[Pdns-users] Question about expected behavior for bind backend in 4.4.0 / 4.5.1

[sthaug at nethelp.no]

I have an architecture with authoritative PowerDNS servers as follows:

- A PowerDNS 4.4.0 server (A), configured as a secondary to a BIND
primary, using the bind backend. This has been working just fine for
many months.

- A PowerDNS 4.5.1 server (B), configured as a secondary with the
above A server as primary, using the bind backend. This is a test
installation for the purpose of (eventually) moving the above server
A installation to 4.5.1.

One of the zones being transferred using normal AXFR is rather large,
on the order of 425 Mbyte and 4 million lines. The observed behavior,
and the background for my question, is that it takes around 36 seconds
from B sending the AXFR command to A, until A starts actually sending
data (for this large 425 MByte zone) - verified using packet sniffing.

My question: Is this delay of 36 seconds expected? I found I had to
increase axfr-fetch-timeout to 60 seconds, because the default of 10
seconds resulted in timeouts and the zone was never transferred.

Steinar Haug, AS2116