[SunRescue] hosts file And DNS files??

[Loomis, Rip]

> > Do I leave all the systems listed in the hosts file,
> > or now that DNS works properly for them do I delete
> > all the systems other than localhost and the actual
> > machine's hostname?
> 
> Keep them in there, in case your DNS server craps itself..
> 

Umm...no.  Well, you might be able to get away with
it for a 10 host network but it doesn't scale well
above that.

Each system should probably have a stub /etc/hosts
file that lists itself (both basename and fully-qualified
name), localhost, and one or two critical systems
(NFS server, gateway, etc.) just for convenience--but
if you're now going to maintain DNS as the primary
up-to-date reference, then the hosts files may start
having entropy.

The thing to do in case your DNS server craps itself
is to set up a slave DNS server on a second system
and get zone transfers running.  It's really not hard
at all, and removes a single point of failure.

I'll be more than happy to help with the slave's config.
Anyone who needs basic (or advanced) DNS help please
feel free to contact me off-list--my more-or-less full
time job right now is DNS security and administration.
Needless to say, until we get everybody over to BIND 9,
the security part alone is keeping me busy...

--
Rip Loomis
Brainbench MVP for Internet Security
http://www.brainbench.com (Transcript 1923411)