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Re: Question about strain on the A root server

  • From: Bruce Campbell
  • Date: Sat Apr 22 22:55:00 2000

On Sat, 22 Apr 2000, Forrest W. Christian wrote:

> On Sat, 22 Apr 2000, Nick Patience wrote:
> 
> > NSI seems slightly unsure as to the main reason for the increase in hits,
> 
> I have heard from a source that Windows 2000 is sending a whole bunch of
> "interesting" packets towards the root servers.  I don't know if this is
> true or not, but if it is, this seems to coincide timing wise.   The
> person I talked to referred to the packets as "update notifications" or
> something like that.  Maybe NOTIFY implemented weirdly?

Dynamic Updates on a 'orrible scale.  It appears to be that if a windows
2000 machine cannot find its forward and reverse name to resolve
correctly, it will send a dynamic update for the name to the nearest found
parent. 

Logically, this should *not* be the root nameservers.  Well, logically,
yes.  If the logical (listed) parents are not found, then I think it walks
back down the chain, and (possibly) to the roots. 

As our[1] nameservers are authoritative for a few reverses[2], we tend to
see an awful lot of these dynamic updates, which show up as 'Unauthorised
update' etc etc.

Its the equivilant of a new-born baby waking up during its first night,
and immediately bawling down the phone to the deed poll office to change
their name.  Annoying, but it does save the parents the tramua of naming
the babe.

--==--
Bruce.

[1] APNIC.  Std-disclaimer applies.
[2] {61,202,203,210,211}.in-addr.arpa .