J.T.O. (Phase I) : INTERNET, Module – 8, Chapter 3.

3 DNS

CHAPTER – 3.3

DOMAIN NAME SERVER (DNS)

Contents
• Introduction

• The History of DNS

• The DNS naming hierarchy

• The Architecture of DNS

• The domain name resolution process.

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Introduction
IP addresses uniquely identify every computer on the Internet. However, it
is inconvenient and difficult to remember numeric addresses, especially if you
use and/or access several computers. Furthermore, since IP addresses may
change whenever computers are physically relocated on a network, they cannot
be used reliably to locate computers over time.

To make it easier for users to access and remember the names of hosts
on the Internet, a system was developed to allow networks and hosts also to be
addressed using common-language names. This is called Domain Name Service
(DNS). Through DNS, each computer actually has two addresses – a numeric IP
address (such as "141.211.144.42") and a host name (the more memorable
"gopher.umich.edu"). Either address can be used to connect to or send
information to the specified computer, though users most prefer to use the
easier-to-remember host name.

It is important to remember that DNS is simply a convenience for humans;

computers still must route packets of information by using the IP address, not the
host name. So for the system to work, there must be a way for the computers
routing packets on the Internet to translate the host names entered by human
users into the IP addresses needed by computer on the Internet.

DNS performs this translation using a database of host information –

computer files that match IP addresses to the proper host names. In the early
days of DNS, a DNS database was stored in a simple text file located on each
computer on the Internet.

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However, as the Internet grew, the text file grew to thousands of lines
long, and had to be distributed to thousands of computers. As a result, the
mappings were always out of date and impossible to administer centrally. To
solve this problem, DNS was altered to become a distributed database; that is, a
database stored in many locations, edited and shared continuously around the
Internet by the administrators of many networks.

Portions of the DNS database are stored on local name servers,

maintained on local networks and updated by local DNS administrators. The local
administrators hold the responsibility for maintaining within their database the
host-address mappings for computers within their network. Local database
information is also replicated between servers to eliminate dependence on a
single central name server.

The History of DNS

The Internet was originally developed as a military network, to allow
military installations and academic research institutions to contact each other
without using the Public Switched Telephone Network. Initially, the number of
participants in the ARPANet – as it was called – was small. Each host on the
ARPANet was designated by both a unique name and a unique number. This
identifying information was collected by an organization called InterNIC.
Periodically, this list would be posted and users of the network would download it
and keep a copy on their computers. This file was called the hosts file. A
networked computer would use the "hosts" file as a "phone book" or directory of
addresses. When a user wanted to contact a particular host, his computer would
check the hosts file for the address of the desired computer. Once the lookup
was complete, a connection could be made. This system worked as long as there
weren't too many hosts on the network and each host had a unique name.
Occasionally, a mistake would be made and an ARPANet host would be
assigned a name that was already in use. When this occurred, other ARPANet
hosts would be confused about which computer should be contacted and real
routing problems developed.

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In the early 1980s, DARPA (Defense Advanced Projects Research

Agency – the agency that developed this network) decided to switch the standard
routing protocols to TCP/IP. The popularity and use of the network increased
dramatically. It became abundantly clear that the "hosts" list approach to
addressing would not be sufficient if the network was going to continue
expanding.

DARPA began to look for new ways of handling address look-ups on the
network. They settled on a system called Domain Name System, or DNS for
short. DNS was a distributed database. That is, the information in the database
was not stored centrally anymore. Only pointers to the information could be found
in a more or less central location.

Under the new system, each site would be considered a domain name,
and each domain name on the network would maintain a DNS server. This
server would supply other domain name servers with information about
addresses of specific hosts within the domain it served. Instead of going to a
central repository for address information, each requester would go "straight to
the source". That is, a requester could go directly to the domain it wanted to
reach for information about specific hosts within that domain.

This approach had many advantages. First, it was possible for hosts in
different domains to have the same name. Second, it was possible for a domain
to add many new hosts and not have to propagate new addresses around the
network before they could be reached by other users. Third, distributing the DNS
database made administration of the system much simpler, because it was
handled by many hundreds or perhaps thousands of administrators, instead of
just a few. DARPA adopted Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND) as the DNS
software of choice for the project. The specifics of BIND are discussed later in
this and other related documents.

