root server query question

[tforeman at ibsys.com]

Okay, you don't really want to query the root servers.

This is how the resolver works:

dig +trace www.msnbc.com

***** These are the Root Servers *****
; <<>> DiG 9.2.3 <<>> +trace www.msnbc.com
;; global options:  printcmd
.                       3600000 IN      NS      I.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      J.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      K.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      L.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      M.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      A.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      B.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      C.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      D.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      E.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      F.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      G.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
.                       3600000 IN      NS      H.ROOT-SERVERS.NET.
;; Received 260 bytes from 192.168.100.20#53(192.168.100.20) in 5 ms

***** These are the .com servers ******
com.                    172800  IN      NS      E.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      F.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      G.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      H.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      I.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      J.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      K.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      L.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      M.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      B.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      C.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
com.                    172800  IN      NS      D.GTLD-SERVERS.NET.
;; Received 503 bytes from 192.36.148.17#53(I.ROOT-SERVERS.NET) in 99 ms

***** These are msnbc's servers ******
msnbc.com.              172800  IN      NS      ns1.msft.net.
msnbc.com.              172800  IN      NS      ns2.msft.net.
msnbc.com.              172800  IN      NS      ns3.msft.net.
msnbc.com.              172800  IN      NS      ns4.msft.net.
msnbc.com.              172800  IN      NS      ns5.msft.net.
;; Received 209 bytes from 192.12.94.30#53(E.GTLD-SERVERS.NET) in 118 ms

www.msnbc.com.          900     IN      CNAME   lb.msnbc.com.
;; Received 48 bytes from 207.46.245.230#53(ns1.msft.net) in 127 ms

So if you are looking for a .com domain, you would query one of the
.com servers

--Tim