DNS

1. What is DNS?
Domain Name System is a service that can be installed on any
windows server operating system to resolve the Name to IPAddress
and vice-versa. TCP/IP networks, such as the Internet, use DNS to
locate computers and services through user-friendly names

Q2. What is DDNS?

Dynamic DNS or DDNS is a method of updating, in real time, a
Domain Name System to point to a changing IP address on the
Internet. This is used to provide a persistent domain name for a
resource that may change location on the network.

Q3. What are the resource records in DNS?

A (Address) Maps a host name to an IP address. When a computer

has multiple adapter cards and IP addresses, it should have multiple
address records.
CNAME (Canonical Name) Sets an alias for a host name. For
example, using this record, zeta.tvpress.com can have an alias as
www.tvpress.com.
MX (Mail Exchange) Specifies a mail exchange server for the
domain, which allows mail to be delivered to the correct mail
servers in the domain.
NS (Name Server) Specifies a name server for the domain, which
allows DNS lookups within various zones. Each primary and
secondary name server should be declared through this record.
PTR (Pointer) Creates a pointer that maps an IP address to a host
name for reverse lookups.
SOA (Start of Authority) Declares the host that is the most
authoritative for the zone and, as such, is the best source of DNS
information for the zone. Each zone file must have an SOA record
(which is created automatically when you add a zone).

Q4. What are a Forward and Reverse Lookup?

Forward Lookup: When a name query is send to the DNS server

against to IP address, it is generally said a forward lookup.
Reverse Lookup: DNS also provides a reverse lookup process,
enabling clients to use a known IP address during a name query and
look up a computer name based on its address.
Q5. What is Primary zone?
This is the read and writable copy of a zone file in the DNS
namespace. This is primary source for information about the zone
and it stores the master copy of zone data in a local file or in AD DS.
Dy default the primary zone file is named as zone_name.dns in
%windir%System32DNS folder on the server.

Q6. What id Secondary zone?

This is the read only copy of a zone file in the DNS namespace. This
is secondary source for information about the zone and it get the
updated information from the master copy of primary zone. The
network access must be available to connect with primary server. As
secondary zone is merely a copy of a primary zone that is hosted on
another server, it cannot be stored in AD DS.

Q7. What is stub Zone?

A stub zone is a read only copy of a zone that contains only those
resource records which are necessary to identify the authoritative
DNS servers for that particular zone. A stub zone is practically used
to resolve names between separate DNS namespaces. This type of
zone is generally created when a corporate merger or acquire and
DNS servers for two separate DNS namespaces resolve names for
clients in both namespaces.

A stub zone contains:

The start of authority (SOA) resource record, name server (NS)
resource records, and the glue A resource records for the delegated
zone.

The IP address of one or more master servers that can be used to

update the stub zone.

Q8. What is Caching Only Server?

Caching-only servers are those DNS servers that only perform name
resolution queries, cache the answers, and return the results to the
client. Once the query is stored in cache, next time the query in
resolved locally from cached instead of going to the actual site.

Q9. What is Aging and Scavenging?

DNS servers running Windows Server support aging and scavenging
features. These features are provided as a mechanism to perform
cleanup and removal of stale resource records from the server and
zone. This feature removes the dynamically created records when
they are stamped as stale.

By default, the aging and scavenging mechanism for the DNS Server
service is disabled.

Scavenging and aging must be enabled both at the DNS server and
on the zone

Q10. What is SRV record in DNS?

The SRV record is a resource record in DNS that is used to identify
or point to a computer that host specific services i.e Active
directory.

Q11. What is Forwarding in DNS?

A forwarder is a feature in DNS server that is used to forward DNS
queries for external DNS names to DNS servers outside of that
network. We ca configure a DNS server as a forwarder to forward
the name query to other DNS servers in the network when they
cannot resolve locally to that DNS server.

Q12. What is Conditional Forwarding in DNS?

We can configure the DNS server to forward queries according to
specific domain names using conditional forwarders. In this case
query is forward to an IP address against a DNS domain name.

Q13. What are Queries types in DNS?

Recursive Query: This name queries are generally made by a DNS

client to a DNS server or by a DNS server that is configured to pass
unresolved name queries to another DNS server, in the case of a
DNS server configured to use a forwarder.
Iterative Query: An iterative name query is one in which a DNS
client allows the DNS server to return the best answer it can give
based on its cache or zone data. If the queried DNS server does not
have an exact match for the queried name, the best possible
information it can return is a referral. The DNS client can then query
the DNS server for which it obtained a referral. It continues this
process until it locates a DNS server that is authoritative for the
queried name, or until an error or time-out condition is met.
Q14. What are Tools for troubleshooting of DNS?
DNS Console, NSLOOKUP, DNSCMD, IPCONFIG, DNS Logs.

