Strange ns answers...

[Rodney Joffe]

I'm a little confused...

An initial query returns the following:

[rjoffe at layer9 rjoffe]$ dig @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns

; <<>> DiG 8.1 <<>> @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns 
; (1 server found)
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 10
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; QUERY SECTION:
;;      baylink.com, type = NS, class = IN

;; ANSWER SECTION:
baylink.com.            2D IN NS        NS1.THPL.LIB.FL.US.
baylink.com.            2D IN NS        NS2.MSAS.NET.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
NS2.MSAS.NET.           2D IN A         209.216.94.44

;; Total query time: 184 msec
;; FROM: layer9.com to SERVER: 4.2.2.1
;; WHEN: Mon Aug 21 22:32:54 2000
;; MSG SIZE  sent: 29  rcvd: 103

Note: A single A record.

2 seconds later, I repeat the query, and the following is returned:

[rjoffe at layer9 rjoffe]$ dig @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns

; <<>> DiG 8.1 <<>> @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns 
; (1 server found)
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 10
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 1
;; QUERY SECTION:
;;      baylink.com, type = NS, class = IN

;; ANSWER SECTION:
baylink.com.            1d23h59m54s IN NS  NS2.MSAS.NET.
baylink.com.            1d23h59m54s IN NS  NS1.THPL.LIB.FL.US.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
NS1.THPL.LIB.FL.US.     9h41m20s IN A   204.198.80.2

;; Total query time: 25 msec
;; FROM: layer9.com to SERVER: 4.2.2.1
;; WHEN: Mon Aug 21 22:33:00 2000
;; MSG SIZE  sent: 29  rcvd: 103

Finally, 2 seconds later, I get the following, which then remains
consistent.

[rjoffe at layer9 rjoffe]$ dig @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns

; <<>> DiG 8.1 <<>> @4.2.2.1 baylink.com ns 
; (1 server found)
;; res options: init recurs defnam dnsrch
;; got answer:
;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 10
;; flags: qr rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 2, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 2
;; QUERY SECTION:
;;      baylink.com, type = NS, class = IN

;; ANSWER SECTION:
baylink.com.            1d23h59m43s IN NS  NS1.THPL.LIB.FL.US.
baylink.com.            1d23h59m43s IN NS  NS2.MSAS.NET.

;; ADDITIONAL SECTION:
NS1.THPL.LIB.FL.US.     9h41m9s IN A    204.198.80.2
NS2.MSAS.NET.           1d23h59m49s IN A  209.216.94.44

;; Total query time: 47 msec
;; FROM: layer9.com to SERVER: 4.2.2.1
;; WHEN: Mon Aug 21 22:33:11 2000
;; MSG SIZE  sent: 29  rcvd: 119


I tried this on another recursive server and actually had a different
result. The first time, it returned the A record for the MSAS.NET
record. The second time, it returned *no* Additional data. And the third
time, it returned both A records.

Is this normal behaviour? 

-- 
Rodney Joffe
CenterGate Research Group, LLC.
http://www.centergate.com
"Technology so advanced, even we don't understand it!"(SM)