Using Draytek LAN DNS Function To Create and Resolve Hostnames Locally
It is sometimes useful to be able to resolve hostnames locally without wanting to provision an entire local DNS server for the purpose.
The Draytek can do this by intercepting all DNS requests going out to the internet, and resolving them against its own database before passing them to the usual DNS server specified in the router configuration.
A good application would be to allow users to utilise a hostname to connect to a file server, which can significantly help to reduce the impact of future IP address changes of that server.
- It would be considered best practice to ensure, where possible, all devices communicate via hostname rather than IP address.
- Log into the Draytek
- Go to Applications > LAN DNS / DNS Forwarding
- Click the Index number of the first available Profile
- Give the profile a descriptive name
- In the Domain Name box, enter the full hostname you wish to resolve internally
- Click the Add button at the bottom and specify the IP address this hostname should resolve to
- Optionally tick the box to restrict the DNS lookups to devices on the same subnet
- Click OK to activate
Once enabled, the Draytek will intercept all DNS requests and return the above-specified IP address when anybody on the LAN does a lookup for the hostname specified.
(3 minutes)
Total Duration: 3 minutes