Q15. How to check DNS health?

Using the DCdiag.
i.e. (dcdiag /test:dns /v /e)

Q: - which are the important configuration files for DNS server ?

BIND uses /etc/named.conf as its main configuration file, the /etc/rndc.conf file as the
configuration file for name server control utility rndc, and the /var/named/ directory for
zone files and the like.
Q: - What is BIND ?
BIND stands for Berkeley Internet Name Domain which is the most commonly used
Domain Name System (DNS) server on the Internet.
Q: - On which version of bind u have worked ?

BIND 9
Q: - What is the role of DNS ?
A DNS server, or name server, is used to resolve an IP address to a hostname or vice
versa.
Q: - On which port DNS server works ?
DNS servers use port 53 by default. Incoming and outgoing packets should be allowed
onport 53. Also allow connections on port 921 if you configure a lightweight resolver
server.The DNS control utility, rndc, connects to the DNS server with TCP port 953 by
default. Ifyou are running rndc on the name server, connections on this TCP port from
localhostshould be allowed. If you are running rndc on additional systems, allow
connections toport 953 (or whatever port you have chosen to configure) from these
additional systems.
Q: - What is round robin DNS?
Round robin DNS is usually used for balancing the load of geographically distributed
Web servers. For example, a company has one domain name and three identical home
pages residing on three servers with three different IP addresses. When one user
accesses the home page it will be sent to the first IP address. The second user who
accesses the home page will be sent to the next IP address, and the third user will be
sent to the third IP address. In each case, once the IP address is given out, it goes to
the end of the list. The fourth user, therefore, will be sent to the first IP address, and so
forth.
Q: - What is Name Server?
A name server keeps information for the translation of domain names to IP addresses
and IP addresses to domain names. The name server is a program that performs the
translation at the request of a resolver or another name server.
Q: - What is Primary name server or primary master server?
Primary name server/primary master is the main data source for the zone. It is the
authoritative server for the zone. This server acquires data about its zone from
databases saved on a local disk. The primary server must be published as an
authoritative name server for the domain in the SOA resource record, while the primary
master server does not need to be published.
Q: - What is Secondary name server/slave name server?
Secondary name server/slave name server acquires data about the zone by copying the
data from the primary name server (respectively from the master server) at regular
time intervals. It makes no sense to edit these databases on the secondary name
servers, although they are saved on the local server disk because they will be rewritten
during further copying.
Q: - what is Root name server?

Root name server is an authoritative name server for the root domain (for the dot).
Each root name server is a primary server, which differentiates it from other name
servers.
Q: - what is Stealth name server?
Stealth name server is a secret server. This type of name server is not published
anywhere. It is only known to the servers that have its IP address statically listed in
their configuration. It is an authoritative server. It acquires the data for the zone with
the help of a zone transfer. It can be the main server for the zone. Stealth servers can
be used as a local backup if the local servers are unavailable.
Q: - What do you mean by "Resource Records"?
Information on domain names and their IP addresses, as well as all the other
information distributed via DNS is stored in the memory of name servers as Resource
Records (RR).
Q: - Explain "TTL"?
Time to live. A 32-bit number indicating the time the particular RR can be kept valid in
a server cache. When this time expires, the record has to be considered invalid. The
value 0 keeps nonauthoritative servers from saving the RR to their cache memory.
Q: - Tell me 5 Types of DNS records?
A, NS, CNAME, SOA, PTR, MX.
Q:- explain "SOA Record"?
The Start of Authority (SOA) record determines the name server that is an authoritative
source of information for the particular domain. There is always only one SOA record in
the file, and it is placed at the beginning of the file of authoritative resource records.
Q: - what is "A Record"
A (Address) records assign IP addresses to domain names of computers. The IP address
cannot have a dot at the end.
Q: - Explain "CNAME Record"?
Synonyms to domain names can be created using CNAME records. This is often referred
to as 'creating aliases for computer names'.
Q: - What are "HINFO and TXT Records"?
HINFO and TXT records are for information only. An HINFO record has two items in its
data part. The first item is information about hardware, and the second one is
information about software. A TXT record contains a general data string in its data

part.Example :test.com IN SOA ......mail IN A 192.1.1.2IN HINFO My_Server UNIXIN

TXT my server
Q: - what are "MX Records"?
MX records specify the mailing server of the domain. An MX record shows to which
computer a mail of a particular domain should be sent. The MX record also includes a
priority number, which can be used to determine several computers where the mail for
the domain can be sent. The first attempt is to deliver the mail to the computer with
the highest priority (lowest value). If this attempt fails, the mail goes to the next
computer (with a higher priority value), and so on.test.com IN SOA ......mail
test.com IN SOA ...
...
mail

