[ILUG] lightweight dns "server" for leaf node?

[Brian Foster]

 1) Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:59:31 -0800
 1) From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
 1) 
 1) Quoting Brian Foster (blf at utvinternet.ie):
 1) >    2nd, überyonks ago [... I used] a really simple
 1) >        but very effective local daemon/server.
 1) >        it simply cached lookups [...]
 1) 
 1) Probably pdnsd.
 1)[ http://linuxmafia.com/faq/Network_Other/dns-servers.html#pdnsd ]

  YES, that looks like what I was trying to remember — Thanks!

 1)[ ... ]  It still needs to talk to a recursive server, somewhere,
 1) however, and so does not solve the problem of sucky ISP recursive
 1) nameservers, only compensate for their performance problems.

  perhaps.  the thinking is since the ISP's server does
  answer (sometimes), the answer will (eventually) get
  into the local cache.  (it's a bonus here that the
  cache is persistent.)  as I recall, the cached value
  can be configured to be used for a rather considerable
  period of time.  hence, once I get the name resolved,
  it will more-than-less stay resolved....  that's the
  idea anyways.

 2) Date: Thu, 31 Dec 2009 14:48:04 -0800
 2) From: Rick Moen <rick at linuxmafia.com>
 2)[ ... ]
 2) Your aDSL modem/NAT thingy, if it's typical, sports a copy of Dnsmasq,
 2) which is only a forwarder.

  not clear.  the name of process and binary is ‘dnsserver’.
  it does not appear to be a busybox binary, but also does
  not behave like ‘dnsmasq’ does (giving it assorted arguments).
  I've no idea if it caches at all.  (I note ‘dnsmasq’ has
  a very small cache, according to its documentation.)

  in the meantime, it looks like — fingers crossed — I've
  worked-around the immediate headache (downloading TeXlive
  using ‘./install-tl’) by manually adding to  /etc/hosts
  the hosts which are giving me the most grief.  (this is
  obviously Very Temporary, but it is not unlike the above
  speculation about using ‘pdnsd’.)

cheers!
	-blf-

-- 
“How many surrealists does it take to    |  Brian Foster
 change a lightbulb?  Three.  One calms  |  somewhere in south of France
 the warthog, and two fill the bathtub   |     Stop E$$o (ExxonMobil)!
 with brightly-coloured machine tools.”  |       http://www.stopesso.com