Dell 3-DNS Running a 3-DNS Controller in bridge mode or router mode

Planning the 3-DNS Configuration

3-DNS® Administrator Guide 2 - 11

If you use the advanced synchronization features of the 3-DNS Controller,

we strongly recommend that you configure each 3-DNS Controller to run as

authoritative for the domain. This type of configuration offers the following

advantages:

• You can change zone files on any one of the 3-DNS Controllers in the

network and have those changes automatically broadcast to all of the

other systems in the network.

• Each 3-DNS Controller has the most up-to-date zone files, providing you

one or more layers of redundancy.

• The NameSurfer application automatically controls the addition,

configuration, and deletion of zone files.

During the initial configuration, you can specify that the 3-DNS Controller

import any existing BIND files from your name server to the 3-DNS

Controller. During the initial configuration, you can also designate

NameSurfer as the primary name server for your domain. This forces

NameSurfer to automatically format your BIND files in the NameSurfer

format. For more information, refer to the NameSurfer documentation

available from the home screen in the Configuration utility.

Running a 3-DNS Controller in bridge mode or router mode

Running the 3-DNS Controller in bridge mode or router mode offers the

following benefits:

• You gain the wide-area traffic management capabilities of the 3-DNS

Controller without disrupting your current DNS system.

• In an enterprise, you can install, configure, and test the 3-DNS Controller

before you add the system to your production environment.

• You do not use NameSurfer to manage your zone files.

• You can load balance requests across two separate IP networks.

When you configure the 3-DNS Controller in bridge mode, you install the

3-DNS Controller into your network so that all DNS requests are intercepted

by the 3-DNS Controller before they are sent to your name server for

resolution. Based on the content of the request, the 3-DNS Controller does

one of the following:

• If the request matches a wide IP managed by the 3-DNS Controller, the

system responds to the request with the best available virtual server in

your network.

• If the request does not match any wide IPs managed by the 3-DNS

Controller, the system forwards the request to the DNS server for

resolution.