Pro DNS and BIND [Paperback]

Ronald G.F. Aitchison (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1590594940 | ISBN-13: 978-1590594940 | Publication Date: August 23, 2005 | Edition: 1

The Domain Name System (DNS) is the system created to map domain names to IP addresses, and is largely responsible for the widespread popularity of the Internet due to the convenience it offers in calling system resources by an easily recognizable name rather than a cryptic number. Given the critical nature of this technology for ensuring smooth operation of Internet-based resources such as Web and mail servers, it’s imperative that users fully understand key configuration, management and security principles.

Pro DNS and BIND guides readers through the often challenging array of features surrounding DNS with a special focus on the World’s most diffuse DNS implementation, BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain). Readers will learn not only about key DNS concepts, but also how to effectively install, configure, deploy and manage BIND in enterprise environments.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Ron Aitchison is founder of Zytrax, Inc., a company specializing in the design, development and marketing of IP network solutions and services.

Product Details

• Paperback: 608 pages
• Publisher: Apress; 1 edition (August 23, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1590594940
• ISBN-13: 978-1590594940
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 7 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #634,734 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Definitely the Best!, July 5, 2006

By 

J. P. Mens (Germany, Europe) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pro DNS and BIND (Paperback)

Ron Aitchison's Pro DNS and BIND packs a whopping 550 pages of material which is easy to read for the novice or ongoing DNS administrator, and which is very well written (I greatly enjoyed the author's style). After a short introduction in which I learnt some interesting facts about the provisioning of the root servers, the author implements a first zone describing the necessary concepts such as resource records, queries and zone transfers very clearly, followed by the different types of DNS setups (master, slave, caching, forwarding and stealth servers); these are covered in depth in chapter 7. Chapter five covers IPv6 and its relevance to BIND. Throughout the book, references to other DNS server implementations are given, but the primary focus is of course BIND 9.3.0.

Aitchison leads the reader through detailed installation of BIND on Linux, FreeBSD and even Windows (ISC has an installer for Windows in its portfolio), after which common DNS tasks are discussed (how to delegate a subdomain, how to define SPF records, etc. read it on-line here) as well as a chapter on tools.

The third part of the book is dedicated to securing DNS configurations with topics ranging from simple administrative issues (chroot jails) through securing DNS updates and zone transfers with TSIG and DNSSEC.bis which is covered very extensively in chapter 11.

Chapters 12 and 13 provide extensive commented references on BIND configuration and Zone files. There is of course plenty of on-line reference information on these two topics (including the author's very good DNS for Rocket Scientists) but I like to have reference information on hardcopy (in the event my DNS servers fail, and I can't reach the on-line documentation :-) )

In part 5 the author shortly covers programming with the BIND API and the resolver libraries, and he follows that with an interesting chapter on DNS Messages and Records, good to have if you want to sniff your way through DNS traffic.

The publisher's web site carries a sample chapter as well as the source code to the book which is also available in TAR format on the author's web site together with complementary information and pointers to further resources.

My only complaint about this otherwise excellent book is that on two or three occasions I read a paragraph that I thought I'd just read before; some duplication must have taken place (or I was tired). For the next edition, I'd like to read a chapter on interoperability between BIND and Microsoft Windows DNS servers, specifically regarding DNSSEC.

This book is an absolute must have for anybody who needs to understand DNS in the first place (irrespective of the implementation he or she plans to use), and it is a must have for a systems administrator who is either intending to deploy or has already deployed BIND 9.3. I wish I'd read this book before the first mentioned above.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars To understand DNS and BIND get this book!, December 11, 2005

By 

Harold McFarland (Florida) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Pro DNS and BIND (Paperback)

The Domain Name System is a critical component of any large network or any computer connected to the Internet. While a home user would not need to setup a DNS server, business networks of any significant size would benefit from an internal server, DNS caching router or other components. This book takes the reader through a very good explanation of DNS and BIND, how it works, how to set it up, how to test it, and how to troubleshoot it. There are many books on DNS and BIND but most either assume a certain level of prior knowledge, provide theory without implementation information, or provide implementation information without any theory so you have no idea how to troubleshoot a problematic implementation. Author Ron Aitchison does an excellent job of discussing both theory and implementation in this book so you end up with a thorough education. He even covers the implementation of a secure DNS server. This book actually takes the reader from a level of complete novice through advanced DNS administrator and does an excellent job of it. Pro DNS and BIND is highly recommended and one of the better books on the subject available.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Online VS. Hardcopy version, January 30, 2006

By 

Harvey Mushman (venice, ca United States) - See all my reviews
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Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Pro DNS and BIND (Paperback)

After reading several of the chapter sections at the authors website, I needed a bit more understanding about how to install and configure Bind 9 onto our Windows box. I wanted to use Bind on old hardware running NT4. I fired off an email to the author and got several pointers that fixed the problems I was having. I realized the pointers he had given me were all covered in his book. After purchasing the book, I not only found out lots of stuff about what all the parameters are but also discovered how to manage bind over the LAN in a secure way. This book is a must have for anyone that wants to use Bind 9 for the first time. It has helped me several times already.