[dns-operations] Pinging the root name servers to check my connectivity?

[Stephane Bortzmeyer]

On Wed, Sep 05, 2012 at 02:44:34PM +0000,
 Vernon Schryver <vjs at rhyolite.com> wrote 
 a message of 78 lines which said:

> I've heard that 8.8.8.8 is not a useful DNS DoS tool, perhaps
> because Google, like any competent, well known provider, must know
> about rate limiting.

I've tried using a Google Public DNS server as a target (with ICMP
echo packets every minute) and, indeed, there are from time to time
failures that do not appear for other services. Since I assume Google
Public DNS works fine, it is probably a form of rate-limiting (and may
be blacklisting for those who really exaggerate).