What is everse name look-up and how does it pertain to my IP address?
When your machine connects to our machine via ftp we choose to initiate a process called a reverse name look-up. That is to say we ask domain name service to translate your IP address back into a fully qualified domain name. This is a process that many sites are begining to use as an added security feature. In this way we can verify that you are who you say you are. Now of course, we know that you’re not trying to do anything sneaky, but this is something that we require of everyone that connects to us. At your site, your computer managers maintain two lists of domain names. One is the forward name and the other is the reverse. Often, only the forward name is kept up-to-date. That’s the one that is used when you say you want to connect to your machine and give its name. The forward name translates back to the IP address. But, there is also a table that keeps track of the reverse name, the one that answers the question, what name belongs to this IP address. Hopefully your system manager
