DNS Conditional Forwarding — A Quick Configuration
DNS is a critical component of network and internet navigation. A beloved acronym in the IT world that signifies Domain Name System, the DNS server is a computer that you might think of as the receptionist you connect to when you call a company to speak with a person you’re trying to contact. You proffer a name, and you’re transferred to an extension. While you usually get Voicemail, you at least get a connection. Note: Name-Number.
Did ya ever notice how many phone companies are involved in your internet connectivity? Sure you have- you’re paying for it. They’re often referred to as ISPs (Internet Service Providers) and it’s no accident that much of our internet connectivity stands on the shoulders of the old-school telephone technology we observe at museums ensconced in plexi-glass exhibits.
The most influential ideas are remarkably simple and seemingly obvious; it’s the implementation of said ideas that often introduces complexity and deviation from the original intent.
The DNS server implementation is brilliant in its simple emulation of an existing telephone technology and adapting it to the expansive possibilities of another, newer technology- that of the personal computer. Think: computerized receptionist, with way more connectivity options.
A DNS forwarder is a server on an internal network that facilitates DNS name resolution with external DNS servers. It typically sends queries for external names to other DNS servers (think: long-distance operators) outside of the network.
So when you type in the domain name of a website, say surrendertunes.com, the forwarder sends the query to an external DNS server, which resolves that name to an IP address, a sort of computer phone number in a vast public internet phone book, that allows you to connect with the website, look around, read, and maybe buy stuff.
Conditional forwarders are more specific, and incredibly fast, but the phone analogy still works. Think of calling a large electronics retailer to buy a digital SLR camera made by a particular manufacturer. You press 2, and you’re forwarded to the call center’s supervisor for digital cameras, mention the model and maker of the camera, and you’re (hopefully) transferred to the extension of an SLR expert within the digital camera division.
In tech-speak, a conditional forwarder is a DNS server on a network that you use to forward DNS queries based on the DNS domain name in the query. For example, you can configure a DNS server to forward all the queries it receives for names having the suffix lyrics.surrendertunes.com to the IP address of a specific DNS server or to the IP addresses of multiple DNS servers.
You can designate a conditional forwarder using the DNS Manager snap-in, with the minimum requirement being membership in the Administrator’s group. Conditional forwarders are configured in Windows Server Manager after launching the DNS console. Here’s how it’s done:
- In Server Manager click Tools, then click DNS. In DNS Manager, in the navigation pane console tree, expand the appropriate server.
2. Click on Conditional Forwarders.
In the Action menu click New Conditional Forwarder.
3. Type in the DNS Domain name and type the IP address of the server that you want to forward queries for the specified DNS domain, and then click OK. Be patient, troubleshoot if necessary (in the example below, the server was temporarily offline), click OK , and click refresh in the Action menu.
4. The server name will appear in the navigation console. Expand Conditional Forwarders, and click on the newly added server name, which will appear in the details pane as a conditional forwarder.
In the details pane, double-click on the name, and the IP address will appear.
So, the next time you’re being bounced around by operators at a mega-large company, give it a positive spin. Your request is just being forwarded.
