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Microsoft's DNS Down
Everybody and their brother has submitted what has to be the least
interesting story in months. Microsoft's DNS server is down. I haven't visited their web site in months and I don't care
in the slightest, but if I don't post this, I'm going to spend the next 48 hours deleting 2,000 submissions about it as zillions of people somehow think that this matters. Yup. Its down. Ye haw. Do you people actually visit microsoft.com? It didn't
even render under Netscape for the longest time. I can't remember the last time I intentionally went to that site. There's just no need. (Well, I guess if you run windows you gotta get your service packs every few minutes ;)
SecureDNS (available in bind 9) allows you to sign your zone, so this kind of DNS cache poisoning can not happen. Lets roll it out and use it sooner rather than later.
(b) you're going to have to learn about journalistic standards. If you expect to be taken seriously, you can't write like that - you can't show such prejudice, and you can't show such a casual dismissal of America's biggest company.
On this point, there's something even more important to point out. Taco pretty much slammed his own readers for posting this supposedly insignificant story... when the very fact that he received a bazillion submissions on this shows that they do indeed read this site and that it is important for many of those who submitted the story.
Journalists who insult their own readers don't have readers for very long.
woof!
> set type=soa
> microsoft.com
Server: localhost
Address: 127.0.0.1
Non-authoritative answer:
microsoft.com
primary name server = dns.cp.msft.net
responsible mail addr = msnhst.microsoft.com
serial = 2001012306
refresh = 900 (15 mins)
retry = 600 (10 mins)
expire = 7200000 (83 days 8 hours)
default TTL = 7200 (2 hours)
microsoft.com nameserver = DNS7.cp.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = DNS6.cp.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = DNS4.cp.msft.net
microsoft.com nameserver = DNS5.cp.msft.net
DNS7.cp.msft.net internet address = 207.46.138.21
DNS6.cp.msft.net internet address = 207.46.138.20
DNS4.cp.msft.net internet address = 207.46.138.11
DNS5.cp.msft.net internet address = 207.46.138.12
> server dns7.cp.msft.net
Default Server: dns7.cp.msft.net
Address: 207.46.138.21
> set type=a
> www.microsoft.com
Server: dns7.cp.msft.net
Address: 207.46.138.21
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Request to dns7.cp.msft.net timed-out
> server dns6.cp.msft.net
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Can't find address for server dns6.cp.msft.net: Timed out
> server dns4.cp.msft.net
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Can't find address for server dns4.cp.msft.net: Timed out
> server dns5.cp.msft.net
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
DNS request timed out.
timeout was 2 seconds.
*** Can't find address for server dns5.cp.msft.net: Timed out
>
The sad thing is, the way DNS info is cached, is that it takes a fairly long outage for anyone to even notice.
Anyway, the above says: dns4,5,6 and 7
--- Where's my X.400 protocol decoder?
Are any of you network admins? What was your worst day on the job? Probably, it was a day when things really didn't go well after an upgrade or equipment change. You probably had people coming in to the equipment room every five minutes to ask two things: 1) do you need any help? and 2) when will it be fixed? You got sick of both questions, because you were stressed out enough already.
This is part of the Internet, though: we forget that real people do work for Microsoft. We forget that MS isn't just an evil force, but has people who have emotions working for it. It is an irony that people on Slashdot - technically literate people - who claim that email is an equalizer (no respector of race, disabilities, age, etc) - these same peple forget about the human faces behind a large website.
I wouldn't want to be in those network admin's shoes right now. I've had DNS outages, and I know what it is like to have corporate headquarters yelling, "Why aren't we up?"
So, before you criticize how "dumb" their admins are, and whatever else, remember two things: 1) This same problem (DNS outage) has happened to any real admin on Slashdot, and 2) the MS network admins are having a very bad day.
Um...why do you say they're on the same segment? Don't you know how netmasks work?
A netmask of 255.255.255.240 would segment 6/7 from 4/5. Just because they look like they fall on the same class-C, doesn't mean they are. Even if MS owns all of 207.46, they could mix and match the network ranges however they want. Don't assume anything.
The only incompetence I can verify is that you don't know how to segment networks.
sedawkgrep
Is that a salami in my pants or am I just happy to be me?
