Setting up my own DNS server

[xyrx]

I'm posting this question in the XP forum, because if I posted it in a general networking forum, I'd be told to setup a linux box for a DNS server. Well, I don't wanna! I've banged my head against linux for over a year on and off, and simply, I just don't get it. =)

Anyway, I want to setup an old 200Mhz computer with 256MB RAM as a DNS server. My roomates and I are on Comcast cable, and their DNS servers are sluggish as hell. I want to download a free program, that will go to one of the DNS servers (root server?) and download the information locally. I know a 200Mhz machine isn't that great, but I KNOW it will respond faster than Comcast's DNS service. Anyone have any suggestions? How about a walkthrough / FAQ on creating your own DNS server?

 

[bcastner]

First, that old box does not meet the minimum requirements for hardware to run XP.

Second, you really do not want to setup a DNS server yourself. Some things you could realisticly do:

. Use the DNS server of another ISP you believe is faster. Ask your local area friends to ping their DNS servers for you. They can do an IPCONFIG /all (or WINIPCFG on Win9x) to determine their DNS servers. Then you manually enter the DNS values into your TCP/IP Properties sheet and test them.

. or, Improve the DNS caching on your Workstation. A good freeware tool for this is AnalogX's FastCache:

http://www.analogx.com/contents/download/network/fc.htm

. or, do both

 

[iSeriesCodePoet]

Are you sure it is the DNS servers that are the problem? Do you even know how a DNS server works?

To the best of my knowledge, the only way you can get DNS for Windows is if you are running a server version of the NTs. I would try bcastner's suggestion first. If your problem is the cable, it won't matter what DNS server you are using, they will all be slow.

As far a linux being complicated, it really isn't. I have a linux firewall (IPCop), linux webserver (Debian), and I an building from scratch a linux firewall for my parents(Slackware). My favorite utility for all of this is WebMin, you should download and try that, it works great. The thing that makes this cool, is that I don't know much about linux. Now, with the help of the local LUG (Linux Users Group), I have got quite far in my setup.

iSeriesCodePoet
iSeries Programmer/Lawson Software Administrator

See my progress to converting to linux.

http://koldark.hopto.org/linux/

The Programmer's Knowledge Base ->

http://koldark.hopto.org/twiki/bin/view/Programkb/WebHome