delegating a subdomain to the same nameserver

[Ragnar Paulson]

Why would you want to you ask right?   We have a nameserver running on
ns2.wanware.com that is configured as authoritative for group.com.  I
also want to make it authoritative for hq.group.com.  hq.wanware.com is
as expected an internal zone of unroutable machines (192.168.x.x behind
a NAT firewall - which also happens to be ns2.wanware.com).  The purpose
of hq.group.com is simply to set
allow-query and allow-transfer in /etc/named.conf so that it is not
visible to the Internet.

When I do this, I get the following response from nslookup:

Server:  localhost
Address:  127.0.0.1

Non-authoritative answer:
hq.group.com    nameserver = ns2.wanware.com
hq.group.com
        origin = ns2.wanware.com
        mail addr = webmaster.ns2.wanware.com
        serial = 375
        refresh = 10800 (3H)
        retry   = 1800 (30M)
        expire  = 864000 (1w3d)
        minimum ttl = 43200 (12H)

Authoritative answers can be found from:
ns2.wanware.com internet address = 192.52.239.253

This machine is perfectly fine being authoritative for group.com.  And
if I change the NS record to a 2nd machine and move all of hq.group.com
to it, delegation works fine.  It's only when delegating to itself i am
unable to get an authoritative answer.

Is this just bending BIND in ways its not intended to be used?

Thanks
Ragnar

--
Ragnar Paulson    ragnar at thesoftwaregroup.on.ca
The Software Group Limited  705 725 9999

"Of course I don't believe in it.  But I understand that it brings you
luck whether you believe in it or not."

-- Nuclear physicist Niels Bohr explaining why he had hung a horseshoe
on the wall.