System Builder

Technology MiniCast

Understanding Network
Name Resolution

It’s a BOB Thing

Name Resolution
 All communications between
computers and any other
devices on a TCP/IP network
are addressed using IP
addresses, such as
“192.168.15.2”.
 Name resolution provides a
method of referring to
computers by name instead of
using network addresses.
 Windows has historically used
two separate naming
schemes: host naming and
NetBIOS naming.
 Starting with the products
released at the time of
Windows 2000, Microsoft has
been eliminating the need to
use NetBIOS naming in
Microsoft networks.
Host Name Resolution
 DNS, or the Domain Name Service, provides
name-to-IP address mapping, enabling clients to
refer to destinations by name rather than IP
addresses
 DNS has been the standard method of resolving
Windows Networking resources since Windows
2000
 The “hosts” file provides local name resolution
for TCP/IP-based functions
 Located in <systemroot>\system32\drivers\etc
 Can store any name-to-IP address mapping
 Contains 127.0.0.1 “localhost” mapping by default
Benefits of DNS
 Scalable
 Theservice is appropriate for very large and very
small networks
 Interoperable
 Microsoft’s DNS server is RFC-compliant
 Distributed
 DNS allows for the task of providing name-to-IP
address records for the Internet to be distributed
amongst DNS servers, eliminating the need for a
“master list” catalog of all names
Important Terms
 Zone
 A zone is a table of IP address
and name information used to
answer requests
 More than one DNS server
can store a copy of a zone for
redundancy
 Domain
 Unlike an Active Directory
domain, in DNS the term
“domain” simply defines a
“namespace”
 Allows an individual to reserve
a section of the DNS naming
structure for use in creating
new names
 DNS domains are hierarchical
DNS Naming Structure
 Becomes less specific as the name moves from left to
right
 Host.subdomain.domain.topleveldomain.
 i.e. www.microsoft.com (.)
 There is a true top level, least-specific domain in every
name called “root”, represented by a dot that is not
typed.
 The first word of the name was traditionally the actual
name of a host on a DNS network, although a single IP
address can be mapped to multiple names
DNS Client software
 Two types:
 Stub resolvers
 Built-in to all standard
TCP/IP hosts
(computers)
 Capable of sending a
recursive request to a
DNS server
 Full resolvers
 Built-in to DNS Servers
and DNS
troubleshooting tools
such as nslookup
 Capable of sending
either a recursive or
iterative request
DNS Servers
 Capable of storing IP address records for a zone
 Capable of answering both iterative and
recursive requests for records within zones
hosted locally on the DNS server
“Authoritatively”
 Capable of fulfilling recursive lookup requests on
behalf of clients
 Capable of forwarding a recursive lookup
request to another DNS server (a “forwarder”)
Types of Zones
 Standard Primary
 Stores DNS records in a text file on the hard drive
 Standard Secondary
 Retrieves a copy of the zone from another server and
uses the copy to answer requests
 Active-Directory Integrated
 Storeszone information in Active Directory
 Enables secure DDNS
 Stub zones
 Retrieves a copy of the SOA and NS records from
another server and uses the copy to refer lookup
processes to the correct DNS servers.
Forward and Reverse Lookups
 Forward Lookup Zones
 Store information for name-to-IP address lookups
 Use the DNS name hierarchy for organizing zones
 Reverse Lookup Zones
 Store information for IP address-to-name lookups
 Use the IP subnet structure for organizing zones
Record Types
 “A” or “Host” records
 Simplemapping of a name to IP address
 Can be created automatically using Dynamic DNS
 “CNAME” or “Alias” records
 Allows a name to be mapped to an already existing
name
 “MX” or “Mail Exchanger” records
 Identifies
the name or names of SMTP servers
capable of receiving SMTP mail for the domain name
Record Types
 “PTR” or “Pointer” Records
 Used in Reverse Lookup Zones to provide name information
when queried for an IP address
 Can be created automatically using Dynamic DNS
 “NS” or “Name Server” Records
 Shows the names of DNS servers for a zone
 “SOA” or “Start of Authority” record
 Stores configuration information for how the zone operates
 Accessed through the SOA tab of a zone’s properties in
Windows Server 2003 DNS servers.
The SOA Record
 The Start-of-Authority
“SOA” record is a key
element of DNS
configuration on all DNS
