What this is and isn't.
DNS is the Domain Name System. DNS converts machine names to the IP addresses that all machines on the net have. It translates (or "maps" as the jargon would have it) from name to address and from address to name, and some other things. This HOWTO documents how to define such mappings using Unix system, with a few things specific to Linux.
A mapping is simply an association between two things, in this case
a machine name, like ftp.linux.org, and the machine's IP
number (or address) 199.249.150.4. DNS also contains mappings
the other way, from the IP number to the machine name; this is called
a "reverse mapping".
DNS is, to the uninitiated (you ;-), one of the more opaque areas of network administration. Fortunately DNS isn't really that hard. This HOWTO will try to make a few things clearer. It describes how to set up a simple DNS name server, starting with a caching only server and going on to setting up a primary DNS server for a domain. For more complex setups you can check the qanda section of this document. If it's not described there you will need to read the Real Documentation. I'll get back to what this Real Documentation consists of in the last chapter.
Before you start on this you should configure your machine so that
you can telnet in and out of it, and successfully make all kinds of
connections to the net, and you should especially be able to do
telnet 127.0.0.1 and get your own machine (test it now!). You
also need good /etc/nsswitch.conf, /etc/resolv.conf
and /etc/hosts files as a starting point, since I will not
explain their function here. If you don't already have all this set
up and wo