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- Secondary specification
- Introduction
-
- One key feature of the _D_N_S system is its ability to maintain backup
- copy of information about domain. The information is entered on the
- _p_r_i_m_a_r_y _D_N_S of a domain and copy to secondary (backup) DNSs.
-
- 11.. PPrriinncciippllee
-
- 11..11.. WWhhoo ddoo wwhhaatt
-
- The information is not copied by the primary, but instead is pulled by
- the secondaries. The rules are set by the primary though (See the
- section about secondaries requirements in the primary specification
- screen).
-
- In clear, the secondary DNS administrator has to tell his DNS to act
- as a secondary for a given domain, but the primary DNS will tell it
- how!
-
- 11..22.. SSeerriiaall nnuummbbeerr
-
- The secondary will talk regularly (as told by the primary) to the
- primary and check the serial number (revision number) of the domain.
- If the serial number is the same as the copy we have, or is smaller,
- no copy will be made.
-
- A common error is to forget to update the serial number (SOA record).
- Secondary won't copy the new information and this may lead to strange
- behavior. _L_i_n_u_x_c_o_n_f manage serial numbers automatically!
-
- 22.. TTaasskk
-
- The secondary specification is simple. Give a domain name and the IP
- number of the primary DNS for that domain, followed optionally by
- alternative IP numbers in case the first one fail. That's it.
- _L_i_n_u_x_c_o_n_f take care of setting a file name so the backup information
- will be stored,
-
- 33.. SShhoouulldd II tteellll mmoomm ??
-
- Someone has to tell other that your _D_N_S is the secondary of a given
- domain. If it's not done, then your _D_N_S is maybe working for nothing:
- It won't receive any query for that domain.
-
- This job has to be done in the primary specification (see DNS
- advertising). So this is not your job :-) The primary has to name
- explicitly the secondaries. Further, it has to register this
- information in the DNS of its parent domain. This is often forgotten.
-
-