servers.
 The Windows 2000 and
Windows Server 2003
versions of DNS use a
GUI for configuring SOA
record properties.
 Settings placed in the
SOA determine behaviors
for copies of the zone on
all secondary DNS
servers.
Active Directory and SRV Records
 “SRV” or “Service Locator” Records
 Used to store information about services needed for specialized
applications
 Used extensively by Active Directory authentication processes to
locate Domain Controllers and Global Catalog Servers
 A separate zone called “_msdcs.<domainname>” is
created to manage SRV records for Active Directory in
Windows Server 2003 DNS
Dynamic DNS
 Allows clients to configure “A”
and “PTR” records
automatically.
 Can be used by service
providers to host a service on
the Internet without a static IP
address.
 Can be used to create records
for all Active Directory domain
members in DNS automatically
 When used with Active
Directory-Integrated zones,
DDNS may be secured so only
domain members can create
records.
NetBIOS Name Resolution
 Used by all forms of Microsoft networking (File and Print
Sharing, network browsing, UNC paths such as
“\\servername\sharename”) prior to Windows 2000
 NetBIOS-based routines are still present in many legacy
applications
 NetBIOS over TCP/IP (NBT) can be disabled on
Windows 2000 and later
 Supported by the lmhosts file for manual configuration
 Supported by WINS (Windows Internet Name Service)
for automatic configuration
NetBIOS Names
 Must be 15 characters or less
 No case sensitivity
 Often referred to as “computer name”
 The “lmhosts” file
A sample version is stored in
<systemroot>\system32\drivers\etc with the name
“lmhosts.sam”
 Needed locate domain controllers for pre-Windows
2000 clients on routed networks without WINS
servers
WINS Servers
 WINS Servers
provide a central
lookup and
registration point for
NetBIOS names
 Clients must be
configured with WINS
server addresses in
order to use WINS
WINS Server Replication
 WINS is a multi-master
database
 Two types of replication:
 Pull replication
 Configured to occur at
regular intervals
 Push replication
 Configured to occur after a
certain number of changes
have been received
Name Resolution Troubleshooting
 Ping
 Pinging a target by name will attempt hostname (DNS) resolution first,
then NetBIOS (WINS) resolution if NetBIOS is enabled.
 Whenever name resolution is failing, ping the DNS and WINS servers by
IP address to make certain they are up and running.
 Check the DNS and WINS services to make sure they are running on the
servers.
 Nslookup
 Use to manually perform iterative lookups on DNS servers.
 Type “nslookup” at a command prompt to access the tool in interactive
mode.
 Type “server <DNS server name or IP address>” to change the DNS
server being queried.
 A wide variety of other functions available by typing “Help” inside an
interactive Nslookup command session.
 NBlookup
 Use to see if names are being stored on individual WINS servers
 More information is available at http://
support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830578
Recommended Reading
 TechNet
 http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/windowsserver2003/libr
(choose “Network Services” | “Managing Core Network
Services” | “DNS”)
 How to Troubleshoot Basic TCP/IP Problems
 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;169790
 Using NSLookup.exe
 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;200525
 How to Troubleshoot Windows Server 2003 DNS
Dynamic Update Problems
 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;842200
 NBLookup.exe Command-line Tool
 http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;830578
aka BOB Resources
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 http://oem.microsoft.com/BackRoom
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 System Builder Discussion Forum
 http://oem.microsoft.com/Community
Other Great Resources
 General information about being a System Builder
 http://Oem.microsoft.com/SB101
 Free e-mail support for preinstall issues
 sbst@microsoft.com
 System Builder Break-fix newsgroups
 http://oem.microsoft.com/script/ContentPage.aspx?PageID=555963
 Other Managed support newsgroups
 http://support.microsoft.com
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© 2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
This presentation is for informational purposes only. MICROSOFT MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IN THIS SUMMARY.