How To Guide

Edge Network Appliance How To Guide:

ActiveDNS

v 4.01
 Edge Network Appliance How To Guide:
ActiveDNS

©2007 XRoads Networks

17165 Von Karman, Suite 112

888-9-XROADS

v 4.01 updated 09/11/07

 Table of Contents

ActiveDNS Overview

4 How DNS Works

5 Dynamic DNS (Failover / Balancing)

Components
6 Creating A Domain

7 Creating Records

10 ActiveDNS Verification

11 Testing Your DNS Records

13 Changing Registrar Records

14 Example NS Record Creation

15 Example MX Record Creation

16 Example PTR Record Creation

17 Example TXT/SRV/SPF Record Creation

3 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 ActiveDNS Overview
The ActiveDNS module BPR portion of the Edge appliance provides
a host of bandwidth management and traffic shaping features.
These features include: Traffic Shaping, Route Optimization,

How DNS Works

An initial request (A) is sent from a web browser to the root servers. The root serv-
ers respond (B) with the authoritative DNS servers for the requested domain. The
web browser sends a request (C) to the authoritative DNS servers, which responds
(D) with the web server address. The web browser then sends a web request (E) to
the web servers IP address.

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 Dynamic DNS (Failover & Balancing)
The ActiveDNS module works by dynamically changing how its domain name
system responds to DNS queries directed to the Edge appliance.
Unlike with standard DNS, dynamic DNS can adjust how it responds to incoming
DNS requests on the fly. The ActiveDNS goes one step further by adding various
metrics to determine what influences each response. The ActiveDNS takes into
account administrative settings, the current load on each WAN interface, and ether
any other rules (such as Best Path Routing and application shaping policies) apply.

This diagram shows a client opening a web browser, attempting to connect to the server
located behind the Edge appliance.

The entire process occurs in a matter of milliseconds.

DNS Auto-Failover

Whenever a WAN interface has failed the Vector Routing module informs the Ac-
tiveDNS module that the interface is no longer available, and thus the ActiveDNS
module will no longer provide associated addresses in DNS responses.
DNS Load Balancing

Whenever a WAN interface is active, the ActiveDNS module will provide those as-
sociated records based on the administratively set load balancing metric and the
current load associated with the interface (if smart load balancing is enabled).

5 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Components
Creating a Domain
The first step in configuring ActiveDNS is to create a domain name. The domain
name can be any level in the domain hierarchy (i.e. [Link], [Link], zoneA.
[Link], etc).

The domain could also be a fully qualified URL in those cases where delegation is being
used. For more information on delegation, see the HowToGuide on DNS Delegation.

NOTE: The ActiveDNS module WILL ONLY respond to those domains

configured in this section. Internal clients should NOT point to the
Edge appliance to resolve external domains (i.e. [Link], google.
com, etc).

Domain Name

Enter the domain for which you want the Edge appliance to answer. Make sure not add a
‘.’ dot at the beginning or ending of the domain.

NOTE: The root name server will need to be redirected to Edge appli-
ance for proper domain resolution to occur. See “Changing Registrar
Records” section in this guide.

Zone Transfer

This field determines whether external DNS servers can obtain and/or transfer domain
information from the Edge appliance. Generally this option should be left off.

6 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Domain Parameters

These parameters determine how the domain will be handled by external DNS servers
and DNS caches when they proxy requests for other clients.

INFO: Some service providers setup DNS caching servers to minimize the amount of DNS traf-
fic which originates from their networks. By doing this, the provider essentially transfers the
responsibility for storing the DNS information from the individual clients, to the DNS cache serv-
ers, located at the service providers facilities.
The settings below assist the DNS cache servers in determining how long they will store
the DNS information obtained from the Edge appliance and how often that the informa-
tion should be updated in order to stay current.

The default numbers, seen above, are the recommended values for any given domain.
However some customers may prefer to lower or raise these values depending on their
internal environment.

Creating Records
Once a domain has been created, the next step is to populate the domains “zone
records” or the individual references to actual servers, etc. ActiveDNS supports
various record types, including: A, NS, MX, PTR, and CNAME.

