Working with the Windows DNS Server

The procedure for installing and managing a DNS server depends on the network operating system you're using. This section is specific to working with a DNS server in Windows 2003. Working with BIND in a Linux or Unix environment is similar but without the help of a graphical user interface.

You can install the DNS server on Windows Server 2003 from the Manage Your Server application. (Choose Start Administrative Tools Manage Your Server.) Click the Add or Remove a Role link, select DNS Server from the list of server roles, and then click Next to install the DNS server. The Configure a DNS Server Wizard appears, as shown in Figure 6-6. This wizard guides you through the process of configuring the first zone for your DNS server.

Figure 6-6: The Configure a DNS Server Wizard.

After you set up a DNS server, you can manage the DNS server from the DNS management console. Here, you can perform common administrative tasks, such as adding additional zones, changing zone settings, or adding A or MX records to an existing zone. The DNS management console hides the details of the resource records from you, thus allowing you to work with a friendly graphical user interface instead.

To add a new host (that is, an A record) to a zone, right-click the zone in the DNS management console and choose the Add New Host command. This action opens the New Host dialog box, as shown in Figure 6-7.

Figure 6-7: The New Host dialog box.

This dialog box lets you specify the following information:

• Name: The host name for the new host.

• IP Address: The host's IP address.

• Create Associated Pointer (PTR) Record: Automatically creates a PTR record in the reverse lookup zone file. Select this option if you want to allow reverse lookups for the host.

• Allow Any Authenticated User to Update: Select this option if you want to allow other users to update this record or other records with the same host name. You should usually leave this option unchecked.

• Time to Live: The TTL value for this record.

You can add other records, such as MX or CNAME records, in the same way.