In case anyone else notices spotty problems resolving .gov names, I just sent the following message to registrar@dotgov.gov: ---- I started investigating a dns issue after we received a few customer complaints regarding intermittent problems resolving hostnames under noaa.gov. After some in-depth investigation, I believe I’ve identified the issue. First, the query to see the list of authoritative name servers for .gov: # dig NS gov @c.root-servers.net ; <<>> DiG 9.6.1-P3 <<>> NS gov @c.root-servers.net ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 53495 ;; flags: qr rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 0, AUTHORITY: 7, ADDITIONAL: 7 ;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;gov. IN NS ;; AUTHORITY SECTION: gov. 172800 IN NS f.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS a.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS g.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS b.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS d.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS e.usadotgov.net. gov. 172800 IN NS c.usadotgov.net. ;; ADDITIONAL SECTION: a.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 74.208.172.129 b.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 206.204.217.151 c.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 69.72.142.35 d.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 204.168.112.71 e.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 213.165.80.240 f.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 66.207.175.172 g.usadotgov.net. 172800 IN A 64.62.200.134 ;; Query time: 9 msec ;; SERVER: 192.33.4.12#53(192.33.4.12) ;; WHEN: Thu Dec 23 17:37:59 2010 ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 258 The glue records show a.usadotgov.net with an ip of 74.208.172.129. Next, using one of the authoritative name servers for usadotgov.net, we resolve the a.usadotgov.net name: # dig a.usadotgov.net @DNSSEC7.DATAMTN.COM ; <<>> DiG 9.6.1-P3 <<>> a.usadotgov.net @DNSSEC7.DATAMTN.COM ;; global options: +cmd ;; Got answer: ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 61276 ;; flags: qr aa rd; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 1, AUTHORITY: 6, ADDITIONAL: 10 ;; WARNING: recursion requested but not available ;; QUESTION SECTION: ;a.usadotgov.net. IN A ;; ANSWER SECTION: a.usadotgov.net. 86400 IN A 76.73.18.236 You can see that the ip address is incorrect for that hostname. This is going to cause an issue where some responses for .gov addresses will come from a non-authoritative source and should be taken care of as soon as possible as this could potentially affect all .gov domains. -- Andy Harrison Lead Systems Engineer Metrocast Cablevision