Hello David,

> 
> Bruce, thanks for confirming that information about gTLD 
> domains which are *newly created*.  You don't need to specify 
> the IP address for ns1.somethingelse.com.au (as above) in a 
> gTLD registry like .biz, but you do need a host record for 
> ns1.somethingelse.com.au in that registry.
> 
> Presumably the same applies to the .com/.net gTLD registry.

Yes - but the terminology is different.

The nameserver must be "registered" with the registry, before you can
include it in a domain name record.  Interestingly an IP address is not
accepted for a nameserver that is outside of the .com or .net zone.



> What about say a lastcentury.com domain which was created in 
> the 1990s with DNS servers ns1.somethingelse.com.au and 
> ns2.somethingelse.com.au? Network Solutions (before Verisign 
> entered the picture) would have held a host record with 
> ns1.somethingelse.com.au and IP address 1.2.3.4 (say) when 
> the lastcentury.com domain was first registered.
> 
> Have these old host records in the .com gTLD registry (or at gTLD
> registrars) at some point been stripped of IP addresses?  

OK - now this is where it gets complicated.

Originally when you registered the cctld nameserver with the registry,
you needed to include an IP address (part of the protocol).  This IP
address was not used in the .com or .net zone, it was HOWEVER displayed
in the WHOIS entry for information purposes only.

Although you could register the cctld nameserver in the registry
database with an IP address, you COULD NOT modify the IP address.  You
COULD delete the cctld nameserver entry, and then create a new entry
with a new IP address.   Apparently it was thought to not be useful to
allow the modification of the IP address, as this would cause people to
think that modifying the entry had some sort of operational
significance.  However it would (and has!) cause confusion to have
information displayed in the WHOIS that did not match the real IP
address of the cctld nameserver.

After 27 Oct 2001, registrars were able to modify a cctld nameserver
record (ie change the host name of the cctld nameserver), but at the
same time the IP address must be deleted.

I believe that soon after that time, the registry ceased to display the
IP address of cctld nameservers in the WHOIS to reduce confusion.
However the registry records themselves probably still have the IP
address (although this should be mostly invisible to end users).

Regards,
Bruce







> 
> I have tried looking in whois.verisign-grs.com for a number 
> of hosts records I know where the host name ends in .au (for 
> example host ns1.melbourneit.com.au and ns1.qantas.com.au 
> which are used as DNS servers for .com domains) but cannot 
> find any with IP addresses. I look after 
> black-bean.cyber.com.au which used to have an IP address, but 
> not any more.

I expect that if you use WHOIS you could find a .com.au nameserver with
an IP address.

Regards,
Bruce