Re: Please help a DNS dummie!
From: Herb Martin (news_at_LearnQuick.com)
Date: 12/30/04
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Date: Thu, 30 Dec 2004 10:58:52 -0600
> Thank you very much for your generosity in trying to explain my DNS
> issues to me. Unfortunately, after rereading the last set of responses
> several times, I am just getting more and more confused. My basic
> problem is that I just don't know what the terminology being used
> *means*, so the more I read, the more lost I am getting.
>
> For example:
>
> > Tell me if you know the difference between a Primary
> > and a Secondary DNS Server (for a zone)?
>
> I don't even know what a "zone" is yet. Nor what it means to have a
> DNS server "for" a zone. Nor what the difference between a primary and
> secondary type of such a server would be.
Zone is a file of records that roughly corresponds to
a domain in most cases, e.g., LearnQuick.Com or
Dell.com.
DNS records, or resources records, are just the
individual address and other elements you wish the
DNS server to know about and provide when asked.
For instance, A-address records
provide resolution from the Host name TO the address
(so they are sometimes called Host records.)
It is a contiguous set of names, so the above two
domains would be in different Zones and kept in
different zone files.
A particular zone is kept on a specific set of DNS
servers; the Primary DNS server is the one where
the zone and it's records are CHANGED.
The Secondary, or Secondaries, copy the zone
file from the Primary through a process called
"zone transfer". Secondaries cannot change the
zone file (only the Primary can do that) but they
and the Primary are all said to be "authoritative
for the zone" since they have the OFFICIAL
copy of the entire zone file.
[The above is traditional, or class DNS and
Microsoft adds some a major new zone type
call Active Directory Integrated where a set
of AD-DNS servers can replace the single
primary but we will leave this aside for now.]
> I don't know what "register"
> means in the context of this topic.
> Or "record".
The records are just the individual address and other
elements you wish the DNS server to know about and
provide when asked. For instance, A-address Host
records provide resolution from the name TO the
address.
There are about 8 major record types you need to
really understand DNS (although there may be 30
to a 100 obscure or obsolete type we don't much
care about.)
A or Host records resolve Names to IP addresses.
CNames are Aliases; resolve one Name to another Name
[We can talk about the others if you need them but even
these two will do for starters.
> Or registration
Normally records are added manually by the admin,
directly to the zone file. Dynamic Registration is
the process where a computer adds it's own name by
sending messages to the DNS server. Such dynamic
registration must be enabled, so that the DNS server
will accept such dynamic registrations.
> Or "suffix".
Suffix is largely a client concept but it means the base
part of the name, usually the domain or zone name, before
you add the SPECIFIC Computer name, Hamachi is one
of my servers so it's full name is Hamachi.LearnQuick.Com
and the suffix would be just LearnQuick.Com
> And on and on.
You have to start somewhere.
> Isn't there a "DNS for Dummies" book that explains all this stuff?
Sure but it isn't worth much compared with the GOOD books
and they are all 300-500 pages or more and you don't need
all of that to get started if you are already enmeshed in creating
you own DNS servers, zones, and resource records.
The best book is "DNS and BIND" from O'Reilly (4th edition,
622 pages.) Everyone who is serious about DNS owns a copy
but it contains much that you will never use and doesn't contain
much about Microsoft or those dynamic DNS registration
services you are using on the Internet.)
- Next message: Juergen Heckel: "Re: No replication of DomainDnsZones"
- Previous message: TedMi: "Re: DNS for a mobile domain member"
- In reply to: Mr. Land: "Re: Please help a DNS dummie!"
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