DNS (Domain Name System) is used to translate human-readable machine names into their TCP/IP address equivalents. In the past, Microsoft's operating systems depended upon other means for performing this task (WINS, also known as Windows Internet Naming Service, and before than HOSTS files), but they have since standardized on DNS. Why? Because DNS has become the defacto networking standard for the internet.
Begin by making sure TCP/IP is installed on the client Windows XP system. It's advisable to use DHCP to set as much of the DNS parameters as possible, as this makes it easier to make changes (you only have to make them at the DHCP server and not at every single client). However, here's how you do it manually.
Start by right-clicking
on the Network Neighborhood. Select "Properties" from the menu. This will
cause the "Network Connections" window to be opened, Double-click the
appropriate network connection (there is usually only one). This will
result in the "Local Area Connection Status" window being displayed.
Now click the "Properties" button.
The "Local Area Network
Connection Properties" windows will be displayed. Scroll down the services
until you find "Internet Protocol (TCP/IP)". Select that item
(single-click), then click "Properties".
If you use a DHCP server
(and it's wise to do so), make sure the "Obtain DNS server address
automatically" radio button is selected.
If you are not using DHCP, then click the "Use the following DNS server addresses" button, and enter the DNS server addresses. This works well if you have one or two DNS addresses.
Now click on the "Advanced.." button.
This will result in the
"Advanced TCP/IP Settings" Windows being displayed.
Click the "DNS" tab. You can use the arrow keys to the right to move the DNS servers up and down the list. They are searched in the order that they appear, so it is important that the ordering be correct.
The "Append primary and connection specific DNS suffixes" button causes the client name (the machine name) to be appended to the domain name automatically. For example, if your primary DNS suffix was "you.com" and you pinged "xyz" the computer would query "xyz.you.com".
"Append parent suffixes of the primary DNS suffix" causes the computer to remove names from the left side in order to find matches. For example, if your primary DNS suffix was "mine.you.me.com" and you pinged "xyz" the computer would query "xyz.me.com" and "xyz.you.me.com".
Use the "Append these DNS suffixes (in order)" box to append different DNS suffixes.
The "DNS suffix for this connection" box contains the DNS suffix for the machine. This can be automatically set up by DHCP.
"Register this connection's addresses in DNS" is used to automatically register the TCP/IP address and name with active directory.
Unless otherwise noted, all photos and text is Copyright © Richard G Lowe, Jr.