Domain DNS Problems - can't figure out what the cause is?

[seven7seven]

Domain DNS Problems - can't figure out what the cause is? [SOLVED]

Update: It must be a problem on ZoneEdit's side - quite a few people on twitter are saying ZoneEdit's ns2 and ns17 are down. (http://twitter.com/#search?q=zoneedit)

Hi all,

A domain I administer is all of a sudden having DNS issues and I can't figure out what the cause is. Everything used to work perfectly and I haven't changed anything.

The domain is shp.org.za and I'm using ZoneEdit NS's configured as such:

A Records:
shp.org.za	   208.75.208.172
[url]www.shp.org.za[/url]	   208.75.208.172
 
Mail Servers (MX):
Domain	Server	   Rank
shp.org.za	ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM	   0
shp.org.za	ALT1.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM	   10
shp.org.za	ALT2.ASPMX.L.GOOGLE.COM	   10
shp.org.za	ASPMX2.GOOGLEMAIL.COM	   20
shp.org.za	ASPMX3.GOOGLEMAIL.COM	   20
 
Aliases (CNAME):	Alias	   Actual Domain Name
mail.shp.org.za	   ghs.google.com

When I do nslookup/dig shp.org.za is correctly returning an A record, and so http://shp.org.za loads the site fine

BUT the following are not working:

www.shp.org.za - no A records being returned/can't resolve this domain

mail.shp.org.za - no CNAME record being returned/can't resolve

MX - no MX records being returned for shp.org.za


Did some checking at http://www.squish.net/dnscheck/ and it showed some errors but to be honest I don't quite understand what they mean! I think it might be a problem on ZoneEdit's side but I'm not sure?

How can I find out what the cause is and then fix it?

All help is much appreciated

Thanks!

 

[twiga]

The correct A record for shp.org.za you are getting is probably cached.

rwhois search on 'shp.org.za':

SHP_1273581175_ORGZA  (shp.org.za)
   Semonkong Hospital Project
   Record last updated on 11-May-2010 14:32:55
   Status: Active

   Domain name servers in listed order:
     ns2.zoneedit.com (69.72.158.226)
     ns17.zoneedit.com (209.126.159.118)

dig shp.org.za @ns17.zoneedit.com = FAIL
dig shp.org.za @ns2.zoneedit.com = FAIL

thus everything is down and you are just lucky to get the correct record, check your dig output, it will show you the cache expiry time.

 

[seven7seven]

The correct A record for shp.org.za you are getting is probably cached.

rwhois search on 'shp.org.za':

SHP_1273581175_ORGZA  (shp.org.za)
   Semonkong Hospital Project
   Record last updated on 11-May-2010 14:32:55
   Status: Active

   Domain name servers in listed order:
     ns2.zoneedit.com (69.72.158.226)
     ns17.zoneedit.com (209.126.159.118)

dig shp.org.za @ns17.zoneedit.com = FAIL
dig shp.org.za @ns2.zoneedit.com = FAIL

thus everything is down and you are just lucky to get the correct record, check your dig output, it will show you the cache expiry time.

Cool thanks twiga, that makes sense!
Hopefully ZE's servers are up again soon!

 

[Grasmuis]

I have the same problem with zoneedit ns2.zoneedit.com and ns17.zoneedit.com resolving dns and mx records for grasmuis.co.za and bosbokapteek.co.za . Server must be down .

 

[ivusi]

I noticed in your zone file you have
A Records:
shp.org.za 208.75.208.172
www.shp.org.za 208.75.208.172

Your orgainsiational record shp.org.za should actually be NS records and not A records. These NS records will point to the main name servers of your SP.
The A record for www.shp.org.za is incorrect, all you have to advertise is the www only , not the FQDN

Hope this helps

 

[Tinuva]

I noticed in your zone file you have
A Records:
shp.org.za 208.75.208.172
www.shp.org.za 208.75.208.172

Your orgainsiational record shp.org.za should actually be NS records and not A records. These NS records will point to the main name servers of your SP.
The A record for www.shp.org.za is incorrect, all you have to advertise is the www only , not the FQDN

Hope this helps

Not 100% true.

shp.org.za can have multiple records, usually at least 2x NS records, but 1x A record never hurts, in fact I run all my domains this way. Otherwise you end up in a situation where people are too lazy, skip the "www." part and all of a sudden the browser reports the domain can't be found. How do you think "http://slashdot.org" is set up, where they for fun never set up the www. A record.

There definitely was problems with Zoneedit for a while, not the 1st time either, one of my domains run on their ns2. and ns3. servers and this was the second time lamebook complained I need to retest my email address as mail were dropped (I make use of ZoneEdit's email forward service).

Personally I think his domain looks just fine:

;; ANSWER SECTION:
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	A	208.75.208.172

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	NS	ns13.zoneedit.com.
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	NS	ns9.zoneedit.com.

 

[ivusi]

Not 100% true.

shp.org.za can have multiple records, usually at least 2x NS records, but 1x A record never hurts, in fact I run all my domains this way. Otherwise you end up in a situation where people are too lazy, skip the "www." part and all of a sudden the browser reports the domain can't be found. How do you think "http://slashdot.org" is set up, where they for fun never set up the www. A record.

There definitely was problems with Zoneedit for a while, not the 1st time either, one of my domains run on their ns2. and ns3. servers and this was the second time lamebook complained I need to retest my email address as mail were dropped (I make use of ZoneEdit's email forward service).

Personally I think his domain looks just fine:

;; ANSWER SECTION:
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	A	208.75.208.172

;; AUTHORITY SECTION:
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	NS	ns13.zoneedit.com.
shp.org.za.		6615	IN	NS	ns9.zoneedit.com.

I apologise - yes you are correct. I never bothered to do a dig on his domain to check his zone file - I based my post on what Richard7 had included in his.

From your post the zone file looks OK, but I would still remove the line "www.shp.org.za 208.75.208.172" as an A record - Call me a purist but I would still just have the www.

Good call though - Cheers