Learn Windows XP Professional in 15 Minutes a Week: Configuring Windows XP Professional as a DNS Client

Welcome to the latest installment of “Learn Windows XP Professional in 15 Minutes a Week,” the 19th in this series. This article continues our look at the DNS service provided by Windows 2000 server and how it interacts in Windows XP Professional environments.

Jason Zandri’s latest article in the ‘Learning Windows XP Professional in 15 Minutes a Week’ series continues to overview the DNS service provided by Windows 2000 server and how it interacts in Windows XP Professional environments.

Configuring Windows XP Professional as a DNS Client

Windows 2000 Domain Name System (DNS) servers maintain a distributed database used to translate computer names to Internet Protocol (IP) addresses on Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) networks. The internet is among these.

[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] Being able to install DNS is not a requirement for the 70-270 exam. However, understanding the functionality of DNS and how it affects Windows XP Professional clients in workgroups and within domains is.

In the next few weeks in my “Learn Active Directory in 15 Minutes a Week” series of articles I will cover DNS in greater depth, including a more in-depth view of installing DNS.

The Microsoft DNS is the name resolution service that resolves URLs and other DNS names into their “true” dotted decimal format. For example, http://www.zandri.net translates into a specific IP address, and it is that address resolution that enables the user to reach the server destination he or she is seeking.

For this reason you must confirm TCP/IP is installed on the client system that you wish to configure as a DNS client.

[NOTES FROM THE FIELD] — Other methods are available for configuring TCP/IP name resolution on Windows XP Professional clients. Most of these will not work on the Internet or on networks for Active Directory purposes.

Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) can perform NetBIOS-to-IP name resolution, and Hosts and Lmhosts files can be manually configured to provide host-to-IP and NetBIOS-to-IP name resolution. It is also possible (but usually not desirable) to use b-node broadcasts to perform NetBIOS name resolution within the local subnet.