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DNS configuration issue

Hi everyone.
I have a client that is running two MS servers - Win 2K and Win 2k3 Small Business. The 2003 is the DC and DNS server. They have aprox. 12 PC's. Sometimes they use RealVNC to connect to other PC's *inside* of there network only. I manage there network and there website.

What is happening is when I type in (say) bobspc in VNC, VNC errors out. Can not find server name. However, when I type in 172.16.0.* it finds it ASAP. When I try to ping any of the boxes in question, the network is looking for the IP address of where the website is hosted. I know this is probably just a simple PTR record or A record change, but I'm not REAL familiar with DNS and I would prefer to know what I'm doing before I just start making changes! ;)

Any help would be very much appreciated! :)

Thanks!

TheVeee

One way of solving this is to go into your internet mapping and add the domain. There is also another way by getting on the machine, going to the system32\drivers\etc directory and creating a host file with the ip address and then the web machine address.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hosts_file

http://vlaurie.com/computers2/Articles/hosts.htm

dsmjeff

ASKER

Your saying go to the boxes in question and change the host files?
I would prefer to just make a change in DNS as opposed to go to each box. Or am I missing this completely?

TheVeee

Different ways of doing, but basically the machines just dont know the domain name. Some places push a basic configuration to windows where the the domain is know on the browser for each machine, or by doing it by the hosts.

Only other way is have a DSN server and everyone route thru it. But again your system security personnel will need to do that.

There our some political requirments for each company how they would want this done, plus working with your companys hardware setup personnel also.

Darius Ghassem

Let me see if I'm getting this right. Your clients are pinging the domain or other clients then they are going to the exernal website to find the clients? The clients should only point to internal DNS servers.

dsmjeff

ASKER

No, thats not correct. The clients are all set to use the DNS server as there only reference. What is happening is when I try to ping another computer, say ping bobspc, instead of XP pinging 172.16.1.x, it instead is looking for 216.x.x.x which is where our website is hosted. I set the DNS server to get it's DNS from OpenDNS, but had to make a PTR record for the internal clients to be able to access the company public website. The domain name is the same as the website, which caused internal clients problems to be able to view the company website.

Is that clearer?

Darius Ghassem

If you create an A record that has the IP address of your website then www as the name you can remove the PTR record.

dsmjeff

ASKER

It may have been a A record. I had to look up how to do it.

But do you have any ideas what I need to add to fix this problem?

Darius Ghassem

If you put the A in your DNS www then get rid of the pointer record you should be good to go.

dsmjeff

ASKER

I had to log on to check, but I had just done a A record. I was just thinking PTR record, but I did do a A.

Darius Ghassem

Ok then you have an A record name WWW. Do you have a record with this symbol *?

dsmjeff

ASKER

No. I have the A name w/ WWW, but I don't have the above.

ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION

Darius Ghassem

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