Configuring BIND properly - starting points

[Kevin Darcy]

goutam at rpgnet.com wrote:

> Kevin Darcy <kcd at daimlerchrysler.com> wrote in message news:<9v3b6f$le4 at pub3.rc.vix.com>...
> > goutam at rpgnet.com wrote:
> >
> > > Hello Everybody,
> > >
> > > I am a complete novice and I need help desperately to try and
> > > understand the working of DNS/BIND.
> > >
> > > I am having my company's domain already registered and the web site is
> > > hosted by an external agency. So, mycompany.com is registered and is
> > > working with a particular set of name servers.
> > >
> > > Now what should I do to setup a DNS for testing ?
> > >
> > > If I want to name my internal domain (for testing purpose)  as
> > > internal.mycompany.com can I do that ?
> > >
> > > To do this do I have to register the sub-domain also?
> > >
> > > If I cannot do this then how do I proceed with my testing ?
> > >
> > > Does this mean that I can test a "Cache-Only" DNS only and nothing
> > > else ?
> > >
> > > I am trying to use BIND on Redhat 7.1. I am behind MS-PROXY 2.0. I
> > > have administrative rights on both the machines.
> >
> > Get a copy of _DNS_and_BIND_, the O'Reilly book. Read it. Set up your own
> > internal root zone, and test as much as you like.
> >
> >
> > - Kevin
>
> thanks kevin for responding. As I have gathered from your reply, I can
> use BIND for intrnal name resolution only. Is it true ? If yes then
> what are the things that I should do to test the DNS for external
> world also ?

The mechanism for handling queries is basically the same, "internally" versus "externally".
The big difference, of course, is that in the external world, you don't have control of the
root zone or the TLD (top-level domain) zones. You have control only at certain points in the
namespace, and of course everything below those points. This makes things a little more
disjoint.

Generally speaking, you'll want to get familiar with how DNS and/or BIND works internally
before mucking with external DNS. Less chance of causing people problems or publically
embarrassing yourself that way... :-)


- Kevin