How to check DNS servers' health ?

[phn at icke-reklam.ipsec.nu]

Kais Al-Essa <operations at sahara.com.sa> wrote:

> Hello all,

> We are getting some problems on DNS resolution that are a bit strange. I was
> wondering how can we test the health of our DNS servers ?
> Are there any known tools online or some particular tests to be done with
> BIND to ensure proper performance and response times ?
> We are using BIND 8 (latest build) on NT4.

Response time and ability to respond could be measured with "dig",
prefferably both from within your site but also from a location
outside ( a shell-account at a provider ?)

DNS sanity ( delegation correctness, zone valitity etc) could be
checked with dnswalk, doc or simular tools ( included in the bind-
distribution). Menandmice.com has a tool "dnsexpert" that 
diagnoses in a "cleartext" fasion, very nice.
"zonecheck" ( from nic.fr )is available at "zonecheck.manet.nu" and
will examine more things that might be troublesome.

Another option is to divulge the zonename in this very group, within
hours someone will have examined the zone for potential pitfalls.




> Regards..
> ---
> Kais Al-Essa, Operations & Technical Services Manager
> SAHARA NETWORK, Dammam, Saudi Arabia
> http://www.sahara.net.sa/ - Tel: +(9663) 832 2299 - Fax: +(9663) 834 5652
             ^^^^^^
  ( sounds warm and nice :-)

Greetings from the cold north
-- 
Peter Håkanson         
        IPSec  Sverige      (At the Riverside of Gothenburg, home of Volvo)
           Sorry about my e-mail address, but i'm trying to keep spam out.
	   Remove "icke-reklam" and it works.