ZONE02: SOA 'refresh' minimum value
Test case identifier
ZONE02 SOA 'refresh' minimum value
Objective
The SOA refresh value is the number of seconds that describes how often a secondary name server will poll the primary name server to see if there is any updates. The SOA refresh value is described in section 3.3.13 in RFC 1035, and clarified in section 2.2 of RFC 1912. Setting the refresh value low will increase the DNS traffic between the servers, and also increase the load on the master name server. The primary name server will in most cases send DNS notifications to tell the secondary name servers that zone content has been updated, as described in RFC 1996.
The RIPE-203 recommendation for the refresh value is 24 hours (86400 seconds). Older DNSCheck code had a four hour minimum value, and this is the minimum value we recommend.
Inputs
The domain name to be tested.
Ordered description of steps to be taken to execute the test case
- Retrieve the SOA record from a delegated name server for the domain.
- If the answer from step 1 is not authoritative, iterate step 1 until there is an authoritative answer.
- Retrieve the refresh value from the SOA record.
- If the refresh value is less than 14400 (four hours in seconds) this test case fails.
Outcome(s)
If the SOA refresh value is less than 14400 this test case fails.
Special procedural requirements
None.
Intercase dependencies
None.