DNS Problems (As always)

[julianf]

I have been struggling with re-setting up my DNS server.

Please could someone give some input. (Would be much appreciated!)

I have read many whitepapers...it seams as if noone has the same infrastructure as my network...all the info seems to cater for straight forward lan networks. Mine isn't that complicated though. We host an exchange/proxy server...with 2 remote sites linking to us via 64K lines.

I am trying to reconfigure our dns server so that our e-mail and Internet usage can start working properly again.. I followed a manual and tried to re-configure DNS, and next thing, we cannot access our own website...(Which is hosted elsewhere...So if our website is

http://www.x.com

- it is suddently non-accessable from within the domain...maybe it has something to do with DNS being confused cause we host the exchange server that accepts the e-mail ..I know that you configure an mx record withing DNS...so maybe there's the problem...well I delete the DNS entries....and it is still like that...We can access other sites...

If there is a way, how can I just scrap what ever is in the DSN memory...every time I uninstall DNS, and readd it and add the server...it has the same info as before...(Obviously maintains the cache)

Well, i am lost...Basically all I need to do is configure DNS so that my NT4 based network can browse the net, and send and recieve mail properly....CAn't be that difficult...can it?

Regards,

Jules

 

[shemfoo]

have you tried pinging your website to see which IP it returns? try that from within the network and outside (through a ISP).
does the event log give you any leads?
haven't tried Ms DNS. I used BIND for NT, which works quite well.

 

[julianf]

Hi...on the exchange server, i can definilty ping the ISP's DNS servers....It's just when I add them in DNS manager that it wont connect...unless ofcourse I am not doing it corectly...How does Bind work...and where can I get it...and is it costly...as I'm fed up with DNS now...(Well, I feel like giving up at this point...but I suppose bind is not that easy to configre either???)

Could you give me some info on Bind and how I can utilze it...

Regards,

Julian

 

[shemfoo]

have you tried tracert xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx to see the hops it took to the destination? any difference between the two setup?
what about nslookup? type nslookup at command prompt, then set q=ns, then type in the website address. this should give you some info on the website. type exit to quit.

bind is free, it is a unix DNS service ported to NT. once installed you can start or stop it as a service.
go to this website

http://bind8nt.meiway.com/

it has all the info on where to download, install and configuration ..etc.
the key is to have the zone files configured correctly. you can check event logs to see if they are loaded successfully.
make sure you understand the security issues as well.
have fun!

shem