DNS
DNS Overview
DNS
DNS (Domain Name System) is for mapping a domain name to its corresponding IP address and vice versa. The DNS server is extremely important because without it, you must know the IP address of a machine before you can access it.
In addition to the system DNS servers, each WAN interface (service) is set to have its own static or dynamic DNS server list. You can configure a DNS static route to forward DNS queries for certain domain names through a specific WAN interface to its DNS servers. The Zyxel Device uses a system DNS server (in the order you specify in the Broadband screen) to resolve domain names that do not match any DNS routing entry. After the Zyxel Device receives a DNS reply from a DNS server, it creates a new entry for the resolved IP address in the routing table.
Dynamic DNS
Dynamic DNS allows you to use a dynamic IP address with one or many dynamic DNS services so that anyone can contact you (in NetMeeting, CU-SeeMe, and so on). You can also access your Web site on your own computer using a domain name (for instance myhost.dhs.org, where myhost is a name of your choice) that will never change instead of using an IP address that changes each time you reconnect. Your friends or relatives will always be able to call you even if they do not know your IP address.
You first need to have registered a dynamic DNS account with www.dyndns.org. This is for people with a dynamic IP from their ISP or DHCP server that would still like to have a domain name. The Dynamic DNS service provider will give you a password or key.
What You Can Do in this Chapter
• Use the Dynamic DNS screen to enable DDNS and configure the DDNS settings on the Zyxel Device (Dynamic DNS).
What You Need To Know
DYNDNS Wildcard
Enabling the wildcard feature for your host causes *.yourhost.dyndns.org to be aliased to the same IP address as yourhost.dyndns.org. This feature is useful if you want to be able to use, for example, www.yourhost.dyndns.org and still reach your hostname.
If you have a private WAN IP address, then you cannot use Dynamic DNS.
DNS Entry (DNS)
DNS (Domain Name System) is used for mapping a domain name to its corresponding IP address and vice versa. Use this screen to view and configure manual DNS entires on the Zyxel Device. Click Network Setting > DNS to open the DNS Entry screen.
The host name should consist of the host’s local name and the domain name. For example, Mycomputer.home is a host name where Mycomputer is the host’s local name, and .home is the domain name.Network Setting > DNS > DNS Entry
The following table describes the fields in this screen.
LABEL | Description |
|---|---|
Add New DNS Entry | Click this to create a new DNS entry. |
# | This is the index number of the entry. |
HostName | This indicates the host name or domain name. |
IP Address | This indicates the IP address assigned to this computer. |
Modify | Click the Edit icon to edit the rule. Click the Delete icon to delete an existing rule. |
Add or Edit DNS Entry
You can manually add or edit the Zyxel Device’s DNS name and IP address entry. Click Add New DNS Entry in the DNS Entry screen or the Edit icon next to the entry you want to edit. The screen shown next appears.
Network Setting > DNS > DNS Entry: Add
The following table describes the labels in this screen.
Label | Description |
|---|---|
Host Name | Enter the host name of the DNS entry. You can use up to 256 alphanumeric (0-9, a-z, A-Z) characters with hyphens [ - ] and periods [ . ]. You can use the wildcard character, an “*” (asterisk) as the left most part of a domain name, such as *.example.com. |
IPv4 Address | Enter the IPv4 address of the DNS entry. |
Cancel | Click Cancel to exit this screen without saving. |
OK | Click OK to save your changes. |
Dynamic DNS
Dynamic DNS can update your current dynamic IP address mapping to a hostname. Configure a DDNS service provider on your Zyxel Device. Click Network Setting > DNS > Dynamic DNS. The screen appears as shown.
Network Setting > DNS > Dynamic DNS
The following table describes the fields in this screen.
LABEL | Description |
|---|---|
Dynamic DNS Setup | |
Dynamic DNS | Select Enable to use dynamic DNS. |
Service Provider | Select your Dynamic DNS service provider from the drop-down list box. |
Host Name | Enter the domain name assigned to your Zyxel Device by your Dynamic DNS provider. You can use up to 256 alphanumeric (0-9, a-z, A-Z) characters with hyphens [ - ] and periods [ . ]. You can specify up to two host names in the field separated by a comma (","). |
Username | Enter your user name. |
Password | Enter the password assigned to you. |
Use IPv6 | Make sure IPv6 is enabled in Network Setting > Broadband. Select this checkbox if your Dynamic DNS service provider supports IPv6 and has currently associated your account’s IPv6 address with the hostname. |
Enable Wildcard Option | Select the checkbox to enable DynDNS Wildcard. |
Enable Off Line Option (Only applies to custom DNS) | Check with your Dynamic DNS service provider to have traffic redirected to a URL (that you can specify) while you are off line. |
Dynamic DNS Status | |
User Authentication Result | This shows Success if the account is correctly set up with the Dynamic DNS provider account. |
Last Updated Time | This shows the last time the IP address the Dynamic DNS provider has associated with the hostname was updated. |
Current Dynamic IP | This shows the IPv4 address your Dynamic DNS provider has currently associated with the hostname. |
Current Dynamic IPv6 | This shows the IPv6 address your Dynamic DNS service provider has currently associated with the hostname. |
Cancel | Click Cancel to exit this screen without saving. |
Apply | Click Apply to save your changes. |