IN
IN

192.1.1.2

HINFO

AlphaServer UNIX

IN

TXT

my server

IN

MX

30

mail2.nextstep4it.com

IN

MX

20

mail3.nextstep4it.com

IN

MX

10

mail2.nextstep4it.com

Q: - Explain "PTR Records"?

A Pointer Record (PTR) is used to translate an IP address into a domain name.
Q: - What is Dynamic DNS?
Dynamic DNS a method of keeping a domain name linked to a changing IP address as
not all computers use static IP addresses. Typically, when a user connects to the
Internet, the user's ISP assigns an unused IP address from a pool of IP addresses, and
this address is used only for the duration of that specific connection. This method of
dynamically assigning addresses extends the usable pool of available IP addresses. A
dynamic DNS service provider uses a special program that runs on the user's computer,
contacting the DNS service each time the IP address provided by the ISP changes and
subsequently updating the DNS database to reflect the change in IP address.
Q: - What is the role of "named-checkconf Utility"?
The named-checkconf utility checks the syntax of the named.conf configuration file.
Syntax: named-checkconf [-t directory] [filename]
Q: - what is the role of "named-checkzone Utility"?
The named-checkzone utility checks the syntax and consistency of the zone
file.Syntax:
named-checkzone [-dgv] [-c class] zone [filename]

1. Secure services in your network require reverse name resolution

to make it more difficult to launch successful attacks against the
services. To set this up, you configure a reverse lookup zone and
proceed to add records. Which record types do you need to create?
Answer - PTR Records
2.What is the main purpose of a DNS server?
Answer - DNS servers are used to resolve FQDN hostnames into IP
addresses and vice versa.
3.SOA records must be included in every zone. What are they used
for?
Answer - SOA records contain a TTL value, used by default in all
resource records in the zone. SOA records contain the e-mail
address of the person who is responsible for maintaining the zone.
SOA records contain the current serial number of the zone, which is
used in zone transfers.
4.By default, if the name is not found in the cache or local hosts file,
what is the first step the client takes to resolve the FQDN name into
an IP address?
Answer - Performs a recursive search through the primary DNS
server based on the network interface configuration
5.What is the main purpose of SRV records?
Answer - SRV records are used in locating hosts that provide certain
network services.
6.Before installing your first domain controller in the network, you
installed a DNS server and created a zone, naming it as you would
name your AD domain. However, after the installation of the domain
controller, you are unable to locate infrastructure SRV records
anywhere in the zone. What is the most likely cause of this failure?
Answer - The zone you created was not configured to allow dynamic
updates. The local interface on the DNS server was not configured
to allow dynamic updates.
7.Which of the following conditions must be satisfied to configure
dynamic DNS updates for legacy clients?
Answer - The zone to be used for dynamic updates must be
configured to allow dynamic updates. The DHCP server must

support, and be configured to allow, dynamic updates for legacy

clients.
8. At some point during the name resolution process, the requesting
party received authoritative reply. Which further actions are likely
to be taken after this reply?
Answer - After receiving the authoritative reply, the resolution
process is effectively over.
9. Your company uses ten domain controllers, three of which are
also used as DNS servers. You have one companywide AD-integrated
zone, which contains several thousand resource records. This zone
also allows dynamic updates, and it is critical to keep this zone upto-date.Replication between domain controllers takes up a
significant amount of bandwidth. You are looking to cut bandwidth
usage for the purpose of replication. What should you do?

Answer - Change the replication scope to all DNS servers in the

domain.

10.You are administering a network connected to the Internet. Your

users complain that everything is slow. Preliminary research of the
problem indicates that it takes a considerable amount of time to
resolve names of resources on the Internet. What is the most likely
reason for this?

Answer - DNS servers are not caching replies.. Local client

computers are not caching replies The cache.dns file may have
been corrupted on the server.