short hostname resolution

[Paul Daniel]

I am setting up a nameserver running on a Redhat 9 box that resides
on a private network that will NOT utilize NAT.  named starts fine 
and resolves FQDNs instantly for all clients.  For short hostnames,
however, name resolution for certain clients such as 'rsh' and 
'host' is instant while for other clients such as 'ssh' and 'dig', 
resolution either involves timeouts before eventually getting an 
IP address (ssh) or delays followed by eventual failure (dig).

The domain name for the private network follows the format: 
<organization>.pvt and all hosts on the private network have a 
simple /etc/resolv.conf:

search <organization>.pvt  <my public domain>
options timeout:5
nameserver 192.168.9.2
nameserver 192.168.9.3


Detailed logging reveals the following frequent pattern but web
searches on such messages seem to implicate firewalls and NAT.  I'm 
not using NAT and even hosts on the same subnet as the nameserver 
suffer. 

Apr 24 17:39:47.025 fctx 0x80f2f20: too many timeouts, disabling EDNS0
Apr 24 17:39:47.025 resquery 0x81019c8 (fctx 0x80f2f20): sent
Apr 24 17:39:47.025 resquery 0x81046c8 (fctx 0x80e5cc8): senddone
Apr 24 17:39:47.025 resquery 0x81019c8 (fctx 0x80f2f20): senddone

Stranger still, the detailed logs reveal some dialog with root
servers even though the nameserver resides on an un-NAT'd private 
network.

I have tried BIND 9.3.1, 8.4.6, and the 9.2.1 that ships with 
Redhat 9 - all result in the same behavior.  I found some stuff on 
a SCO website claiming named itself can generate packets in 
response to queries on short hostnames that exceed its own size 
limits - resulting in reattempts and delays but nothing on ISC's 
website corroborating these claims.  I use a similar configuration 
for BIND 9.2.1 on my public class C network with none of this 
difficulty.  Any and all thoughts appreciated.

Paul


-- 

Paul Daniel
Owens Valley Radio Observatory

email:	paul at ovro.caltech.edu
voice:	760.938.2075 x 130
street:	OVRO 
        100 Leighton LN 	
        Big Pine, CA 93513