Press releases

DNS and Bind "bible" rewritten for Windows NT

Press release: November 2, 1998

Sebastopol, CA--O'Reilly and Associates has just released DNS on Windows NT --a special edition of the classic DNS and Bind, which Microsoft recommends to Windows NT users and administrators. DNS on Windows NT discusses one of the Internet's fundamental building blocks: the distributed host information database that's responsible for translating names into addresses, routing mail to its proper destination, and many other services. As the authors write in the preface, if you're using the Internet, you're already using DNS -- even if you don't know it.

This book covers the DNS server in Windows NT 4.0, as updated with Service Pack 3. In addition to covering general issues, like installing, setting up, and maintaining the server, it covers many issues specific to the Windows environment: integration between DNS and WINS, converting from BIND to the Microsoft DNS server, and registry settings. The authors pay special attention to security issues, system tuning, caching, and zone change notification as well as providing detailed information on troubleshooting and planning for growth.

Whether you're an administrator involved with DNS on a daily basis, or a user who wants to be more informed about the Internet and how it works, you'll find that this book is essential reading.

DNS on Windows NT covers vital issues such as:

  • What DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use it
  • How to find your own place in the Internet's name space
  • Setting up name servers
  • Using MX records to route mail
  • Configuring hosts to use DNS name servers
  • Subdividing domains (parenting)
  • Securing your name server: preventing unauthorized zone transfers
  • Mapping one name to several servers for load sharing
  • Troubleshooting: using nslookup, diagnosing common problems.

What Readers and Critics Said About DNS and Bind

"The bible for DNS and its associated lookup routines is DNS and Bind." --Peter Collinson, Sun Expert, May 1998

"The best book on DNS that I know of is DNS and Bind by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu." --Doug Shaker, Boardwatch, June 1995

"I consider this book to be essential documentation for anybody who is responsible for a domain." -Adrian Wontroba, C Vu, September 1997

"I [am] the happy owner and user of...DNS and BIND. It has been a great help to me over the last few weeks as I have struggled as a 'newbie' to set up a plethora of domains for our clients." --Godfrey N. Nix

"I picked up my knowledge of DNS piecemeal, first as a user and then as a sysadmin running an inherited nameserver. And I learned most of what I know about nameserver maintenance the hard way -- a process which would have been much less painful if I had had a copy of DNS and BIND to guide me. If you are running a nameserver then I would definitely recommend ownership of your own copy. You may well be familiar with the basics already and you may not need the more esoteric information, but name service is sufficiently critical that getting the ordinary complexities right is essential. Albitz and Liu are excellent guides to both the main boulevards and the crooked side-alleys of the DNS." --Danny Yee

"If you're going to set up a DNS Server, save yourself some headaches and get yourself a copy of the definitive book of the subject, DNS and Bind." --Windows Sources, February 1995

"A clear, straightforward, and sometimes even lighthearted text to make the learning process as painless as possible." --Robert Slade, Computer News Vol II, Issue 10

"For any DNS question--general or specific--make sure to read DNS and Bind, the seminal work by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu. This book is what convinced me, in May 1994, that setting up services on the Internet was a learnable and doable proposition." --Glenn Fleishman, NETGUIDE, August 1996

"To understand DNS, you'll need to consult the standard reference text, O'Reilly & Associates', DNS and Bind. --Jason Levitt, Information Week, October 21, 1996

"We recommend DNS and Bind to help you get over the hump on this one. We've seen it make DNS pros out of many of the formerly lost." --Jack Ricard, Boardwatch, February 1997

"This is an outstanding book--system administrators need it; interested users will find it enlightening." -Elizabeth Zinkann, Sys Admin, May 1997

DNS on Windows NT
By Paul Albitz, Matt Larson & Cricket Liu
1st Edition October 1998
1-56592-511-4, 348 pages, $34.95

About O’Reilly

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