Question : DNS troubleshooting

hello for some reason when i go into nslookup debug and query my isp's dns for one of my web sites it resolves but i get a

non-authoritative answer

does anybody know what this means, and how i can troubleshoot it?

thanks,

Answer : DNS troubleshooting

The difference between an authoritative and non-authoritative answer depends on the server you are talking to.  If you use NSLOOKUP to ask a server about a domain that it does not host, the answer will be non-authoritative.   When this happens, the server you ask goes out and asks the NS server that hosts the domain for the information.  If you were you to ask that server yourself, the answer you get back would be authoritative, because it's hosting the domain information.  

Case in point, let's take experts-exchange.com.  The WHOIS record lists their primary NS server as ns1.experts-exchange.com(206.169.61.243).  This server would give you an authoritative answer when you asked about experts-exchange.com.  If you asked your ISP's DNS server about this domain it would return a non-authoritative answer, because it doesn't actually host that information...ns1.experts-exchange.com does.  

Now let's get to your problem...You are likely getting a non-authoritative answer from your ISP because it is not hosting DNS for your web site.  If you really want to see an authoritative answer, ask the server that is.  That info can be had from your WHOIS record.  Hope this helps!