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The DNS naming hierarchy

Each unit of data in DNS is indexed by a name, or domain. Domain names
can be up to 63 characters in length, must begin with a letter, and may contain
digits or hyphens. Domain names are not case-sensitive. The entire collection of
domains is called the domain name space. Each domain has a server that has
the ability to respond with the "final say-so" about hosts within the domain. The
"boundaries" of the domain, that is, the collection of computers a server can give
host names or numbers for, is called the "zone of authority". Finally, a "fully-
qualified domain name" is the unambiguous identification of a host's location on
the Internet. A fully qualified domain name consists of a top-level domain and any
appropriate subdomains that combine to form a unique domain. For example,
merit.edu is a fully qualified domain name. It contains a top-level domain and all
subdomains necessary to form a unique domain. Many fully qualified domain
names are short, as in the example above. Others, however, require the addition
of several subdomains to make a unique domain. For example, sos.state.mi.us is
a unique domain, but unlike the first example, this domain requires the addition of
several subdomains under the top-level domain to make a unique identifier.
Similarly, a "fully-qualified host name" is the unambiguous identification of an
Internet host. For example, www.merit.edu, www.sos.state.mi.us are fully
qualified host names. These URLs identify specific hosts within unique domains.
All host names are organized into a hierarchical, tree-like structure, similar to the
directory-subdirectory tree within a computer filing system. Each name
represents a domain. Originally, there were eight top-level domains :

(i) com commerical organizations

(ii) edu educational organizations
(iii) gov government organizations
(iv) mil military organizations
(v) net networking organizations
(vi) org non-commercial organizations
(vii) int international organizations
(viii) arpa Advanced Projects Research Agency
(defunct domain)

Later, as the Internet expanded around the globe, geographical

designations were added to the list of top-level domains to correspond to
individual countries (for example, au = Australia).

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The following figure illustrates some of the subdivisions of the top-level us

domain.

US

mi pa al ma ca ny …

k12 lib cc tec state ci co …

The US domain
The US domain hierarchy follows the general form :
organization.locality.state.us or organization.type.state.us. The US domain
currently registers hosts in federal government agencies, state government
agencies, K12 schools, community colleges, technical/vocational schools, private
schools, libraries, city and country government agencies, to name a few.

If a type of organization is specified, some of the standards used are :

k12 K12 schools or districts
cc community colleges
tec technical schools
voc vocational schools
pvt private schools
ci cities
co countries
Here, are five examples of domains in the US hierarchy :

train.k12.mi.us
berkeley.ca.us
portland.or.us
seattle.wa.us
ann-arbor.mi.us

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Here, are five examples of fully qualified domain names – host names that
unambiguously identify hosts – in the US hierarchy :

mail.train.k12.mi.us
catnip.berkeley.ca.us
kclarke.portland.or.us
zircon.seattle.wa.us
m-net.ann-arbor.mi.us
In addition to these domains, several new top-level domains have been
proposed and are awaiting administrative approval. They include domains such
as :

.firm for businesses, or firms

.shop for businesses offering goods to purchase.
.web for entities emphasizing activities related to the Web.
.arts for entities emphasizing cultural and entertainment activities.
.rec for entities emphasizing recreation/entertainment activities.
.info for entities providing information services.
.nom for those wishing individual or personal nomenclature.

There has also been an informal proposal to create a ".xxx" domain (or
something similar) to designate adult sites on the Web. At this time, there has
been no official proposal made, and the whole question of adding any top-level
domains has been tabled until the domain registry process has been finalized.

The Architecture of DNS

There are two types of name servers, primary masters and secondary
masters. A primary master stores the DNS database for its zone of authority –
the part of domain name space defined by the host information stored in the
name server's database. A secondary master stores a copy of the database from
a primary master. Secondary name servers eliminate a single point of failure,
spread the load around, and ensure that all the hosts in the zone have a name
server close-by.

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Resolvers are clients that query the name server, interpret the response
and return the information to the program that requested it. Resolvers are often
library routines contained within communications programs such as Telnet and
FTP. Through resolver queries, these programs convert machine names into IP
addresses that specify the exact location of the machine on the Internet.

Root name servers are servers whose zone of authority is a top-level

domain name. They are crucial to the operation of DNS and face a huge
workload; however, through mechanisms such as caching-swapping recent
programs out of computer memory into a "cache" for quick access – the load on
the root name servers is kept manageable.

The domain name resolution process.

