Microsoft DNS server for Windows NT Server version 4.0 is an RFC-compliant DNS name server based on a client/server architecture. Because Microsoft DNS server is an RFC-compliant name server, it can be used with other DNS name servers such as UNIX-based DNS name servers as either a primary or secondary name server.
You can install Microsoft DNS server on a computer running Internet Information Server or on any computer running Microsoft Windows NT Server 4.0.
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If you choose to use some combination of your intranet and your ISP's DNS name servers to provide the primary and secondary name servers required by InterNIC, you must correctly add and configure the ISP DNS servers and zones in Microsoft DNS server using DNS Manager. For more information on how to do so, see "Configuring Primary and Secondary Servers and Zones," later in this chapter.
A computer configured with Microsoft DNS server can manage one or more zones and zone databases. You also can create up to a maximum of 15 virtual DNS servers on a multihomed computer configured with Microsoft DNS server. The Microsoft DNS server support for zones and virtual DNS servers enables you to configure your computers in the fashion that best supports your business and networking requirements.
DNS name server zone files contain name-to-IP address mappings and other identifying information (such as a host alias name) in data records referred to as resource records. These resource records must be created for any computer in a zone that has a static IP address and that is a resource for users on the Internet.
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Resources that are frequently used by remote users on the Internet are manually assigned static IP addresses. However, the interoperability of Microsoft DNS server and Microsoft WINS servers enables you to dynamically create IP addresses for your intranet computers by using Microsoft DNS, Microsoft WINS, and DHCP servers. For more information, see Chapter 9, "Managing Microsoft DNS Servers," in Windows NT Server Networking Guide.
To help you create and edit resource records and perform other DNS server management tasks, Microsoft DNS server provides DNS Manager. DNS Manager is automatically installed when you install Microsoft DNS server. DNS Manager eliminates the need to manually edit text files and enables you to create a full range of DNS resource records.