resolv.conf question

I have a resolve.conf specifying two name servers. The first one is in the 
same data center, the second one is an Amazon virtual server. I had to 
reboot a jail system. As Murphy would have it the local nameserver for some 
reason did not answer when the jails were started.

I had assumed that if server one was not available the after the fail time 
server two was tried. This only happened for the first jail. The linux 
writeups (as I understand them) would seem to imply the second server 
should be tried.

So I tried to RTFM, /usr/src/contrib/ldns/resolver.c in this case. It is 
almost certain that the system was up but bind did not respond. The source 
is a bit above my pay grade but it did seem possible that if that was the 
case, the second server was never tried. This is what actually happened.

There were no other issues as each of the jails started fine with a manual 
boot. Does anyone know if the timeout and/or retry setting offer a way 
around this.

_____
Douglas Denault
http://www.safeport.com
doug@safeport.com
Voice: 301-217-9220
   Fax: 301-217-9277