Re: Host Name Problem

[CaT <cat zip com au>]

On Sun, Dec 31, 2000 at 12:34:12AM -0500, Brett Castleberry wrote:
> On 2000.12.30 23:25:49 -0500 Anthony E . Greene wrote:
> 
> > Resolv.conf is for default domain searches and for nameservers, not just
> > any
> > host machine. The hosts file is still used in places where a DNS would be
> > more trouble than it's worth. For instance, I don't run DNS at home, but
> > I
> > list several remote machines that I work with often so that connections
> > to
> > them will be made quickly. I also list machines on my LAN so that various
> > services work better.
> 
> Tony,
> 	Thanks for the clarification.  It's been a while since I sorted all
> this out on my own to get ppp working.  I haven't really comprehended DNS. 
> It was my understanding that hosts listed in /etc/hosts were looked for at
> bootup, so that if I have a standalone machine, it's better to leave my
> ISP's name and address out of /etc/hosts.  Are you saying that I will
> connect more quickly if I include a line for my ISP in /etc/hosts even if
> it's a dialup connection?

Only in the respect that you don't have to use your link to contact
their DNS, wait for it to reply via said link before finding out the
IP address so that a connection can be made.

Personally, I run a DNS server on my box (when it was standalone and
while it is now a gateway) and have it cache hostnames so while initial
lookups are slow, subsequent ones are not. Also, as I own a domain name,
I use it to keep the zone file upto date. This inturn allows me to have
named services on my lan (ie I have hostname entries for proxy and so on).
The only thing I use /etc/hosts or is localhost and a definition for the
machine's own name. This is purely for bootup purposes so that things
can proceed nicely without needing the name server to be up yet.

I hope that wasn't as confusing to read as it was to write. 8)

-- 
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