Product Description

"DNS and BIND" tells you everything you need to work with one of the Internet's fundamental building blocks: the distributed host information database that's responsible for translating names into addresses, routing mail to its proper destination, and even listing phone numbers with the new ENUM standard. This book brings you up-to-date with the latest changes in this crucial service. The fifth edition covers BIND 9.3.2, the most recent release of the BIND 9 series, as well as BIND 8.4.7. BIND 9.3.2 contains further improvements in security and IPv6 support, and important new features such as internationalized domain names, ENUM (electronic numbering), and SPF (the Sender Policy Framework). Whether you're an administrator involved with DNS on a daily basis or a user who wants to be more informed about the Internet and how it works, you'll find that this book is essential reading. The topics covered include: what DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use it; how to find your own place in the Internet's namespace; setting up name servers; using MX records to route mail; configuring hosts to use DNS name servers; subdividing domains (parenting); securing your name server - restricting who can query your server, preventing unauthorized zone transfers, avoiding bogus servers, etc.; the DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC) and Transaction Signatures (TSIG); mapping one name to several servers for load sharing; dynamic updates, asynchronous notification of change to a zone, and incremental zone transfers; troubleshooting: using nslookup and dig, reading debugging output, common problems; and, DNS programming using the resolver library and Perl's Net::DNS module.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96893 in Books
• Published on: 2006-05-26
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 640 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
DNS and BIND is an explanation of the glorious Domain Name System (DNS). DNS takes familiar Internet network and machine names (such as "Amazon.co.uk") and converts them to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (such as "208.35.218.15") that are meaningful to routers and so useful for identifying the machine you want to reach. What's amazing is, DNS enables someone in Germany to refer, by name, to a computer in Mongolia even if no one in Germany has ever accessed the distant machine before. It's pretty much self-configuring too: no human effort in Germany is necessary to make the Mongolian machine reachable by name. DNS and BIND explains how DNS works better than any other piece of documentation, printed or otherwise. The work of Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu, now in its fourth revision, has long been considered a classic among systems administrators and network architects, particularly those with a UNIX bent.

The fourth edition is mainly an update: The authors have added coverage of incremental and conditional zone transfer with BIND's new NOTIFY features, as well as of Transaction Signatures (TSIG) and DNS Security Extensions (DNSSEC). Sections on firewalling and DNS for IPv6 addresses have been expanded, and Albitz and Liu maintain their impeccable style that combines text and illustrative listings into an educational whole throughout. --David Wall

Topics covered: The Domain Name System (DNS) and how it's implemented by BIND (through versions 8.2.3 and 9.1.0), how to set up BIND, how to configure MX records for mail service, parent and child domains, NOTIFY, and DNS security.

Amazon.co.uk Review
This is the definitive book on the Domain Name System (DNS), the powerful scheme that facilitates the translation of English-like domain names (www.amazon.com) into computer-comprehensible Internet Protocol (IP) addresses (208.216.182.15). If you run a DNS server of any kind, particularly under Unix, you need to have this book on hand.

This book's early chapters give a view of DNS from high altitude, explaining basic concepts such as domains, name servers and name resolution. From there, the authors proceed on a more practical tack, presenting specific instructions for setting up your own domain and DNS server using BIND. The authors then tell you what to do as your domain grows and you need to add more machines, subdomains, and greater throughput capacity. They also talk a lot about nslookup and C programming with the various DNS and BIND libraries. Administrators will find the chapter on BIND debugging output particularly helpful. Here, the authors translate BIND's mysterious error messages and offer specific strategies for fixing and optimising the program. This edition covers BIND 8.1.2, but pays lots of attention to older versions that are still in wide use (4.8.3 and 4.9). The authors are careful to note differences among the versions. --David Wall, Amazon.com

Review
'Now into its fourth edition, updated to cover BIND 9, the O'Reilly textbook has already attained classic status. DNS and BIND can be found on the shelf, or more likely open on the desk, of most clued-up system administrators... Don't expect a fun read ... the subject matter is a little dry for that ... but if you like your Unix and want to truly understand how DNS works in general and in practice within your enterprise, this is the book to buy.' - Davey Winder, PC PRO, September 'This book has been the bible for DNS administration since 1992. .. I can't fault this new edition of the book. The first edition serve me well when I was setting up my first DNS server. The book still achieves what it sets out to do, and explains DNS and BIND. This has got more complicated (sorry, feature rich!) over the years, but this book still explains it in clear terms. O'Reilly rightly made their name through publishing titles like this.' - Joel Smith, new@UK, December 2001 'This book is as useful now as it was back in the mid 90's. Buy it if you have to do any more than be a simple user of DNS. As a measure of how times change, the appendices no longer show you how to compile and install BIND on a Sun operating system, it is now shown with Linux.' - Raza Rizvi, new@UK, December 2001

Customer Reviews

An Excellent Textbook for the Unix Professional
I bought this book in order to understand and sort out the problems with the DNS setup of a large customer running multiple Unix systems. While it was a one-off purchase for a single job rather than part of any ongoing task I feel it was money very well spent. Whilst readable it is clearly a solid technical textbook aimed at people who do this for a living rather than a popular guide. For someone who just wants to learn about how the Internet works out of curiosity it would be pointless to buy this book. Ideally you need a fair knowledge of such things as Unix and TCP/IP to get the best out of this book, but if like me you do this to pay the mortgage and put food in front of the children, then this book is a must have for the low down on BIND and DNS.

Probably the best DNS book out there
Many people refer to this book as the DNS bible, it takes you right from the very beginning building up your knowledge of DNS and continues to give all the information you need to get a bind server running. Of course there couldn't be a better pair of authors to write this book, as of course you will discover they are responsible (with the ISC) for maintaining bind. I would recommend this to anyone working with or setting up DNS servers on any flavour of UNIX.

The de-facto DNS book
Remember DNS is pretty dry, especially if you just learning it from a book. That said, this book is pretty much the std one to go for if you want to learn about DNS. It is clear and concise whilst still covering topics in a detail level that will suit 99% of DNS admins.

If you're looking for a book on DNS that will help you from starting out to becoming "Mr. Classless in.addr.arpa" buy it.