Believe it or not, there are some of us that actually don't spend the entire day bashing Microsoft and boasting that we don't go to their website. Do you think we care if you haven't been there in months? Do you believe that the entire slashdot community is together in your anti-Microsoft holy war? I'm no Microsoft fan, but there are those of us that actually rely on Microsoft. Like it or not, Microsoft IS an important part of the industry. Do you have any idea where we'd be without Microsoft?
I myself probably visit microsoft.com at least once every day or so. Their Knowledge Base is a great place to find out loads of information on just about any product they make. MSDN Online is a great resource for developers!
I'm a sysad for an ISP. Most all of our users use Windows (we've got a few Mac users, a few Win3.1 users, and a few Linux users). I wrote our installation software in VC. I actually was going to write a utility today that uninstalls DUN, all of the Network components, and deleted all of the network-related files, and then forced a reinstallation from CD. To do this, I was going to refer to KB article Q181599, which details all of the network-related files to remove and which cab files to find them in to put them back. And now I can't do that because microsoft's site (one of the most reliable sites I've ever frequented, I might add) is down.
And all you have to do is sit over there and say "do you people actually visit microsoft.com?" like it's some sort of unholy act to go there.
I knew there was a reason I stopped going to slashdot recently. I actually hit the wrong button on my IE (yup, i'm using Win98!) Links bar and caught the "Microsoft DNS is down" line, so I thought I'd read it, but all I got was disgusted.
Mike
P.S. The correct phrase is "everybody and their brother."
"I would kill everyone in this room for a drop of sweet beer."
Basically, it appears as if the entire subnet the Microsoft DNS servers were hosted on has just 'disappeared' making microsoft.com, msn.com, hotmail.com, passport.com et al unavailable. Sites hosted on other domains (such as microsoft.co.uk are still available). Direct IP addresses are stated in the article if you _have_ to visit Microsoft.com
Microsoft and Yahoo were suffering DNS problems earlier this week as well, and microsoft new zealand was recently hacked.
Beebware.com also has a list of consumer information on Microsoft, MS Humor as well as many other categories about 'that' software company.
Richy C.
Maybe M$ was running Java-based DNS servers, and their settlement with Sun forced them to take them offline..
--
Do daemons dream of electric sleep()?
This IS his forum. I don't remember reading anything that says he HAS to be fair and impartial. Yes he claims this is a "News for Nerds" site. But this isn't a REAL(tm) news site. He's not a reporter so he doesn't have to live up to any moral or ethical standard. You don't have to come here if you don't like it.
Army of One!
I now expect to lose Karma for criticizing Slashdot. Of course, if I cared about Karma, I wouldn't post this response... :)
I run and program both Linux and Win2K; Windows 2000 is quite stable--as many others have pointed out in past postings. My Win2K system runs continuously for weeks at a time, without glitch or problem, despite my use of games and unusual hardware. It might surpise CmdrTaco to know that quite a few "nerds" think that Windows matters.
I find many reasons to visit Microsoft's web site: to pick up development kits, to read articles, and for the excellent knowledge base that Linux can only dream of emulating. Win2K has bugs, but so does Linux. I suggest Slashdot spend less time making snide comment about MS, and work on fixing the leaks in its own ship of state. Linux ain't perfect, ya know.
--
Scott Robert Ladd
Master of Complexity
Destroyer of Order and Chaos
All about me
Just this sort of thing happened the other day where an ISP released DNS entries for yahoo.com, and some other sites, uh...accidentally. The problem is that people don't talk to the authoratative DNS servers : They just trust anyone. This is leading to all sorts of shit and I'm sure after the ruckous about that guy overriding commercial sites DNS entries some script kiddies got some ideas. THIS CAN HAPPEN TO ANY SITE, INCLUDING SLASHDOT. To think this isn't news is just bizarre. It isn't that MS' DNS server was hacked : Rather DNS is showing it's cracks and they are absolutely massive. What if someone redirected a banks page to a dupe that logged everyones login info? Of course theoretically SSL ties a site to an IP, but most people ignore little warnings like that.
On another note I go to microsoft.com all the time in fact (though usually msdn.microsoft.com). Excellent site. In fact I believe it's among the top 3 most visited sites on the planet, so to proclaim it not to matter seems rather goofy.
If you want Slashdot to be taken as seriously as print media, you are going to have to drop the "holy war" stance. Microsoft plays a very important part in the computing industry, and they have the 3rd largest website in the world.
