[j_tull]

FR seemed a little slow yesterday, now I know why.

[Cboldt]

Actually, your access to FR does not rely on the root servers. The root servers are the
primary (but no only) method of associating an IP address (FR is 209.157.64.200) with the term
"www.freerepublic.com." That association is also stored at a DNS (Domain name server) close
to you. FR was slow for other reasons, not because 9 of 13 "root DNS servers" were slow
updating the name-lookup inquiries that they were getting. There are thousands of name-lookup
servers, and it is very unlikely that your browsing ever touches one directly.