4.4BSD/usr/src/contrib/bind-4.9/doc/BOG/types.me

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.\"	@(#)types.me	6.3 (Berkeley) 9/19/89
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.sh 1 "Types of Zones"
.pp
A ``zone'' is a point of delegation in the DNS tree.  It contains all names
from a certain point ``downward'' except those which are delegated to other
servers.  A ``delegation point'' has one or more \fINS\fP records in the
``parent zone'', which should be matched by equivalent \fINS\fP records at
the root of the ``delegated zone'' (i.e., the ``@'' name in the zone file).
.pp
Understanding the difference between a ``zone'' and a ``domain'' is crucial
to the proper operation of a name server.  As an example, consider the
\s-1DEC.COM\s+1 \fIdomain\fP, which includes names such as
\s-1POBOX1.PA.DEC.COM\s+1 and \s-1QUABBIN.CRL.DEC.COM\s+1 even though
the \s-1DEC.COM\s+1 \fIzone\fP includes only \fIdelegations\fP for the
\s-1PA.DEC.COM\s+1 and \s-1CRL.DEC.COM\s+1 zones.  A zone can map exactly
to a single domain, but could also include only part of a domain (the rest
of which could be delegated to other name servers).  Technically speaking,
every name in the DNS tree is a ``domain'', even if it is ``terminal'', that
is, has no ``subdomains''.  Technically speaking, every subdomain is a domain
and every domain except the root is also a subdomain.  The terminology is not
intuitive and you would do well to read RFC's 1033, 1034, and 1035 to gain a
complete understanding of this difficult and subtle topic.
.pp
Though \s-1BIND\s+1 is a \fIDomain\fP Name Server, it deals primarily in terms
of \fIzones\fP.  The \fIprimary\fP and \fIsecondary\fP declarations in the
\fInamed.boot\fP file specify \fIzones\fP, not \fIdomains\fP.  When you ask
someone if they are willing to be a secondary server for your ``domain'', you
are actually asking for secondary service for some collection of \fIzones\fP.
.pp
Each zone will have one ``primary'' server, which loads the zone contents
from some local file which is edited by humans or perhaps generated
mechanically from some other local file which is edited by humans.  Then
there will be some number of ``secondary'' servers, which load the zone
contents using the \s-1IP/DNS\s+1 protocol (that is, the secondary servers will
contact the primary and fetch the zone using \s-1IP/TCP\s+1).  This set of
servers (the primary and all of the secondaries) should be listed in the
\fINS\fP records in the parent zone, which will constitute a ``delegation''.
This set of servers must also be listed in the zone file itself, usually
under the ``@'' name which is a magic cookie that means the ``top level''
or ``root'' of current \s-1$ORIGIN\s+1.  You can list servers in the zone's
top-level ``@'' \fINS\fP records that are not in the parent's \fINS\fP
delegation, but you cannot list servers in the parent's delegation that are
not present in the zone's ``@''.  (This latter condition is one form of what
is called a ``lame delegation''.)
.sh 1 "Types of Servers"
.pp
Servers do not really have ``types''.  A server can be a primary for some
zones and a secondary for others, or it can be only a primary, or only a
secondary, or it can serve no zones and just answer queries via its ``cache''.
Previous versions of this document referred to servers as ``master'' and
``slave'' but we now feel that those distinctions \(em and the assignment of
a ``type'' to a name server \(em are not useful.
.sh 2 "Caching Only Server"
.pp
All servers are caching servers.  This means that the server caches the
information that it receives for use until the data expires.  A \fICaching
Only Server\fP is a server that is not authoritative for any domain.  This
server services queries and asks other servers, who have the authority, for
the information needed.  All servers keep data in their cache until the data
expires, based on a \fITTL\fP (``Time To Live'') field which is maintained
for all resource records.
.sh 2 "Remote Server"
.pp
A Remote Server is an option given to people who would like to use 
a name server from their workstation or on a machine that has a limited
amount of memory and CPU cycles.
With this option you can run all of the networking programs that use
the name server without the name server running on the local machine.
All of the queries are serviced by a name server that is running on another 
machine on the network.  This kind of host is technically not a ``server'',
since it has no cache and does not answer queries.  A host which has an
\fI/etc/resolv.conf\fP file listing only remote hosts, and which does not
run a name server of its own, is sometimes called a Remote Server but more
often it is called simply a DNS Client.
.sh 2 "Slave Server"
.pp
A Slave Server is a server that always forwards queries it cannot
satisfy from its cache, to a fixed list of \fIforwarding\fP servers
instead of interacting
with the master nameservers for the root and other domains.
The queries to the \fIforwarding servers\fP are recursive queries.
There may be one or more forwarding servers, and they are tried in turn
until the list is exhausted.
A Slave and forwarder configuration is typically used when you do not
wish all the servers at a given site to be interacting with the rest
of the Internet servers.  A typical scenario would involve a number of
workstations and a departmental timesharing machine with Internet
access.  The workstations might be
administratively prohibited from having Internet access.
To give the workstations the appearance of access to the Internet
domain system, the workstations could be Slave servers to the timesharing
machine which would forward the queries and interact with other
nameservers to resolve the query before returning the answer.
An added benefit of using the forwarding feature is that the central
machine develops a much more complete cache of information that
all the workstations can take advantage of.  The use of Slave mode
and forwarding is discussed further under the description of
the named bootfile commands.
.pp
Note that a Slave Server still needs a \fIcache\fP directive in its
bootfile, since it will otherwise not be able to locate the root servers.
There is no prohibition against declaring a server to be a \fIslave\fP
even though it has \fIprimary\fP and/or \fIsecondary\fP zones as well;
the effect will still be that anything in the local server's cache or
zones will be answered, and anything else will be forwarded using the
\fIforwarders\fP list.