DNS

The DNS software in Novell DNS/DHCP Services integrates DNS information into the NDS database. Previously, DNS used Btrieve* as its database for configuration information. Integrating DNS with NDS moves all the information currently held in Btrieve files into NDS.

You can use the DNS/DHCP Management Console to configure DNS from the desktop of a client where it is installed, or DNS can be launched from the NetWare Administrator utility.

Integrating DNS with NDS greatly simplifies the task of network administration by enabling you to enter all configuration information into one distributed database. Furthermore, the DNS configuration information is replicated just like any other data in NDS.

Integrating DNS with NDS also enables an update interaction between DNS and DHCP through the Dynamic DNS (DDNS) feature. When a host is assigned an IP address by DHCP, the DNS information can be automatically updated to associate the hostname with the new address when the DDNS feature is active.

By integrating DNS into NDS, Novell has shifted the concept of a primary or secondary zone away from the server to the zone itself. Once you have used the configuration utility to configure the zone, the data is available to any of the Novell DNS servers you choose to make authoritative for the zone. The Novell DNS server takes advantage of the peer-to-peer nature of NDS by replicating the DNS data.

Novell DNS/DHCP Services interoperates with other DNS servers. The Novell DNS server can act as either a master DNS server or a secondary DNS server in relation to non-Novell DNS servers. The Novell DNS server can act as the master DNS server and transfer data to non-Novell secondary servers. Alternatively, one Novell DNS server can act as a secondary DNS server and transfer data in from a non-Novell master server. All Novell DNS servers can then access the data through NDS replication.

Novell DNS/DHCP Services provides the following DNS features:

• All DNS configuration is done in NDS, facilitating enterprise-wide management.
• A Novell DNS server can be a secondary name server to another zone (DNS data loaded into NDS through a zone transfer), or it can be a primary name server (on which you configure DNS data using the DNS/DHCP Management Console).
• DNS data can be read in from a BIND Master file to populate NDS for convenient upgrades from BIND implementations of DNS.
• DNS data can be exported from NDS into BIND Master file format.
• Root server information is stored in NDS and shared by all NDS-based DNS servers.
• Zone transfers are made to and from NDS through Novell servers and include interoperability with non-NDS-based DNS.
• A Novell DNS server can be authoritative for multiple domains.
• Novell DNS servers maintain a cache of data from NDS so they can respond to queries quickly.
• A Novell DNS server can act as a caching or forwarding server instead of an authoritative server for zones.
• Novell DNS/DHCP Services supports multihoming.
• Novell DNS/DHCP Services software supports round-robin process of responses to queries with multiple Address records (A records) for a domain name.

The DNS software in Novell DNS/DHCP Services conforms to BIND 4.9.5 and supports the standards of the Internet Request For Comments (RFCs) in the following list:

• RFC 819---Domain Naming Convention for Internet User Applications
• RFC 920---Domain Requirements
• RFC 974---Mail Routing and Domain System
• RFC 1032---Domain Administrator's Guide
• RFC 1033---Domain Administrator's Operations Guide
• RFC 1034---Domain Names - Concepts and Facilities
• RFC 1035---Domain Names - Implementation and Specification
• RFC 1036---Standard Interchange of USENET Messages
• RFC 1101---DNS Encoding of Network Names and other Types
• RFC 1122---Requirements for Internet Hosts - Communications Layers
• RFC 1123---Requirements for Internet Hosts - Application and Support
• RFC 1183---New DNS RR Definitions
• RFC 1535---A Security Problem and Proposed Correction with Widely Deployed DNS Software
• RFC 1536---Common DNS Implementation Errors and Suggested Fixes
• RFC 1537---Common DNS Data File Configuration Errors
• RFC 1591---Domain Name System Structure and Delegation
• RFC 1597---Address Allocation for Private Internets
• RFC 1627---Network 10 Considered Harmful (Some Practices Shouldn't Be Codified)
• RFC 1713---Tools for DNS Debugging
• RFC 1884---IP Version 6 Addressing Architecture
• RFC 1886---DNS Extensions to Support IP Version 6
• RFC 1912---Common DNS Operations and Configurations Errors
• RFC 2010---Operations Criteria for Root Name Servers
• RFC 2052---A DNS RR for Specifying the Location of Services (DNS SRV)