Domain Name Server on Windows for locally hosted websites

Question

I have a half-dozen domains (with associated domain names), hosted locally on Windows/Apache and accessible to the wider internet. At the moment, the name servers are provided by my domain name register at extra cost. I would like to host a domain name service (on the same machine as is hosting the websites).

I have tried BIND without success, I was unable to configure it correctly. I was confused about zones and the syntax of configuration, as well as how to test if it is configured correctly!

Most guides seem directed at users who wish to replicate DNS entries for local caching, whereas I simply want to host a name server (locally) which directs users to my local machine, when they request any of the half-dozen websites I host.

Is there a simple application to host limited Domain Name Service this on Windows (Vista Business), or an obvious tutorial that I haven't found yet? Or was I on the right track with BIND and missing something?

Answer 1

Bind is probably the best choice. The guides you're referring to are talking about configuring a caching resolver. What you want is an authoritative name server. Bind can be a pain to configure because there are so many options, but it's probably worth persevering.

Answer 2

Depends what your budget is..

The DNS Server on Windows 2003 Server is pretty good and easy to configure.

There's a bunch of alternatives list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_DNS_server_software

Simple DNS Plus could maybe do the trick for your case, but I haven't tried it.

Another option is maybe to use Bind and try to find a GUI for it, there's a few existing, usually web based, like webmin and such...