Interesting DNS problem.

Thu Dec 16 20:45:43 UTC 2004

On Thu, 16 Dec 2004, Bob Martin wrote:

> I didn't know this was possible. I thought there was a 1 to 1
> relationship with nameserver names/addresses. I'm trying to figure out
> if this is or will be a problem.

Paul Vixie can probably better address this than myself, but I will
mention that with my experience with running backupdns.com, the main
problems you run into from an operational standpoint are:

1) When you need to change IP addresses for the nameserver you now have to
coordinate the change on a hundred different entries instead of just one.
If you use a single name,  you just change that entry.

2) Depending on the exact situation, the nameserver may or may not know
that it is authoritative for the domains since it may or may not realize
that a given nameserver name is itself.  Especially if there are
resolution issues with the name in question at load time.  Again, Paul
Vixie may be able to better respond to this one.   At backupdns.com, we
tell people it's permitted to use their own name for our secondary server
(if they ask) - but ask that they list the official name for our
nameserver in the NS records for the zone to make sure we answer
authoritatively.   That said, we do try to discourage this because we see
it as potentially causing more harm than good.

-forrest
BackupDNS.com