BIND
BIND is the Berkeley Internet Name Domain Server. It is the de facto
standard software that implements DNS. Many vendors of operating systems
ship BIND. However, by the time the operating system is shipped to customers
on CD-ROM, the version of BIND included is usually out-of-date. Therefore, it is
to the administrator's advantage to obtain the latest release of BIND via FTP after
installing the operating system on his or her machine.

BIND for Windows NT

There is a version of BIND that has been "ported" for use under Windows
NT. This NT version is available at the same ftp site as was listed earlier for the
UNIX version. It performs essentially the same functions under NT that the
original BIND performs under UNIX.

DNS for Windows NT

NT also provides the option of using Microsoft's NT – native version of
DNS. Early versions traced their origins to BIND, version 4.9.5 originally, but
subsequently Microsoft has rewritten a completely new version of DNS for NT,
which is not considered to be "BIND-based".

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Functionally, the two operate quite similarly and the MS version is

"compatible with BIND". But the Microsoft version has redesigned DNS so that,
when an NT Server setup operates on a WINS network, the resolver can
maintain a constant WINS name/connection to other systems on its network,
while allowing those systems to use dynamic addressing for their IP attachment,
or to change IP in some other manner without losing their WINS connection.
Essentially, two different networks are operating side-by-side, the local WINS
network and the TCP/IP network. Neither network is dependent upon the other.
The configuration files used for Microsoft's DNS Server Service are similar to, but
not identical to those of BIND. To use the DNS Server Service, the configuration
files used by the service must first be created or modified. The service is then
installed as any other service, through Services in Control Panel.

Preparation and Selection of a Domain Name

The first step in registering a domain name is to select a domain name to
register. To verify that your choice is still available, most register sites have a
"whois" database. Enter the name of your proposed domain into the whois
database. The search result will show whether someone else has already
registered that name. If the name is already registered, you may not use it.
Before registering a domain name, make arrangements for domain name
services to be run for your soon-to-be registered domain name. The domain
name service can be run by you or by an Internet service provider. The fully
qualified domain names and IP addresses of both the primary and secondary
domain name server must be provided.

Note :
Many Internet service providers will register a limited number of domain
names for their customers or affiliates and provide Domain Name Services for
them. Merit Network, Inc. will register (in most cases) one domain name per
affiliate. In the case of consortia connected to the Internet through MichNet/Merit
Network, Inc., the lead organization in the consortium is the only organization
authorized to receive domain name registration help from Merit.

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Domain Registration Templates

InterNIC formerly required the completion of domain registration templates
before registering a domain name. Currently, a domain name may be registered
via the World Wide Web through any authorized domain name registrar. You will
need to provide contact information for your organization. When possible provide
different billing and technical contact information. This may make the process of
updating contact information easier.

Cost of Registering a Domain Name

As of July, 2000, Network Solutions, Inc. charges $35 USD per year (with
a standard two-year term) for registering a new domain name. This fee covers
the initial registration and updates to the domain name's database record. The
cost of re-registering a domain name may change over time, so check
periodically with an authorized registrar for renewal pricing. Also, pay close
attention to your registration renewal to ensure that you do not experience any
loss of service after your initial registration period has expired. Currently, a
domain name can be registered for a maximum of ten years.

Registrars offer the opportunity to reserve domain name at a discount in

several top-level domains at the same time your initial registry is made. This
discourages speculation on your domain name and also reduces the likelihood
that someone else will register a domain name that is very close to yours, hoping
to capitalize on typographical errors made by potential visitors to your site.
Registrars also offer the ability to park a domain. Parking a domain allows you to
register a domain name you intend to use at a later date. Parking a domain is not
the same thing as registering a domain name for speculative purposes.

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Disputing a Domain Name Registration

Some people register domain names "on spec". That is, domain names
are registered for the purpose of selling a registered domain to an interest who
would like to use it (normally for commercial purposes). Domain name
speculation has been the subject of several court cases. The current legal
opinion on such speculation holds that registering a domain name with the intent
of selling it at a profit, by itself, represents a "bad faith" gesture on the part of the
registrant. This "bad faith" gesture can result in the registrant's loss of the right to
use the domain name, depending on the circumstances surrounding the initial
registration, whether or not the domain name as registered was ever used, and
even the "fame" of the domain name itself.

You may challenge someone else's right to use a domain name. Likewise,
someone may challenge your right to use a domain name you've registered. A
dispute over a registered domain name may be settled by mutual agreement of
the parties, court action or arbitration. The registration of a domain name will not
be cancelled, suspended or transferred, however, until such resolution has been
achieved.

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