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Configuring the Domain Name Service

How DNS works

DNS uses a client/server architecture to maintain and distribute hostnames and IP addresses on networks ranging from small local area networks to the Internet. This list briefly describes the key concepts of DNS:


domain name space
All DNS hostnames fit into a name hierarchy, or tree, known as the domain name space.

nodes
This tree radiates from the top, or root, into branches consisting of nodes (host computers).

domains
An individual branch, or a collection of branches, makes up each DNS domain: a group of computers at a particular university or company, or a local network within a particular organization.

zones
A full domain, a domain and its subdomains, or a portion of a domain for which a name server has the authority to maintain data.

servers and clients
Each zone consists of DNS servers (computers that maintain hostname and address databases) and DNS clients (networking programs, such as ping, rlogin, or telnet on a DNS server or client).

resolution
Resolution occurs when a client machine, while attempting to connect to another machine, queries the DNS server to obtain the needed IP address. If a server on the local domain cannot resolve the client request, it attempts to locate a server that can through the use of iterative queries to other servers.

See also:



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SCO OpenServer Release 5.0.7 -- 11 February 2003