Distributed Name Service (DNS) Management Operations Manual

4 Building and Modifying the DNS
Database
31258 Tandem Computers Incorporated 4–1
This section discusses creating DNS names that compose the DNS database. Altering
and deleting DNS name definitions from the database is also discussed in this section.
The majority of this section focuses on creating the initial database definitions. Once
the name definitions exist in the database, they can be altered or deleted. In general,
the concepts and methods involved in creating DNS name definitions also apply to
altering definitions.
This section does not provide information about how to use DNSCOM. After starting
DNSCOM, as described in Section 3, refer to Sections 6 and 7 for detailed information
about using the DNSCOM commands. It is important that you be familiar with the
information in these sections and Section 2 when creating DNS name definitions.
After studying these four other sections, you should find the procedures and examples
in this section easier to understand.
In this section, the DNS names are referred to by their command object keywords, as
introduced in Section 2 under “Command Object Keywords.” This is done for brevity
and to be consistent with the command object keywords used in the DNSCOM
command syntax.
The following information is included in this section:
Strategy for creating DNS name definitions
Name definition dependencies
Using the ASSUME command
Two ways to use the ADD command
Using the LIKE phrase
Uniqueness of DNS names
Case-sensitive names
Aliases in SSOBJECT and SSMANAGER definitions
Creating DNS name definitions
Creating a sample database
Deleting DNS name definitions
Selecting a Naming
Strategy
Part of system management involves devising and implementing the naming strategy
used in your network. DNS allows you great flexibility in your planning. In fact,
there are very few restrictions on the criteria for establishing names. Below are some
recommendations and guidelines to keep in mind when creating your DNS name
database. A well-planned and well-designed DNS database promotes efficient
distribution of network names.
It is recommended that you define each name on the node where the object physically
exists, that is, have local definition nodes. Local definitions ensures a simple name
architecture, which makes managing and exporting the database more organized.