Chapter 8: DNS
Domain Name Service (DNS) is a key cog in the core of nearly all networks. For many technicians and administrators, spending hours troubleshooting a problem that merely required a one-minute DNS-related fix is something that normally only has to occur once. Countless services rely on DNS for name resolution, so it is not unusual for what appears to be the failure of an application to actually be the lack of the existence of a needed A record in a DNS zone.
The chapter starts from the top, literally, by briefly covering the DNS hierarchy. Understanding the big picture makes it much easier to follow the flow of the DNS name resolution process and thus pinpoint the source of a DNS problem. From there, two additional tools will be added to your virtual toolbox, with the essential DNS tools nslookup and dnscmd being fully explored.
The remainder of the chapter focuses on troubleshooting both client- and server-side DNS issues, including client configuration, server configuration and replication, zone configuration, and Active Directory integration.