HOST Names

Characteristics:

• Can be up to 256 characters

• Host name may be the same or different than the NetBIOS name.
• No longer case sensitive.
• A host can have several host names.

Name Resolution Order in windows 2000

1. Local (Cache)
2. Hosts File
3. DNS
4. LMHosts
5. WINS
6. Broadcast

TCP/IP host name resolution order:

1. local name
2. hosts file - Specific.
3. DNS - Specific. Request sent at 5, 10, 20, 40, 5, 10, and 20 seconds.
4. WINS - specific.
5. 3 NetBIOS b-node broadcasts - Standard
6. lmhosts file - Specific. If entries in this file contain the entry "#PRE", the value of that line is loaded into the
NetBIOS name cache memory and broadcasts will not be used to resolve these host name to IP addresses.
When TCP/IP is initialized the lines with #PRE are loaded into memory. #INCLUDE statements may be used to
embed one lmhosts file locally or on a remote computer into the main lmhosts file. Keywords:
o #PRE - Preload the line information into memory (NetBIOS name cache).
o #DOM - Domain name. Indicates that this machine is a domain controller. This prevents a broadcast
from being sent to find the domain controller when changing a password or a user is logging onto a
domain.

Two types of resolution are specific and standard. Microsoft resolves names two ways depending on whether the name is
a TCP/IP host name or NetBIOS name. NetBIOS name resolution order for NetBIOS H-node:

DHCP Lease Renewal

After 50% of the lease time has passed, the client will attempt to renew the lease with the original DHCP server that it
obtained the lease from using a DHCPREQUEST message. Any time the client boots and the lease is 50% or more
passed, the client will attempt to renew the lease. At 87.5% of the lease completion, the client will attempt to contact any
DHCP server for a new lease. If the lease expires, the client will send a request as in the initial boot when the client had
no IP address. If this fails, the client TCP/IP stack will cease functioning.

DHCP File information storage:

• WFW - \windows\DHCP.BIN (encrypted)

• WinNT - HKey_Local_Machine\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\Adapter\Parameter\Tcpip

DHCP Scope and Subnets

One DHCP scope is required for each subnet.

DHCP Relay Agents

May be placed in two places:

 • Routers
• Subnets that don't have a DHCP server to forward DHCP requests.

Client Reservation

Client Reservation is used to be sure a computer gets the same IP address all the time. Therefore since DHCP IP
address assignments use MAC addresses to control assignments, the following are required for client reservation:

• MAC (hardware) address

• IP address

Domain Name Resolutions

As discussed above, Domain Name Resolution is the task of converting domain names to their
corresponding IP address. This is all done behind the scenes and is rarely noticed by the user. When you
enter a domain name in an application that uses the Internet, the application will issue a command to
have the operating system convert the domain name into its IP address, and then connect to that IP
address to perform whatever operation it is trying to do.

The way the operating system resolves the domain name is based upon its configuration. For almost all
operating systems the default order for Domain Name resolution is as follows:

1. Hosts File - There is a file called the HOSTS file that you can use to convert domain names to IP
addresses. Entries in the HOSTS file override any mappings that would be resolved via a DNS
server.
2. Domain Name System - This is the system used on the Internet for converting domain names
to their corresponding IP addresses. Your operating system will connect to the DNS server
configured on your computer and have that server return to you the IP address for the domain
name you queried it with.
3. Netbios - This only applies to Windows machines and will only be used to map names to IP
addresses if all previous methods failed. This method will attempt to map the netbios name you
are trying to connect to with an IP address.

It is possible though to change the order that your operating system uses when doing Domain Name
Resolution. We will discuss these methods for the Windows and Unix/Linux operating systems below.

Domain Name Resolution on Linux and Unix

Unix and Linux have a similar default Domain Name Resolution order as Windows. The operating system
will first check its /etc/hosts file and if it does not find an entry for the queried domain, it will then query
its configured DNS servers.

The order in which server resolves domain names can be changed by editing the /etc/host.conf file. This
file determines the order that the operating system uses to resolve domain names. The line that we are
concerned with is the one that looks like:

order hosts, bind

This tells the operating system to first check the hosts file, and if that fails, to use DNS, otherwise known
as bind which is the name of the software used to make DNS requests.

You can change the order the operating system uses, by changing the order line. For example if we
wanted to make it so it queried DNS first and the hosts file second we would change the line to read:

order bind, hosts

Currently the valid values you can place after order is hosts, bind, or nis. NIS stands for the Network
Information Service and will not be covered by this article.

Shutdown Event tracker

Windows Server 2003 introduces a new feature that helps keep track of the reasons for shutting down a particular
server. The Shutdown Event Tracker service interrupts a server shutdown and queries the administrator about the
reason for bringing down the server; it then writes an event to the logs.

When a server powers off due to a power failure or a hardware failure, the Shutdown Event Tracker service asks for
the reason the next time the server boots up. While useful in environments where admins track every shutdown
reason, this feature can become an annoyance in other situations.

However, you can disable the Shutdown Event Tracker service using the new Group Policy Management Console
with Service Pack 1, which you can download from Microsoft's Web site.

After downloading this tool, follow these steps:

1. Go to Start | Administrative Tools | Group Policy Management.

2. Navigate to the Default Domain Controllers Policy. (Go to Forest | <your forest> | Domains | <your domain> |
Domain Controllers | Default Domain Controllers Policy.)
3. Right-click the Default Domain Controllers Policy, and select Edit.
4. Go to Computer Configuration | Administrative Templates | System.
5. Double-click Disable Shutdown Event Tracker.
6. Select Disabled, and click OK.
7. Go to Start | Run.

8. In the Open text box, enter gpupdate to refresh the group policy on the affected servers.

You can also reboot the machines to make your changes take effect. At the first reboot, the Shutdown Event Tracker
will still be active because Windows hasn't loaded the new policy yet.

AD New Features

Domain Rename : This supports changing the Domain Name System (DNS) and/or NetBIOS names of existing domains in a forest,
keeping the resulting forest still "well formed." Administrators have greater flexibility in changing the Active Directory structure after
it is deployed. Design decisions are now reversible, which benefits organizations that may be in involved in a merger or significant
restructuring.

DNS Record Types

Record type Name Description

A Address Record Maps a hostname to an IP address

PTR Pointer Record Maps an IP address to a hostname

CNAME Alias Record Maps an alias to a hostname

MX Mail Exchanger Record Specifies a mail route for a domain

NS Name Server Record Specifies name servers for a given domain

SOA Start of Authority Record Contains administrative data about a zone, including the primary name server
Record type Name Description

SRV Service Record Maps a particular service (e.g., LDAP) to one or more hostnames