DNS Server Host's Network DNS Settings

[Niall O'Reilly]

On 21 Dec 2007, at 19:58, Steven Stromer wrote:

> This is probably a naive question, but what, if any relationship do  
> the
> DNS settings of the host have to the BIND server that the host is
> hosting?

	IMHO (or even IMNSHO), this question is well worth asking,
	and too often left unasked.

	I'll keep this short.  If you need background, please see
	<http://marc.info/?l=bind-users&m=119776339525259&w=2> or read
	Albitz and Liu.

	On the systems where your full-function resolvers are running,
	it makes good sense to include 127.0.0.1 in the host system's
	resolver configuration so that other applications running on
	the same host have access to the local name server.

	On the systems where authoritative name servers are running,
	this approach is usually not such a good idea, as these name
	servers are likely to have recursion disabled, and so won't
	be able (as a matter of policy and configuration) to resolve
	general DNS queries.  The host system's resolver configuration
	should refer to the full-function resolvers which serve the
	particular network.

	The instinct is a good one which leads you to suppose that

> the DNS never looks at the host's network settings.

	I seem to recall a (fairly) recent post from Mark Andrews
	making a succinct recommendation against using "forwarders",
	but I can't find it readily in the archive.  Briefly, don't.
	

	Best regards,

	Niall O'Reilly
	University College Dublin IT Services

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