Managing Mission - Critical Domains and DNS: Demystifying nameservers, DNS, and domain names

Gain comprehensive insights into the domain name ecosystem, together with exploring the different operations strategies

Key Features

• Manage DNS-name server infrastructure and risks
• Gain practical insights into types of nameservers, DNS queries and more
• Discover expert advice from an industry veteran based on real-world experience

Book Description

Managing your organization’s naming architecture and mitigating risks within complex naming environments is very important. This book will go beyond looking at ‘how to run a nameserver’ or ‘how to DNSSEC sign a domain’, and focus on the entire spectrum of naming – from external factors that exert influence on your domains to all the internal factors that you need to consider when operating your Domain Name System (DNS).

You’ll gain comprehensive insights into the world of naming. Starting from understanding the role of registrars and how they interact with registries, you’ll then move on to what ICANN does and its significance. Once you have gained a solid understanding of the fundamentals of the domain name ecosystem, you’ll be taken through all aspects of DNS operations in the later chapters. Whether your organization operates its own nameservers or utilizes an outsourced vendor, or both, you’ll examine the complex web of interlocking factors that must be taken into account but are too frequently overlooked.

By the end of this book, you’ll be well-versed with the different aspects of DNS nameservers and have gained the skills to effectively manage mission-critical servers.

What you will learn

• Understand the anatomy of a domain – how a domain is the sum of both its DNS zone and its registration data, and why that matters
• Explore the domain name ecosystem – the role of registries, registrars and oversight bodies and their effect on your names
• Get up to speed with how DNS queries work, along with exploring queries and responses including debugging techniques to identify problems
• Discover alternative nameserver daemons, numbering considerations, and deployment architectures
• Delve into DNS use cases and understand the right way to perform basic operations such as domain transfers, large scale migrations, GeoDNS, and Anycast DNS
• Learn how to secure your domains, focusing on various aspects of security, right from registrar vendor selection through to DNSSEC and DDoS mitigation strategies

Who This Book Is For

This book is for system administrators, webmasters, IT consultants, developers or anyone responsible for maintaining an organization’s core DNS.

Table of Contents

1. The Domain name Ecosystem
2. Common Pitfalls
3. Domain Policies you must be aware of
4. The Two Major Roles of Nameservers
5. DNS Queries In Action
6. Types and Uses of Common Resource Records
7. Quasi- Record Types
8. Common Nameserver Software
9. Debugging without tears: DNS Diagnostic Tools
10. Domain Operations & DNS Use Cases
11. Nameserver Considerations
12. Securing your Domains and DNS
13. DNS and DDoS Attacks
14. IPv6 Considerations
15. IPv6 Considerations