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I am on windows 7 OS. tried the following command at the command line

ping hidden-master.yahoo.com

Following is the output:--

C:\Users\bilbo>ping hidden-master.yahoo.com

Pinging hidden-master.yahoo.com [127.0.0.1] with 32 bytes of data:
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128
Reply from 127.0.0.1: bytes=32 time<1ms TTL=128

Ping statistics for 127.0.0.1:
Packets: Sent = 4, Received = 4, Lost = 0 (0% loss),
Approximate round trip times in milli-seconds:
Minimum = 0ms, Maximum = 0ms, Average = 0ms

The reply is coming from localhost IP i.e 127.0.0.1. Can someone please explain the output??

referred this and it says the name points to loopback address. there are other such names as well. Whats the practical use of having such things in place??

bugs99
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1 Answers1

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They set up an DNS A record to point to 127.0.0.1. Probably for testing, or when they wanted to keep the record for future use (just change the IP when needed - the lazy admin way), but not have it point to any of their resources. 

mulaz@sheeba ~ $ dig A hidden-master.yahoo.com

...

;; ANSWER SECTION:
hidden-master.yahoo.com. 172796 IN      A       127.0.0.1

That address is basically pointing to localhost/127.0.0.1, so after resolving, you ping your own pc.

mulaz
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  • here's the explaination i have been looking for:---- http://www.inetdaemon.com/tutorials/internet/dns/configuration/hidden_master.shtml – bugs99 Jun 26 '12 at 12:58