Deciding on a version of BIND

[Leon A. Howorth]

My existing DNS configuration consists of BIND 4.8.3 on HP-UX 10.20. It has been stable and somewhat easy to administer; however, I have an opportunity to set up a whole new nameserver configuration on one or more new HP-UX machines, and am trying to decide what version of HP-UX and BIND I want to use. I am considering the following choices:
1. HP-UX 11.0 and the bundled BIND 4.9.7
2. HP-UX 11.0 and BIND 8.2.4 available from sources other than HP
3. HP-UX 11.11 and the available BIND 9.1.3 from HP

I'm leaning more towards #1 or #3. I would appreciate opinions from those more experienced with these versions of BIND. Thanks

[Scott Van Kalken]

My opinion is to go for an HP version of BIND because then you're not running an unsupported product.

I would never have said this a few years ago when I was a namespace admin, I was always "run the official distribution". I'm a bit more laid back about it now.

BIND is BIND is BIND. However, just be aware that the new format of the files may cause a bit of head scratching for an hour or two if you're not familiar with them.

Scott.

[Craig Rants]

My recommendation would be to get the most stable, secure version. What I means is...

1) Check on the CERT page for BIND vulnerabilites for each version. An see what patches/fixes have been put out for them.
2) Make sure that if you upgrade any legacy systems would be supported. Older versions of BIND supported stuff like fake iquery where new ones may not support it by default.

Most importantly thought, if you feel comfortable with your version, and you believe it is secure, then keep using it.

Just my thoughts.
C

[ramesh_6]

Hi

I will first try and check which version of BIND to use in the BIND web site www.isc.org
You should remember that version 4.x you are using is having a lot of bugs and security loopholes. There is a stable version of BIND8.X available in www.isc.org and you can go for that. The creators of BIND also recommend to upgrade all the versions of BIND to the stable 8.x

Initially you will find the configuration file name changed from named.boot to named.conf. In the configuration file also format has entirely changed from 4.x to 8.x. In 8.x you can have the most wanted zone delegation and forwarders easily defined.

There is one comfortables in going for BIND 8.x becos you can use you old database files with 8.x

www.isc.org also contains a Bind Operations Guide (BOG) which will be helpful in implementing BIND8.x. If you understand the named.conf file then there wont be nothing simpler than BIND8.

Hope this helps

Ramesh

[harry d brown jr · Accepted solution]

There has to be at least a hundred security issues with any version of bind less that 8. Option three is the only way to go. Plus you get 64bit, real threads, a product supported by HP (who knows their own os better?) and an OS that won't be obsolete in a year.

live free or die
harry

[Sachin Patel]

Hi Leon,
No to 1 (security problem).
yes to 2 or 3. We are using 8.2.3 from many months. I have just finished upgrading from 4.x to 8.2.3

Sachin