--- "Kelsay, Brian - Kansas City, MO" wrote:
I'm still wondering why the webserver address seems to change all the time? Either it should have a static IP or a name which resolves via DNS. Internal PCs should hit the hosts file first, then local DNS, then external DNS to resolve. How many internal hosts (PCs)? You can update a hosts file with a login script and they can be set to search the local net first, before going to the internal DNS server.
So, are you changing the hostname of the server all the time or adding new ones, e.g. webserver1, webserver2, etc., or adding new domains all the time? Considering that any of these involve adding a few lines to a text file for name resolution, ...
I am also wondering why you are constantly changing the webserver address. I would think you would want to
to use a static IP for such an important server. If you're using DHCP, which is a good idea from a maintainence perspective, then you simply need to make a manual allocation on the DHCP server for the webserver and any other critical servers. Then you wouldn't have to do all this changing all the time. Seems like you are just making work by constanly fiddling with IP issues. Also, like Brian and others have said, by having the webserver in your hosts file or a local DNS, your internal network wouldn't need to route through the firewall. Unless, of course, you want to route through the firewall. Although I don't see a good reason for this other than tracking internal traffic, which could be done other ways. Or maybe you don't trust your own webserver. Now, if you are constantly changing the physical webserver hardware and using DHCP all you need do is update your DHCP server config with the new MAC address and ... bada-bing bada-boom, all your clients now can find your new webserver.
Brian JD