SERVFAIL on some queries?

[Brad Knowles]

At 10:40 PM +0000 9/21/01, joe d wrote:

>  I'm running bind 9.1.3 on Solaris 8.  When I issue queries for some domains
>  I get SERVFAIL responses.  One such query is dig mx seminoleenergy.com.  I
>  am not responsible for the seminoleenergy.com zone, I'm just trying to send
>  mail there.

	Well, they seem to be having some pretty serious problems (this 
information from DNS Expert Professional 1.6, see 
<http://www.menandmice.com/2000/2100_dns_expert.html>):

                               DNS Expert
                Detailed Report for seminoleenergy.com.
       9/22/01, 2:06 AM, using the analysis setting "Everything"
======================================================================

Information
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Serial number:           2000070311
Primary name server:     nurenya.inetmax.net.
Primary mail server:     mail.inetmax.net.
Number of records:       8 (3 NS, 1 MX, 1 A, 3 CNAME, 0 PTR, 0 Other)


Errors
----------------------------------------------------------------------
o The name server "nurenya.inetmax.net." is not listed in delegation
   data
     The server "nurenya.inetmax.net." is listed as being
     authoritative for the zone according to the zone data, but there
     is no NS record for that server in the delegation data.
     Delegation data and zone data should always match.

o An MX record for "seminoleenergy.com." refers to
   "mail.inetmax.net." which is a CNAME record
     An MX record in the zone "seminoleenergy.com." refers to the mail
     server "mail.inetmax.net." The record "mail.inetmax.net." is a
     CNAME record, not an A record.

o The name server "ns2.inetmax.net." is vulnerable to spoofing attacks
     The cache of the server "ns2.inetmax.net." can be poisoned with
     false data.  This is a threat to the security of your domain.

o The name server "nurenya.inetmax.net." is vulnerable to spoofing
   attacks
     The cache of the server "nurenya.inetmax.net." can be poisoned
     with false data.  This is a threat to the security of your domain.

o There is no PTR record for the host "seminoleenergy.com."
     There is no PTR record available for the host
     "seminoleenergy.com." which has the IP address 216.85.127.224.


Warnings
----------------------------------------------------------------------
o The zone contains more than one authoritative name server with the
   same IP address
     The name servers "ns1.inetmax.net." and "nurenya.inetmax.net.",
     which are authoritative for "seminoleenergy.com.", have the same
     IP address (209.12.38.10).

o All name servers for the zone are on the same subnet.
     All name servers for the zone are on the same subnet
     (209.12.38.*).  If the connection to the network breaks, your
     domain will become inaccessible.

o There is only one MX record in the zone
     The zone contains only one MX record.  This will cause mail
     delivery problems if the primary mail server becomes unavailable.
      For safety purposes, there should be two or more mail servers
     for every zone, the extra mail servers being used as backup
     (secondary) servers for the primary server.


----------------------------------------------------------------------
end of report


	I sincerely doubt that there's anything you can do to fix any of 
these problems.

-- 
Brad Knowles, <brad.knowles at skynet.be>

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