Need to keep a more robust DNS cache in my Windows client

[Ramon F Herrera]

I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
server.

I happen to travel all over and stay in hotels in the USA and abroad
which sometimes may subscribe to "el cheapo" ISPs which try to
minimize the DNS queries and for some reason queries to my DNS server
end up in the bit bucket or something...

In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop, I would like
to implement two measures:

- The must be some sort of time delay to keep already resolved IP
addresses in Windows, correct? How can I increase this time delay of
the DNS cache?

- Back when the Internet was young (and so was I, as a sysadmin at
MIT) we had to periodically download a file (/etc/hosts) which
contained, believe or not, the IP addresses of all the Internet
servers. That was the standard way to work, before DNS was invented.
Such technique is still useful, in case DNS is not resolvong my
problems :-) The question is: Where do I hardwire IP addresses in my
Windows laptop? They should be used only when the regular DNS fails.

TIA,

-Ramon

[Char Jackson]

Have you checked out Treewalk DNS? Seems like it's purpose built to
address the things you're seeing.

http://treewalkdns.com/
http://ntcanuck.com/

[glen herrmannsfeldt]

In comp.protocols.tcp-ip Ramon F Herrera <ra...@conexus.net> wrote:

> I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
> server.

> I happen to travel all over and stay in hotels in the USA and abroad
> which sometimes may subscribe to "el cheapo" ISPs which try to
> minimize the DNS queries and for some reason queries to my DNS server
> end up in the bit bucket or something...

(snip)

It seems to me that many resolvers have a small time-out value.
They expect at least a caching DNS server nearby.

If you run a local caching DNS server that should solve the problem.
You can also run a local secondary for your specific domain.

I believe only the "server" versions of windows come with a
DNS server, but that free versions of BIND are available
that will run on windows. For other systems, it should be
easy to find one, though it might be an install time option.

-- glen

[David Brown]

Ramon F Herrera wrote:
> I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
> server.

> <snip>

>
> - Back when the Internet was young (and so was I, as a sysadmin at
> MIT) we had to periodically download a file (/etc/hosts) which
> contained, believe or not, the IP addresses of all the Internet
> servers. That was the standard way to work, before DNS was invented.
> Such technique is still useful, in case DNS is not resolvong my
> problems :-) The question is: Where do I hardwire IP addresses in my
> Windows laptop? They should be used only when the regular DNS fails.
>

That would be c:\winnt\system32\drivers\etc\hosts (adjust as required,
depending on your windows installation directory). It works pretty much
like /etc/hosts.

Putting fixed addresses in "hosts" is not nearly as elegant as getting
DNS to work properly - but if the IP addresses are constant, it is a lot
easier!

mvh.,

David

[Ramon F Herrera]

On Dec 10, 3:34 pm, David Brown

Well, in this case I happen to control the remote (Internet server)
addresses, and they never change.

Thx!

-RFH

[Steven J Masta]

Ramon F Herrera wrote:
> I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
> server.
>
> I happen to travel all over and stay in hotels in the USA and abroad
> which sometimes may subscribe to "el cheapo" ISPs which try to
> minimize the DNS queries and for some reason queries to my DNS server
> end up in the bit bucket or something...
>
> In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop, I would like
> to implement two measures:
>
> - The must be some sort of time delay to keep already resolved IP
> addresses in Windows, correct? How can I increase this time delay of
> the DNS cache?

Explorer has its own cache: http://tinyurl.com/y9ya94w
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com:80/support/kb/articles/Q263/5/58.ASP&NoWebContent=1

and so does Firefox: http://tinyurl.com/2ex5m3
http://blog.taragana.com/index.php/archive/simple-firefox-hacks-to-boost-performance/

Steve

[unruh]

["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.networking.]

On 2009-12-10, Ramon F Herrera <ra...@conexus.net> wrote:
>
> I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
> server.
>
> I happen to travel all over and stay in hotels in the USA and abroad
> which sometimes may subscribe to "el cheapo" ISPs which try to
> minimize the DNS queries and for some reason queries to my DNS server
> end up in the bit bucket or something...
>
> In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop, I would like
> to implement two measures:

Uh, this is a linux newgroup, not a Windows newsgroup. You would
probably get more useful advice on windows from a Windows newsgroup.

