Microsoft DNS

Microsoft DNS is the name given to the implementation of domain name system services provided in Microsoft Windows operating systems.

Used by Microsoft for http://www.microsoft.com/

The Domain Name System support in Microsoft Windows NT, and thus its derivatives Windows 2000, Windows XP, and Windows Server 2003, comprises two clients and a server. Every Microsoft Windows machine has a DNS lookup client, to perform ordinary DNS lookups. Some machines have a Dynamic DNS client, to perform Dynamic DNS Update transactions, registering the machines' names and IP addresses. Some machines run a DNS server, to publish DNS data, to service DNS lookup requests from DNS lookup clients, and to service DNS update requests from DNS update clients.

The server software is only supplied with the server versions of Windows.

Applications perform DNS lookups with the aid of a DLL. They call library functions in the DLL, which in turn handle all communications with DNS servers (over or ) and return the final results of the lookup back to the applications.

Microsoft's DNS client also has optional support for local caching, in the form of a DNS Client service (also known as DNSCACHE). Before they attempt to directly communicate with DNS servers, the library routines first attempt to make a local IPC connection to the DNS Client service on the machine. If there is one, and if such a connection can be made, they hand the actual work of dealing with the lookup over to the DNS Client service. The DNS Client service itself communicates with DNS servers, and caches the results that it receives.

Microsoft's DNS client is capable of talking to multiple DNS servers. The exact algorithm varies according to the version, and service pack level, of the operating system; but in general all communication is with a preferred DNS server until it fails to answer, whereupon communication switches to one of several alternative DNS servers.

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