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DNS on Macintosh Heats Up

DNS on Macintosh Heats Up — Apple has released version 1.0.2 of MacDNS (its DNS server software) for free. (DNS software maps the names of Internet machines to their IP addresses; before Macs had DNS capabilities, they were forced to rely on other platforms for DNS service.) MacDNS is included in Apple’s Internet Server Solution package, and while it seems to function relatively well, it has been criticized for not providing recursive or secondary name service.

<http://cybertech.apple.com/MacDNS.html>

Not to be out-done, Men & Mice of Reykjavik, Iceland, released the results of performance comparisons between MacDNS, Unix BIND, and their QuickDNS Pro product. Though QuickDNS Pro costs about $300, it does provide recursive and secondary name service, and appears to out-perform other DNS options significantly. Men & Mice has also made their test methodology available.

<http://www.menandmice.com/QuickDNS/Comparison/>

Glenn Anderson’s free DNS server for the Mac, MIND, has been useful for a number of Mac Internet sites, but it suffers from a set of known problems and, according to Ric Ford’s MacInTouch, no further development of MIND is currently planned. [GD]

<http://www.macintouch.com/>

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