Conclusion

DNS and the BIND server both play essential rolls in today's Internet and in many private networks around the world, so it is beneficial for anyone using a computer or networked device to at least have a general understanding of how it all works. Few services effect so many systems and users of those systems as much as DNS, which is involved virtually every time someone accesses a network.

Here the the key points we covered:

• a hostname is only there for human use and the IP Address is what matters to the machines attached to a network
• there are several types of DNS servers but they all do serve the same purpose which is mapping hostnames to IP addresses
• a domain name is comprised of two or more sections separated by a dot and they are interpreted right to left
• domain and host names are matched to their IP Address by searching in a top-down cycle of queries and responses
  
  

The BIND DNS Server is very configurable and the DNS system is complex in it's details. Whether you see a future in Systems Administration or just want to know, the best way to understand BIND is to install a BIND Server on a test Linux server.

DNS for Rocket Scientists [4] is a great resource for everything DNS or BIND.

I hope you found this paper of value and that maybe it has peeked your interest enough to continue to learn more about this essential service.