[ale] Finding your name server?

[Michael H. Warfield]

On Fri, Dec 22, 2000 at 03:20:23PM -0500, Ken Nagorski wrote:
> Hi there,
> 
> 	As far as nameservers go it doens't really matter. Any nameserver

	True, sort of, but overly simplistic.  If you use suboptimal DNS
servers, the dns lookup time is going to degrade.  This is especially true
if you happen to choose a DNS server that forces you to go over the peering
points (the MAE's) just to get to that server which then has to query the
root name servers and then recurses down to the authoritative name server
for the domain you are querying, back to it and then back over the peering
points and back to you.  All of this is with UDP.  That makes you even
more subject to the whims of the conditions on the net and introduces
larger delays plus more traffic in the core network.

	It's technically true that you could go straight to one of the
root name servers, but I would certainly recommend against it...  So
it does, sort of, matter.

> will do. You can assk AOL's name servers and guess what, they will answer.
> I just went and did a whois on bellsouth.com and I got these two
> nameserver.

>    Name Server: IOCEXTDNS1.BLS.COM
>    Name Server: IOCEXTDNS2.BLS.COM

	Now these would be a good start for plugging in fixed values if
you are on BellSouth.  Those names would hint that they may be intended
for external DNS services and they may have different DNS servers for
internal use, but that's a good first guess.  That would certainly work.

> Go ahead and do an nslookup on them and then you can create a
> /etc/resolv.conf file that looks like this.
> search bellsouht.comB
> nameserver 139.76.64.6
> nameserver 139.76.67.7

> Look, I even did the lookup for you :) I hope this helps.

	Using the authoritative servers defined for a zone is one attack,
but still may not be the optimal answer.  But it is a REAL GOOD first
order approximation.  I would go with those values unless BellSouth
itself gives you something better.  Maybe you don't need anything better.

> Ken

> On Fri, 22 Dec 2000, Michael H. Warfield wrote:
> 
> > On Fri, Dec 22, 2000 at 02:49:07PM -0500, Gary Lawler wrote:
> > > I use bellsouth as a dial up on a 56k. My problem is I don't know the
> > > nameserver for bellsouth, so I can't do any thing in linux. How would I
> > > find the name servers address. or better yet if any of you know it would
> > > you send it one close the the atlant area.
> > 
> > 	You should be able to just ask them and they should tell you.
> > Seems like there is also some PPP extension for conveying that information
> > but I don't ever need it (having my own servers, myself).
> > 
> > > Thanks
> > > Gary
> > 
> > 	Mike
> > 
> 
> -- 
> I've got all the money I'll ever need if I die by 4 o'clock.
>                 -- Henny Youngman
> 

-- 
 Michael H. Warfield    |  (770) 985-6132   |  mhw at WittsEnd.com
  (The Mad Wizard)      |  (678) 463-0932   |  http://www.wittsend.com/mhw/
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