4.2.2.1

[dsr at tao.merseine.nu (dsr at tao.merseine.nu)]

On Sun, Mar 16, 2003 at 04:10:58PM -0500, Jerry Feldman wrote:
> On Sun, 16 Mar 2003 12:56:19 -0800
> William Holt <william_holt at speakeasy.net> wrote:
> 
> >  11   140 ms   156 ms   141 ms  vlan40.cartnj1-dc1-dfa1-rc1.bbn
> > 1.201.67]
> > ##i noticed you had the same as above second hop from last
> > ##but then you had a different host on the last hop
> > ## this is what 4.2.2.1 resolves to
> >  12   140 ms   141 ms   156 ms  vnsc-pri.sys.gtei.net [4.2.2.1]
> I't always good to have a couple of good known DNS servers, but the best
> servers to use are those the fewest hops from you. Since most ISPs have
> DNS servers, it is generally best to have your ISPs DNS servers because
> they are generally only a few hops. 

Thus, the best DNS server is one which you control, in your network.

(This is extremely easy to set up, especially if you are running
Linux... and oh look, here we are in the Boston Linux User's Group.)

The next best DNS server is one which is well-managed, and in your
immediate upstream. 

While the RFC1546 hack means that 4.2.2.1 will be better _on average_
than a randomly selected nameserver, this is by no means optimal. It's
just a great choice in an emergency.

-dsr- (new .sig denotes lack of unemployment)

-- 
"When in doubt, use brute force."
                   - Ken Thompson