> >   3.1. Host population.  A server's location on the network should be
> >   such that it has a low IP hop count to a high number of end hosts.
> >   Duplication of service should be avoided, such that any given set of
> >   end hosts needs to have a low IP hop count to at most one authority
> >   server for any given zone.
> 
> a.root-servers.net
> b.root-servers.net
> c.root-servers.net
> 
> I'd like to see if these servers comply with your reading o the section you
> post avove.

I'm not going to bother posting the traceroutes - I'm sure everyone on
this list is capiable of doing them for themselves.

What they do show is that none of these three name servers are located at
the same locations, or even on the same networks, and thus yes, they
do follow "duplication of service should be avoided" as stated above - 
unlike the AURSC servers.

If you were refering to the hop counts, a and b are 10/11 hops away - not
necessarily that close, but not that far away either, especially seeing the
majority of the hops are >>50Mbps links.

  Scott.