>
> - The must be some sort of time delay to keep already resolved IP
> addresses in Windows, correct? How can I increase this time delay of
> the DNS cache?
>
> - Back when the Internet was young (and so was I, as a sysadmin at
> MIT) we had to periodically download a file (/etc/hosts) which
> contained, believe or not, the IP addresses of all the Internet
> servers. That was the standard way to work, before DNS was invented.
> Such technique is still useful, in case DNS is not resolvong my
> problems :-) The question is: Where do I hardwire IP addresses in my
> Windows laptop? They should be used only when the regular DNS fails.

There is an equivalent of /etc/hosts on Windows. Putting the addresses
of your most used sites in there would be immensely helpful in not
using DNS at all. hosts is almost always used before DNS-- far faster. I
suppose you could switch the order, but I have no idea how to do that on
Windows ( /etc/nsswitch on Linux)

[Keith Keller]

On 2009-12-10, Ramon F Herrera <ra...@conexus.net> wrote:
>

> In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop,

This question, and the rest of your post, seem to be offtopic in every
newsgroup to which you posted; certainly it is offtopic for
comp.os.linux.networking. You should try the equivalent of coln
for Windows.

--keith

--
kkeller...@wombat.san-francisco.ca.us
(try just my userid to email me)
AOLSFAQ=http://www.therockgarden.ca/aolsfaq.txt
see X- headers for PGP signature information

[Ramon F Herrera]

On Dec 10, 8:07 pm, unruh <un...@wormhole.physics.ubc.ca> wrote:
> ["Followup-To:" header set to comp.os.linux.networking.]
> On 2009-12-10, Ramon F Herrera <ra...@conexus.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > I own a minimal domain with a single Linux (web, DNS, e-mail, etc.)
> > server.
>
> > I happen to travel all over and stay in hotels in the USA and abroad
> > which sometimes may subscribe to "el cheapo" ISPs which try to
> > minimize the DNS queries and for some reason queries to my DNS server
> > end up in the bit bucket or something...
>
> > In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop, I would like
> > to implement two measures:
>

> Uh, this is [...]

You have a typo. The word is spelled "these" not "this".

HTH,

-Ramon

[Ramon F Herrera]

On Dec 10, 10:50 pm, Keith Keller <kkeller-use...@wombat.san-

francisco.ca.us> wrote:
> On 2009-12-10, Ramon F Herrera <ra...@conexus.net> wrote:
>
>
>
> > In order to have a more robust DNS in my Windows laptop,
>
> This question, and the rest of your post, seem to be offtopic in every
> newsgroup to which you posted;

> certainly it is offtopic for
> comp.os.linux.networking.  You should try the equivalent of coln
> for Windows.

I have been posting in Usenet for as long as it exists.

It so happens that in Linux (Unix in general) NGs you frequently find
people more knowledgeable (that includes Windows networking) and
willing to share their expertise than in Windows NGs.

> You should try the equivalent of coln for Windows.

That would be the empty set. :-)

Thx,

-Ramon

[Bill Marcum]

Unruh set a Followup-To: in his reply, but as a result there's a chance you may not
see this reply or any others in this subthread.

[Jonathan de Boyne Pollard]

This question, and the rest of your post, seem to be offtopic in every newsgroup to which you posted; certainly it is offtopic for comp.os.linux.networking.  You should try the equivalent of coln for Windows.

I have been posting in Usenet for as long as it exists.

It's a shame that Usenet has had to suffer such pitiful and clueless excuses for not using the correct newsgroups for so long.

It so happens that in Linux (Unix in general) NGs you frequently find people more knowledgeable (that includes Windows networking) and willing to share their expertise than in Windows NGs.

You should try the equivalent of coln for Windows.

That would be the empty set. :-)

Here's where the cluelessness in the excuse comes in.  Not only are there in fact at least five newsgroups in that set (my server, for one, carrying comp.os.ms-windows.nt.admin.networking, comp.os.ms-windows.networking.tcp-ip, microsoft.public.win2000.dns, microsoft.public.windows.server.dns, and microsoft.public.windows.server.networking), but if you had posted in them, someone there would no doubt have told you about the DNS Client service, its caching options, and its interactions with the hosts file, which is something that none of the "more knowledgeable" people in the "Linux NGs" who responded here even mentioned.  You didn't even notice the existence of comp.protocols.tcp-ip.domains. 

The simple truth is that the "more knowledgeable" people actually do tend to hang out in the correct newsgroups, and are rarely found in incorrect ones (and even more rarely willing to help any people who post in incorrect newsgroups and then argue that they're right to persist in doing so when others tell them the proper places to post).  One loses, as you have lost here, by selfishly thinking that one will just post in any old newsgroup one likes, the actual newsgroup topics be damned.