DNS on Windows 2000 is a special Windows-oriented edition of the classic DNS and BIND. The Domain Name System (DNS) is 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 preface says, if you're using the Internet, you're already using DNS--even if you don't know it.Besides covering general issues like installing, setting up, and maintaining the server, DNS on Windows 2000 tackles those specific to the Windows environment: integration between DNS and Active Directory, conversion from BIND to the Microsoft DNS server, and registry settings. You'll also acquire a grounding in:

Security issuesSystem tuningCachingZone change notificationTroubleshootingPlanning for growth

What DNS does, how it works, and when you need to use itHow to find your own place in the Internet's namespaceSetting up name serversIntegrating Active Directory with DNSDynamic updates, storing zone information in Active Directory, and incremental zone transfersUsing MX records to route mailConfiguring hosts to use name serversSubdividing domains (parenting)Securing your name server: preventing unauthorized zone transfersMapping one name to several servers for load sharingTroubleshooting: using nslookup, diagnosing common problems

Matt Larson started Acme Byte & Wire, a company specializing in DNS consulting and training, with Cricket Liu in January 1997. Previously, he worked for Hewlett-Packard, first as Cricket's successor as hp.com hostmaster, then as a consultant in HP's Professional Services Organization. Matt graduated from Northwestern University in 1992 with two degrees: a bachelor of arts in computer science and a bachelor of music in church music/organ performance. He lives in Bethesda, Maryland, with his wife, Sonja Kahler, and their two pugs. In his spare time he enjoys playing the 10-rank pipe organ in his house and flying light airplanes. Cricket worked for five and a half years at Hewlett-Packard's Corporate Network Services, where he ran hp.com, one of the largest corporate domains in the world, and helped design the HP Internet's security architecture. Cricket left HP in 1997 to start his own company, Acme Byte & Wire, with his friend and co-author Matt Larson. Network Solutions acquired Acme Byte & Wire in June of 2000, and then subsequently, Network Solutions merged with VeriSign. Cricket became Director of DNS Product Management of the merged company, helping determine which new DNS-related products VeriSign would offer.

Cricket Liu matriculated at the University of California's Berkeley campus, that great bastion of free speech, unencumbered Unix, and cheap pizza. He joined Hewlett-Packard after graduation and worked for HP for nine years. Cricket began managing the hp.com zone after the Loma Prieta earthquake forcibly transferred the zone's management from HP Labs to HP's Corporate Offices (by cracking a sprinkler main and flooding Labs' computer room). Cricket was hostmaster@hp.com for over three years, and then joined HP's Professional Services Organization to cofound HP's Internet Consulting Program. Cricket left HP in 1997 to form Acme Byte & Wire, a DNS consulting and training company, with his friend (and now co-author) Matt Larson. Network Solutions acquired Acme in June 2000, and later the same day merged with VeriSign. Cricket worked for a year as Director of DNS Product Management for VeriSign Global Registry Services. Cricket joined Men & Mice, an Icelandic company specializing in DNS software and services, in September, 2001. He is currently their Vice President, Research & Development. Cricket, his wife, Paige, and their son, Walt, live in Colorado with two Siberian Huskies, Annie and Dakota. On warm weekend afternoons, you'll probably find them on the flying trapeze or wakeboarding behind Betty Blue.