Summary
In this chapter, we first reviewed the way DNS works. We talked about the DNS namespace and the process a DNS server goes through to resolve hostnames. We then reviewed the difference between forward- and reverse-lookup zones. Then we discussed implementing master and slave DNS servers to increase fault tolerance.
We finally implemented BIND on our SLES 9 server and reviewed the various files that are used to configure the named services, including named.conf, root.hint, and zone files.
We then shifted gears and looked at some more advanced DNS configuration issues. First we looked at using forwarding to speed up the response time of your DNS server.
Next, we looked at a variety of DNS security issues. We reviewed how to run named in a chroot jail as a nonroot user. We also talked about restricting access to the DNS server using DNS ACLs.
Finally, you learned how to integrate your DNS server configuration into an LDAP directory service.
We're ready now to move on to Chapter 4, where you will learn how to implement a DCHP server on SLES 9. However, we're not through with DNS yet. In Chapter 4, you will learn how to tie your DNS service and your DHCP service together so that your DNS database is automatically updated whenever your DHCP server assigns an IP address.