internal-external-root

[Jim Reid]

>>>>> "Charles" == Charles Bodley <bodley at tflogic.com> writes:

    Charles> Is it possibly to setup my internal name server in such a
    Charles> way that if it does not have an entry it will query my
    Charles> external and if the extrernal doesn't have an ntry it
    Charles> will then go to the root servers.

No. A DNS lookup either succeeds or fails. Once that result is known,
the lookup is over.

    Charles> As an example we have recently bought a domain but it is
    Charles> not yet in our control. Any machines that use the
    Charles> external servers get the info but any that use the
    Charles> internal cannot find the site. the query the internal
    Charles> then straight to the root. I would think this could be
    Charles> setup in the hints file but I do not know the correct
    Charles> syntax.

The hints file is only used at start-up to find the root name servers:
no more, no less. Configure your internal name server as a slave
(secondary) server for this new zone.

    Charles> P.S. on a totally unrelated matter is there a limit as to
    Charles> how many cname you can use? 

ISTR that BIND allows a CNAME chain of length 8. However you're best
not to have any CNAMEs pointing at other CNAMEs: point them at the
ultimate target. ie if A is a CNAME for B which is a CNAME pointing at
an A record for C, just make A a CNAME for C.