[NTLUG:Discuss] Any DNS gurus out there?

[Eric Schnoebelen]

LEROY TENNISON writes:
- If a DNS server is trying to resolve a name for a client and:
- 
-    Gets a list of referrals from another DNS server (assume an
-    Internet client requested www.google.com and the DNS server
-    doing the resolution asked a ``.com'' DNS server for an
-    authoritative source for google.com).  And the first referral
-    in the list is down
- 
- What happens?  Does the resolving DNS server try the next referral
- in the list or does it give up and tell the client ``can't resolve
- name''?

Hardly a guru level question..

A conforming recursive DNS server implementation would ask the
next name server in the list it received to try answering the
question.  It will keep trying name servers until it runs out of
name servers, receives an authoritative answer, or an
authoritative negative answer.

Now, note the intro to the above.. I'm sure there is at least
one non-conforming recursive DNS server implementation out
there.. :(

--
Eric Schnoebelen		eric at cirr.com		http://www.cirr.com
	Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes
	       up on the roof and gets stuck.  -- George Carlin