Re: "3 out of 4 IBM i machines I work on do not have DNS servers specified" Why not?

Ugh.

This is in my experience because the network guys and the i guys do not speak. The network guys do not speak 'i' and the i guys do not speak 'network'. Then to make it worse they don't trust each other and sometimes actively dislike each other. It is a sad reality in far too many shops.

I have seen host tables on i with thousands of entries! Then someone wants to change the network numbering scheme and panic ensues.

Now the good news is that when I sit down with both sides, play mediator, and have a technical discussion things improve!! In that discussion we do not say 'Windows' or 'Linux' or 'i' but instead references DNS and name resolution and server and client and service then things get clear. I ask which DNS do you use and can you add entries for devices and services on the network. Normally the network guys know what that is and can add entries easily. I ask if it's redundant and reliable. Yes. Then we go over the reasons why it's good to use this and the benefits and of course the potential issues.

In the end the bottom line is working as a team you become more efficient and more productive. Reliability is enhanced. Predictability is improved. These are all good things. Building fiefdoms is NOT.

Oh and by the way same thing for goofy routing entries I see on systems. Let you routers do the routing, It's what they do best!!!!

- Larry "DrFranken" Bolhuis

www.Frankeni.com
www.iDevCloud.com - Personal Development IBM i timeshare service.
www.iInTheCloud.com - Commercial IBM i Cloud Hosting.

On 12/8/2016 11:52 AM, Booth Martin wrote:

In another thread Bradley Stone wrote " ... I rant often about not using
IPs (or host table entries) and instead to use DNS and host names, but
that's more for web services, email servers, etc. that are on the
intra/inter-web.

http://www.fieldexit.com/forum/display?threadid=65

I would guess 3 out of 4 IBM i machines I work on do not have DNS
servers specified. 2 of 4 will ping something (like smtp.office365.com)
from their PC and create a host table entry on the i for the one IP
address that happens to get returned.*shudder*.

In this case they are internal IPs for machines that I'm working with a
VPN. I doubt many customers set up their telnet IPs in a DNS. But I can
bet some actually do. ..."

Which brings me to the question: Why not? Is it dangerous? Too
convoluted? Not nerdy enough, or too nerdy? Dragons be there? On the
face of it the use of a naming schema goes a long ways in avoiding
typos, confusion, upgrading hassles, and general housekeeping.