1. Benefits of Using Domain Name System (DNS)
DNS names are user friendly.
DNS names are more consistent than IP addresses.
DNS allows the same naming convention as the Internet.

2. Domain Name Space

3. Examples of Second-Level Domains
Ed.gov
Microsoft.com
Stanford.edu
W3.org

4. Host Names Refer to specific computers on the Internet or an intranet
The leftmost portion of a fully qualified domain name (FQDN), such as Computer1.sales.microsoft.com
Does not have to match the computer name

5. Domain Naming Guidelines
Limit the number of domain levels.
Use unique names.
Use simple names.
Avoid lengthy domain names.

6. Domain Naming Guidelines (continued)
Use standard DNS characters and Unicode characters
Microsoft Windows 2000 supports A–Z, a–z, 0–9, hyphen (-)
Supports Unicode character set

7. Zones

8. Name Servers Store the zone database file
Store the database file(s) for one or multiple zones
Have authority for the domain name space that the zone encompasses
Are required in every zone

9. Primary Zone Database File
A name server in each domain contains the master database file.
Changes to a zone are performed on it.
Multiple name servers act as a backup.

10. Benefits of Multiple Name Servers
Provide zone transfers
Provide redundancy
Improve access speed
Reduce the load

11. Name Resolution Resolving names to IP addresses
DNS resolves to an IP address

12. Forward Lookup Query

13. Name Server Caching

14. Reverse Lookup Query Maps an IP address to a name.
Used by troubleshooting tools such as the nslookup utility.
Some applications implement security based on the ability to connect to names.

15. The in-addr.arpa Domain

16. Introduction to DNS Clients
DNS is a distributed database used in TCP/IP networks.
TCP/IP must be installed to use DNS.

17. Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) Properties Dialog Box