Netware DHCP -> IRIX DDNS

[Jim Reid]

>>>>> "Viktor" == Viktor Fosland <vfosland at start.no> writes:

    Viktor>  We are about to introduce dynamic DNS into our network
    Viktor> which consists of many LANs connected through a WAN. We
    Viktor> have a choice between a Unix nd Novell netware
    Viktor> solution. Both platforms implements the service with a
    Viktor> version of bind 8. All our existing DHCP servers are based
    Viktor> on Netware.

    Viktor> Our Netware admins claim that there is no way for these
    Viktor> servers to update a Unix DNS master. Do anybody know if
    Viktor> this claim is correct? Have they overlooked something?

It depends on how Netware's DHCP implementation talks to the DNS. From
what you say the Netware admins are saying, it could be Netware's DHCP
server doesn't do Dynamic DNS. I don't know. Or care. If it uses some
weird, proprietary update mechanism - say something specifically for
Netware's NDS - this obviously couldn't be expected to interoperate
with non-Netware DNS implementations. OTOH, if it complies with open
standards and implements Dynamic DNS as defined in RFC2136, this will
work OK with current versions of BIND. Bear in mind that there are
serious problems of scaling and security with DDNS.

BTW you could of course use another DHCP server, like the ISC's for
instance.

    Viktor> A clear advantage for a netware solution is the support
    Viktor> for replication of the DNS database.

Eh? Replication of the DNS database (ie zones) is a fundamental
feature of the DNS. That's what slave (secondary) name servers do.
And having >1 name server for a zone is essential unless you like
having a business-critical single point of failure.

    Viktor> However if we choose
    Viktor> a Unix solution, and our WAN go down, will the DHCP
    Viktor> servers be able to update the Unix DNS master with changes
    Viktor> since the break occured or will DHCP service grind to a
    Viktor> halt due to lack of names from the master server?

This depends on how you design and deploy your company's DNS and DHCP
architecture. I would localise this so that each site had its own DHCP
server handing out addresses and config data that's local to that
site. Why talk to a DHCP server over the WAN every time someone boots
a PC or whatever? The local DHCP server could update the local DNS
server. [Personally I'd avoid Dynamic DNS if at all possible, but you
seem to be committed to using this.] ie All changes are made locally
and only affect local resources. Everyone can use the DNS to query the
name servers at each site for that locally-held information. Remember
that the DNS has a distributed database, so there's no requirement to
hold all the information centrally. And if the WAN fails, remote
lookups will stop but everything still works locally.