Re: LANs, DHCP, and local name server question

In article <9aydnUnkWpW_JvrbnZ2dnUVZ8vqdnZ2d@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>,
Ann Onymous <no-one@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
On Fri, 01 Jun 2007 19:21:36 -0500, Ann Onymous wrote:


Thanks for all the follow-up on this. The DDNS solution might work, but
it still does not leave me with a network that is viable with only the
router running, since there has to be a machine running the DDNS server
(just as I must have a machine running DNSMasq now).

Yes, the problem is how to manage resolution of both local and remote
names when local addresses have to be assigned using DHCP (in other words,
/etc/hosts is not good enough).

DNSMasq does the job well, and it seems that some routers can have their
firmware updated (but not mine, I think) to run something similar.

What flummoxes me is that it is *such* a common requirement. Most folks
that buy a router who set up a small peer-to-peer network seem to use its
DHCP server. The router takes care of external addresses, but how do they
resolve the addresses of their local machines? I cannot believe that
people tell each other the IP addresses of their computers before
exchanging files! So how do they do it?

There must be something REALLY BASIC that I am missing.

Yes. You are missing the fact that most folks run Windows, and most
consumer electronics know this and cater for it.

In a windows peer to peer (or workgroup) environment, each PC broadcasts
it's name and every other one listens for it, and remembers it. This is
a bit of an simplistic explanation, but that's effectively what happens.
(one PC might elect itself to be a master browser that the others talk
to, but you really don't want to know this, or how it happens, it
"just does" without any users intervention whatsoever).

Score one for Microsoft.

Under Linux/Unix/*ix, there is no such mechanism as standard. So we use
DNS, and because traditionally, people in *ix environments were companies
who could employ someone WithAClue, it generally wasn't an issue.

Fast forward to today when enthusiasts have Linux at home, and it starts
to become an issue, so DDNS was invented to help solve this issue (but
I've actually a funny feeling this was kicked off by MS, way back!) So
yes, you need to keep a "server" running somewhere.

That server (these days) can be your Internet router/firewall/modem
device and I have to say, in a small hobbyists network, it's the best
place for it. So just leave it running and enable DDNS and live with it.

If you really want to get clever, then you need to run your own DNS server,
and probably your own DHCP server too. Then you can have all the control
you need, but remember what I said about needing somone WithAClue ... That
still applies today.

As someone who has been doing this stuff for more years now than not,
I run a separate DNS and DHCP server at home/office. It secondarys my
own domain, and provides local DNS for various statically and dynamically
allocated hosts on my networks at home/office. My in-laws who don't have
any clues whatsoever, don't do this, and just leave their little blinky
light ADSL router running all the time and it works for them. It works
for me too when I take my (Linux) laptop there and connect it to their
network - I can ping their (Windoes XP) PC & Laptop by name and can
acces their shared drives too. Yes, they leave their ADSL modem/router
running all the time. (Except when they go on holiday)

So you have to decide - the convenience of using DHCP to get IP addresses,
having the DHCP server communicate to a local DNS server to remember
the names the hosts give the DHCP server, which means leaving the ADSL
router on all the time.

Or you can use /etc/hosts with static IP addresses everywhere.

Gordon
.

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