/. staff that they only use Linux to spite Microsoft. I say use what works best for you.
Perhaps even more important is the fact that if some fool can corrupt DNS and take Yahoo and Microsoft offline, they can take anybody offline. The DNS system needs to be fixed, but with your snide comments about Microsoft the focus of that issue is lost.
I might add that I do in fact use Windows 2000 because it is stable (2 BSODs since Dec. 1999) and supports everything I need. Many people that use Linux do so because it fits their specific needs, and that's great. But I get the feeling from some of the
-
The IHA Forums
Natural != (nontoxic || beneficial)
I don't normally respond to illiterate flamebait, but in this case I'll make an exception:
;)
> Everybody and there brother
I'll just pick this up before someone else does.
'There'!= 'their', the possessive pronoun Taco is looking for.
> has submitted what has to be the least interesting story in months. Microsoft's DNS server is down.
Ok fine. End of story. No need for irrelevant flamebait designed to get thousands of posts about how Windows/Linux sucks.
Let's address the news: MS' dns is down.
Ok wow. Have you been to uptime.netcraft.com? I think you'll find *all* servers go down, especially ones under the consistently heavy load of ddos, millions of hits a day, etc like MS. Redhat goes down, MS goes down, big wow. Every big site goes down more often than a presedential intern on heat. Ok. [It's just that people don't gloat when Linux companies go down, probably because they aren't successful like MS so people aren't jealous of their success.]
> I haven't visited their web site in months and I don't care in the slightest, but if I don't post this, I'm going to spend the next 48 hours deleting 2,000 submissions about it as zillions of people somehow think that this matters.
It does to the millions of daily visitors, yes.
> Yup. Its down. Ye haw. Do you people actually visit microsoft.com?
It's actually in the top 10 of most visited websites in the world. It has free software, updates, one of the best developers' sites anywhere, etc..
> I can't remember the last time I intentionally went to that site. There's just no need.
You might as well say you have no need to upgrade Slashcode when that gets holes in it. If you use Windows there is a need, because all software is insecure and Windows is no exception. It's no different with Linux. It's not just that either. Microsoft's website has a whole bunch of other interesting and free stuff there too. In fact, Microsoft's site became, in about 1997 (I remember reading) the largest website in the world, with several terabytes of content. So yes, there is a need.
If you actually took your blinkers off you might realize that - I don't just crap about Linux like you seem to about Windows. I haven't got an irrational fear/jealousy about Linux.
Hell I use linux. I install and maintain it as a web server. And I don't say that no-one needs to visit redhat.com, even though it's clearly not as good a site.
> (Well, I guess if you run windows you gotta get your service packs every few minutes
Nice casual aside there, guaranteed to pick up a few hundred replies. Nice one. But it's not true.
There is *one* service pack for Windows 2000 since release.
Let's look at the Linux equivalent shall we?
Have you ever tried installing Redhat?
I have, and I spent 3 hours downloading things from http://updates.redhat.com and upgrading them.
This stuff about Windows needing service packs often is bull. Linux has far more service packs, because Microsft updates things all at once whereas with Linux you have to update individually.
Hell my grandmother could install a Windows service pack, but I can't see her upgrading bind when a security hole's found in that.
I don't mean to respond in such flameish terms, but I had no choice in this case. In one breath you say the story sucks, and then you throw in some highly childish and unprofessional insults against a site which represents a considerable portion of many people's lives.
We keep hearing from you how Slashdot is becoming the newspaper for the new millennium, how people are taking notice of it, and how it ranks alongside traditional media, but if you expect the kind of respect this implies, you are going to:
(a) learn how to spell. I'm not normally a spelling flamer (i.e. not for posters), but how can you expect people to take the site seriously when you can't even be bothered to read the post twice or put it through a spellchecker to find that 'its' is a possessive pronoun, whereas 'it's' is the contraction of 'it is' you where looking for.
(b) you're going to have to learn about journalistic standards. If you expect to be taken seriously, you can't write like that - you can't show such prejudice, and you can't show such a casual dismissal of America's biggest company.
You're not just a Perl hacker sitting around eating pizza and drinking Mountain Dew any more Rob - you're responsible for an important and valuable institution, and it's time you behaved like it.