7 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Select a Domain

The first step when adding a host records is to select a domain to which the record will be
bound. Select the appropriate domain from the drop-down menu.

Host Name

The next step is to enter the actual host name. This is equivalent to the server name or
the first part of the URL. Example: For the URL [Link], you would enter the www
as the host name in this field.

NOTE: To create a global record which responds when no other record

is matched, leave the host name blank.

Host Address

An IP address should only be entered for ‘A’ and ‘PTR’ records, when entering ‘MX’ and ‘NS’
records, leaving this field blank. A ‘CNAME’ record may also be created by entering the
alias name in this field, however make sure to add a ‘.’ at the end. Finally, instead of enter-
ing an IP address, you may click the dynamic checkbox, which would automatically use
the actual WAN address for this record.

Internal Address

This field is used to assist in resolving internal DNS lookups. When a DNS request is made
from the LAN network, the Edge appliance will provide this address instead of the exter-
nal WAN address. This ensures proper connectivity for internal clients.

Record Type

This is selection field determines the type of the record being created. The options are ‘A’,
‘NS’, ‘MX’, ‘PTR’ and are used to determine how the Edge appliance responds to queries.
The ‘NS’ and ‘MX’ records are general “global” records, where as the ‘A’ and ‘PTR’ records
point to a specific address and/or server.

8 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Time-To-Live

This setting is used to determine how long a DNS cache will hold this information prior to
refreshing its information. The default for this field is 30 seconds.

Load Balancing

This setting is used to determine how the record is weighted when multiple Host Name
of the same name are created (when there are several ‘www’ records), or when an ‘MX’
record is created.

When the SMART load balancing is enabled, this record will be included when weight
changes are automatically updated based on the current traffic utilization.

NOTE: The higher the number, the less often this record is provided.

Active / Inactive

Determines whether the record is ACTIVE or in backup mode.

Listing Records

The VIEW HOSTS button actually shows a list of the current records/domains.

9 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 ActiveDNS Verification
When creating and changing the DNS records it is important to ensure that the
DNS has been setup properly. If the DNS is not setup properly the domain infor-
mation will not be provided by the ActiveDNS module.

Verify Records

The easiest method to determine the status of the DNS information is to click the ‘Verify’
button. Doing this will produce a response, the response will be either: “XRoads Edge
DNS Verified” or “A problem(s) has been found, please review configuration”. If the later
message appears then there is a problem with how the DNS records have been config-
ured.

Potential Problems

When a problem is found with the DNS records, here are a few places to check and con-
firm that the information provided is correct:

• Host addresses are generally the primary cause for a problem.

If an address is entered incorrectly, it will need to be corrected.

• Name server records, or ‘NS’ records, are not configured or configured incorrectly.
Name record host address fields should be blank.

• Mail server records, or ‘MX’ records, are not configured or configured incorrectly.
Mail record host address fields should be blank.

• CNAME’s are sometimes used incorrectly, where the CNAME does not end with a period.

• Sub-domains are sometimes used incorrectly, again where they are not terminated
properly with a period.

10 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Testing Your DNS Records
Once you have created the domains and records, and verified that the DNS is
setup correctly, the next step is to test the DNS service by performing DNS queries
directly to the ActiveDNS module.

NOTE: This testing should ALWAYS be done from the WAN side of the
Edge appliance, as internal based requests will respond differently
depending on the addressing provided during the setup process.

NSLOOKUP

One of the easiest tools to use to confirm the information provided by the ActiveDNS
module is called NSLOOKUP. It is a software package which is installed by default on most
Windows and UNIX systems.

• It works by generating a DNS query to a directed DNS server.

The commands are as follows:

• nslookup (starts the application)

• server [Link] (directs the requests, the WAN address of the Edge appliance
should be entered here)

• set type = (this can be set to ‘any’, ‘ns’, ‘mx’, or ‘ptr’ and will respond accordingly)

• URL (enter the server/host name you wish to lookup,

or the IP address in the case of a PTR record)

11 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Here is an example using the [Link] domain,
which runs through an Edge appliance at XRoads Networks.

