The Internet is a collection of networks that use the Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) suite of protocols to communicate with other computers on the Internet. The Domain Name System (DNS) is used in TCP/IP networks to identify and locate shared network resources such as World Wide Web or e-mail servers by using host and domain names and IP addresses. You must use DNS if you connect your private intranet to the Internet, so remote users can access your Web, File Transfer Protocol (FTP), or Gopher server running under Internet Information Server and Windows NT Server version 4.0.
Microsoft DNS server is one of the TCP/IP networking services included in Windows NT Server. It enables you to provide and manage DNS services for intranets and the Internet. Microsoft DNS server is based on a client/server architecture using data records referred to as resource records to locate computers and other resources on TCP/IP networks.
This chapter is provided for network administrators and support personnel who need to administer Microsoft DNS servers to support networks that connect to the Internet. This chapter contains the following sections:
"Uniform Resource Locators, Names, and IP Addresses." This section describes how Internet computer addresses are formed.
"DNS Name Servers." This section describes DNS name servers, how DNS name servers manage domain name space, and the naming conventions Internet service providers (ISPs) offer.
"Using Microsoft DNS Server." This section provides some introductory information on Microsoft DNS server.
"Using DNS Manager to Configure Zones and Create DNS Resource Records." This section briefly describes DNS Manager, how to configure primary and secondary zones for Microsoft DNS server, and the different types of resource records and how to create them by using DNS Manager.
"Troubleshooting Microsoft DNS Server." This section offers some suggestions for solving problems with Microsoft DNS server.
This chapter supplements Chapter 9, "Managing Microsoft DNS Servers," in Microsoft Windows NT Server Resource Kit: Windows NT Server Networking Guide. If you need more information about DNS, the management of Microsoft DNS servers, or the integration of Microsoft DNS servers with Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) servers and Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) servers, see that chapter or the Windows NT Server Networking Supplement.