DNS on Windows 2000 [ILLUSTRATED] (Paperback)

by Matt Larson (Author), Cricket Liu (Author)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com
That Microsoft likes to implement network services in its own way--some would call this innovation; others would say it's reinventing the wheel--is news to no one. The folks from Redmond have built Domain Name Service (DNS) capability into Windows 2000 Server, and sure enough, the implementation differs from all those that preceded it. There's nothing wrong with it. It's just unique, and DNS on Windows 2000 explains how. What's more, the book explains DNS generally, in both global and organizational terms. For that reason, the authors are correct to point out in their introduction that this is essentially the classic DNS and BIND (which Cricket Liu, one of this book's authors, also cowrote) for Windows 2000 instead of Unix.

This book does a good job of tying together all aspects of DNS provision for a network administrator. It's a complex undertaking, since DNS involves not only elaborately inter-operating machines in the organizational network, but also interactions with other networks' services and global authorities. Liu and Matt Larson explain the whole system, from starting and stopping a DNS service under Windows 2000 to establishing an organization's namespace in the global hierarchy. They rely on diagrams to clarify DNS conceptually, screen shots to set readers straight on how to configure servers, and plenty of annotated nslookup runs to demonstrate correct and incorrect server behavior. This book's your best bet if you need to implement DNS on a Windows 2000 network and have either no knowledge of DNS, or knowledge that's rooted in Unix implementations. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Domain Name System (DNS) in general, and means of implementing it under Microsoft Windows 2000 Server specifically. There are specific instructions for setting up Microsoft DNS Server instances in a number of configurations, and advice on how to set up zones, MX records, and subdomains. All aspects of the interaction between Windows 2000 and DNS--notably Active Directory--receive attention.

Product Description
DNS on Windows 2000 is a special Windows-oriented edition of the classic DNS and BIND. The Domain Name System (DNS) is one of the Internet's fundamental building blocks: the distributed host information database that's responsible for translating names into addresses, routing mail to its proper destination, and many other services. As the preface says, if you're using the Internet, you're already using DNS--even if you don't know it. Besides covering general issues like installing, setting up, and maintaining the server, DNS on Windows 2000 tackles those specific to the Windows environment: integration between DNS and Active Directory, conversion from BIND to the Microsoft DNS server, and registry settings. You'll also acquire a grounding in:

• Security issues
• System tuning
• Caching
• Zone change notification
• Troubleshooting
• Planning for growth

If you're a Windows administrator, DNS on Windows 2000 is the operations manual you need for working with DNS every day; if you're a Windows user who simply wants to take the mystery out of the Internet, this book is a readable introduction to the Internet's architecture and inner workings. Topics include:

• What DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use it
• How to find your own place in the Internet's namespace
• Setting up name servers
• Integrating Active Directory with DNS
• Dynamic updates, storing zone information in Active Directory, and incremental zone transfers
• Using MX records to route mail
• Configuring hosts to use name servers
• Subdividing domains (parenting)
• Securing your name server: preventing unauthorized zone transfers
• Mapping one name to several servers for load sharing
• Troubleshooting: using nslookup, diagnosing common problems

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• Paperback: 376 pages
• Publisher: O'Reilly Media, Inc.; 2 edition (October 15, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0596002300
• ISBN-13: 978-0596002305