Most DNS systems must be configured by editing text files. With Microsoft DNS, as with all Microsoft Windows®-based products, there is a user friendly interface. The new administration interface makes it much easier to configure both local and remote Microsoft DNS servers. The DNS administrative tool configures the RFC-compatible text files for you.
Even though the graphical user interface give you the ability to modify the DNS files without an editor, you should know the makeup of the DNS system configuration files. In RFC compliant DNS systems, there are several files which define the DNS system configuration and database. These files include the database, cache, reverse lookup, and 127 reverse lookup files. These files also exist in the Windows NT 4.0 DNS and are also RFC compliant. These files are explained in detail in this section.