Establishing a DNS name server and creating a database of resource records is not a trivial task. Errors are common; many of these errors are described in RFC 1912, "Common DNS Operational and Configuration Errors."
As previously discussed, DNS is used in TCP/IP networks. You can use the TCP/IP utilities provided with Microsoft Windows NT Server version 4.0 to troubleshoot problems you may encounter when using Microsoft DNS server. Most useful are the following TCP/IP utilities:
nslookup. A diagnostic tool for DNS servers.
ipconfig. A utility used to display information about the TCP/IP configuration of local and remote computers.
ping. A utility used to test network connectivity of local and remote hosts.
If you encounter problems with DNS servers, see the topic "TCP/IP Procedures Help" in Control Panel Help and the Windows NT Server Networking Guide. The remaining sections of this chapter provide additional information you can use to troubleshoot Microsoft DNS server.