used if  TCP fails, so disallowing TCP at
> your firewall would cause delays and retransmissions.
>
> -Arvid

- -- 
Michael Kjörling  --  Programmer/Network administrator  ^..^
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