The most widely used name server software: BIND

https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind/

The most widely used name server software: BIND

BIND is open source software that implements the Domain Name System (DNS) protocols for the Internet. It is a reference implementation of those protocols, but it is also production-grade software, suitable for use in high-volume and high-reliability applications.

BIND is by far the most widely used DNS software on the Internet, providing a robust and stable platform on top of which organizations can build distributed computing systems with the knowledge that those systems are fully compliant with published DNS standards.

 

What is BIND?

BIND is an implementation of the Domain Name System (DNS) protocols. The name BIND stands for “Berkeley Internet Name Domain”, because the software originated in the early 1980s at the University of California at Berkeley. In recent years, the word BIND has become, like “radar” and “laser”, more word than acronym.

The DNS protocols are part of the core Internet standards. They specify the process by which one computer can find another computer on the basis of its name. ‘An implementation of DNS protocols’ means our software distribution contains all of the software necessary for asking and answering name service questions.

The BIND software distribution has three parts:

• A Domain Name System server

A program called “named” (pronounced “name-dee”), which stands for Name Daemon, answers all received questions by following the rules specified in the DNS protocol standards. You can provide DNS services on the Internet by installing this software on a server computer and giving it correct information about your domain names.

• A Domain Name System resolver library

A resolver is a program that resolves questions about names by sending those questions to appropriate servers and responding appropriately to the servers’ replies. A resolver library is a collection of software components that a programmer can add to software being developed, which will give that software the ability to resolve names. For example, a programmer who was programming a new web browser does not need to create the part of it that looks up names in DNS; he or she can plug in the resolver library and then send questions to the library software components. This saves time (the programmer does not need to re-invent that particular wheel) and helps ensure that the new browser correctly follows the DNS standards.

• Software tools for testing servers

These are the tools we use, and we include them in the distribution to assist you with your own diagnostics.

When you install an operating system on your computer, that operating system will contain whatever resolver library its developers selected for it. When you set up a server computer, its vendor usually has provided some DNS server software (usually BIND) so that the server will work as delivered. Because BIND faithfully implements the DNS protocols, there is no need for the resolver (which asks questions) and the server (which answers questions) to be running the same software.