Annoying Error Message about a Fictitious Name Server

[Jim Reid]

>>>>> "Martin" == Martin McCormick <martin at dc.cis.okstate.edu> writes:

    Martin> 	I see the following message frequently in the name
    Martin> server log.  It has been edited by removing the time stamp
    Martin> so it will fit on a single line, but here it is.

    Martin> sysquery: findns error (NXDOMAIN) on ns3.cis.okstate.edu?

    Martin> 	Does this mean that some misguided host is trying to
    Martin> use this nonexistent host?

Yes, except the hosts are not misguided. They are believing false
information in the DNS. 

    Martin> We used to have an
    Martin> ns3.cis.okstate.edu a long time ago, but we don't even
    Martin> have an A record for any such system.

That's the problem: the name exists as an NS record somewhere. Your
name server is being told to use ns3.cis.okstate.edu as a name server
for some zone and it's complaining that it can't find an A record for
that name.