Domain Controllers that are DNS servers DNS Client settings

Question

[Copying verbatim from a mail by Joe ]
So I have been pinged by a few folks recently on configuration of client DNS settings on Domain Controllers that are also functioning as DNS Servers. Lots of debate. I understand there has been long time debate within MSFT as well.
From http://blogs.technet.com/b/askds/archive/2010/07/17/friday-mail-sack-saturday-edition.aspx there
is the quote
"3.When referencing a DNS server on itself, a DNS client should always use a loopback address and not a real IP address."
From http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/confirmation.aspx?id=9166 (Windows
Server 2008 R2 Core Network Guide)
"9.        In Preferred DNS server, type the IP address of your DNS server. If you plan to use the local computer as the preferred DNS server, type the IP address of the
local computer.
10.       In Alternate DNS Server, type the IP address of your alternate DNS server, if any. If you plan to use the local computer as an alternate DNS server, type the IP address of
the local computer."
From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/dd378900(v=ws.10).aspx (DNS:
DNS servers on <adapter name> should include their own IP addresses on their interface lists of DNS servers)
"The inclusion of its own IP address in the list of DNS servers improves performance and increases availability of DNS servers. However, if the DNS server is also a domain controller and it points only to
itself for name resolution, it can become an island and fail to replicate with other domain controllers. For this reason, use caution when configuring the loopback address on an adapter if the server is also a domain controller. The loopback address should
be configured only as a secondary or tertiary DNS server on a domain controller...
Add the loopback IP address to the list of DNS servers on all active interfaces. The loopback IP address should not be the first server in the list."
ESPECIALLY "For this reason, use caution when configuring the loopback address on an adapter if the server is also a domain controller. The loopback address should be configured only as a secondary or tertiary
DNS server on a domain controller." and "Add the loopback IP address to the list of DNS servers on all active interfaces. The loopback IP address should not be the first server in the list."
Why shouldn't loopback not be first, the justification is why you shouldn't only use loopback, not why it shouldn't be first.
From http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ff807362(v=ws.10).aspx (DNS:
DNS servers on <adapter name> should include the loopback address, but not as the first entry)
"If the loopback IP address is the first entry in the list of DNS servers, Active Directory might be unable to find its replication partners. 
The inclusion of its own IP address in the list of DNS servers improves performance and increases availability of DNS servers. However, if the DNS server is also a domain controller and it points only to itself,
or points to itself first for name resolution, this can cause a delay during startup. For this reason, use caution when configuring the loopback address on an adapter if the server is also a domain controller. The loopback address should be configured only
as a secondary or tertiary DNS server on a domain controller."
This also seems like justification against only using loopback versus using it first.
Are there any actual real documented issues for using loopback first and a remote DNS server second and perhaps third? If the local DNS server service isn't working yet (or at all), I would expect the DNS Client process
to try to connect to it, fail, and then failover to the secondary just like I would expect it to failover if the remote DNS server was secondary and it was unavailable and it failed back to the loopback. Am I making a bad assumption?
And by documented I don't mean random responses to questions on the internet or other such items. I mean a KB article or technet article or properly researched and tested other web article from a reliable resource.
thanks, 
joe

Answer 1

As I understand it, the scenario whereby a DC could become an 'island' if it points only to itself, or to itself first, was repaired in the Windows Server 2003 product cycle. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/275278 for information about this scenario.
However, there is still a known problem of slow boot times that can occur. See
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/2001093 for information about this. The scenario that is discussed assumes there is a power failure and servers shut down due to overheating while on backup power. When
multiple servers come online simultaneously after power is restored, there can be a significant delay.
The recommended configuration is one that avoids a single point of failure, but also tries to optimize the speed of resource record registration, so that Active Directory can properly synchronize.
-Greg