ftp.perl.org strangeness

[Mark Andrews]

> I've run across this issue with a few websites in the last 18 months.
> It might help to ask if they're using a "load balancer" on
> ddns5.develooper.com (the nameserver for ddns.develooper.com which is
> the zone containing ftp.cpan.ddns.develooper.com which is CNAMEd from
> ftp.perl.org).  One DNS-based load balancing product exhibited this
> broken behavior, though I don't know which product it was.  When queried
> for type A or any type, the correct responses are returned, but when
> querying for AAAA, NXDOMAIN is returned, which is evil because it
> communicates false information that there are no records of any type at
> that name.  Since IPv6-enabled clients query AAAA before A or any, they
> tend to trip up 100% of the time.  I've not yet heard of a
> general-purpose DNS server getting this wrong, I assume any such
> offenders were fixed earlier in the 8 years of AAAA.  DNS-based load
> balancers are on average greener.

	The general purpose servers *never* had this problem.

> I ran across this first with a major computer reseller website and
> complained to their admins.  It took many months for them to get the fix
> from their load-balancing vendor and convince themselves it was safe,
> but they did eventually correct the fault.
> 
> ask <at> develooper.com is listed as the contact in the SOA for
> ddns.develooper.com, hopefully including them on this email will get the
> ball rolling.
> 
> Dave Hart
> davehart at davehart.com
> 
--
Mark Andrews, ISC
1 Seymour St., Dundas Valley, NSW 2117, Australia
PHONE: +61 2 9871 4742                 INTERNET: Mark_Andrews at isc.org