| step | query | auth | servers |
| 1 | 1.42.16.172.in-addr.arpa. | . | (j,f,h,k,d,g,l,e,a,b,i,c,m).root-servers.net. |
| 2 | 1.42.16.172.in-addr.arpa. | in-addr.arpa. | (b,c,d,f,e,a).in-addr-servers.arpa. |
| 3 | 1.42.16.172.in-addr.arpa. | 172.in-addr.arpa. | (w,u,v,x,z,r,t,y).arin.net. |
| 4 | 1.42.16.172.in-addr.arpa. | 16.172.in-addr.arpa. | (blackhole-2,blackhole-1).iana.org. |
We pick