12 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Changing Registrar Records
Determining whether it is easier to move the primary and secondary DNS servers
for your domain to the Edge appliance over delegating the DNS from your existing
zone files depends on many variables, too many to list here, so it is really up to
each administrator to determine which is the best method to use.

NOTE: In general, if you have a smaller domain, with only a handful of

servers, it is usually easier to perform a registrar change, then having to
submit delegation change requests to your DNS zone maintainer.

Who Is A Registrar?

A registrar is an organization which submits and management domain information to and

for the Internet root servers. The ROOT servers are the primary servers contacted by all
workstations on the Internet when a DNS lookup is performed. The root servers respond
with the primary and secondary name servers that are authoritative for the domain in
question.
Network Solution, among many others, is a registrar of domain names.

How to Make That Change?

The process is different from registrar to registrar, but in general, it requires that the owner
of the domain contact and/or submit a change request for the domain in question.

The change request says, change my primary and secondary name server to the following
IP addresses:

• PRIMARY SERVER = [Link] (WAN1 of the Edge appliance)

• SECONDARY SERVER = [Link] (WAN2 of the Edge appliance)

• etc

13 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Example NS Record Creation
The following is a two step procedure for creating an NS record. Keep in mind
that the NS record actually requires two record entries. Generally an NS record is
required for WAN1 and WAN2+, so at least four (4) records will need to be created.

NOTE: If the WAN ports are active at the time of DOMAIN configuration,
the NS records will be generated automatically by the Edge appliance.

Example:

This first screen shows how to create the NS record.

This screen shows how to create the A record portion of the NS record.

14 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Example MX Record Creation
When creating an MX record, two ActiveDNS records are actually required. These
records include the MX record and a matching A record.

NOTE: If the WAN ports are active at the time of DOMAIN configuration,
the NS records will be generated automatically by the Edge appliance.

Example:

This first screen shows how to create the MX record, balancing can be 1 or 10.

This screen shows how to create the A record portion of the MX record.

15 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Example PTR Record Creation
The purpose of a PTR record, or a reverse record, is to result the IP address into a
name. Generally this is only used if your service provider has made you respon-
sible for your own IP space. In most cases, PTR records do not apply.

Example:

The first step is to create an ‘[Link]’ domain name, then enter the correspond-
ing record information.

NOTE: It is also possible to create a PTR range, i.e. PTR records for an entire subnet at once, instead
of on a per IP basis. This is done by entering something like: [Link]. or
24/[Link]. as the domain name instead of just [Link].

The screen shot below demonstrates how to create individual PTR records. Notice that
both the name and the address are entered in on the same screen, no secondary ‘A’
records are required for PTR records to work properly. Make sure that you place a ‘.’ at the
end of the Host Address line.

16 How To Guide – ActiveDNS

 Example TXT/SPF/SRV Record Creation
The purpose of a TXT/SPFrecord, or a Sender Policy Framework record, is to assist
providing a method for verifying email servers and their associated domains. SRV
records, or Service Records, are used by Microsoft to find domain controllers and
by the EdgeXOS for more granular DNS load balancing control.

> It should be noted that the EdgeXOS appliance is one of the few to fully support
TXT/SPF and SRV records.

Example TXT/SPF Record:

In this case we are using a standard TXT/SPF record which most email
providers also use “v=spf1 mx -all”.

NOTE Th
NOTE: There is also
ls a new SPF recordrd kknown as SPF2
SPF2.0 which
hich adds
dd greater
te
security with this format: “spf2.0/mfrom,pra a mx [Link] -all”

DNS Load Balancing w/SRV Records:

In this example we wish to load balancing between three SIP PBXs so we

create three SRV records, notice the ‘70’,’20’,’10’ desingations. These num-
bers equal 100 which means that ‘server1’ will be provided 70% of the time.

_sip._tcp.[Link]. 86400 IN SRV 10 70 5060 [Link].

_sip._tcp.[Link]. 86400 IN SRV 10 20 5060 [Link].
_sip._tcp.[Link]. 86400 IN SRV 10 10 5060 [Link].

More questions about ActiveDNS, please visit [Link]

17 How To Guide – ActiveDNS