7.5. Advanced Features of BIND

Most BIND implementations only use named to provide name resolution services or to act as an authority for a particular domain or sub-domain. However, BIND version 9 has a number of advanced features that allow for a more secure and efficient DNS service.

Caution

Some of these advanced features, such as DNSSEC, TSIG, and IXFR (which are defined in the following section), should only be used in network environments with nameservers that support the features. If the network environment includes non-BIND or older BIND nameservers, verify that each advanced feature is supported before attempting to use it.

All of the features mentioned are discussed in greater detail in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual referenced in Section 7.7.1, “Installed Documentation”.

7.5.1. DNS Protocol Enhancements

BIND supports Incremental Zone Transfers (IXFR), where a slave nameserver only downloads the updated portions of a zone modified on a master nameserver. The standard transfer process requires that the entire zone be transferred to each slave nameserver for even the smallest change. For very popular domains with very lengthy zone files and many slave nameservers, IXFR makes the notification and update process much less resource-intensive.

Note that IXFR is only available when using dynamic updating to make changes to master zone records. If manually editing zone files to make changes, Automatic Zone Transfer (AXFR) is used. More information on dynamic updating is available in the BIND 9 Administrator Reference Manual referenced in Section 7.7.1, “Installed Documentation”.