Available online www.ajre.co.

in
Asian Journal for Research and Engineering (AJRE), Jan-2017, 1(1): 1-6

Research Article

Local Area Network automatic Domain name System

(LANDS)
ROHIT G BAL
Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science & Engineering, Nepal Engineering College
rohitgb@nec.edu.np , rohitgbal@gmail.com
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
ABSTRACT
Domain name is the name of the node in the computer network. Number system (IPv4 / IPv6) is convenient for
processing in computing systems but its inconvenient for the users. It is easier to communicate with the Domain
name than Internet Protocol (IP) address because human beings have tendency to remember names than number.
Domain Name System (DNS) provides a solution for that domain name to IP. Main disadvantage of the DNS is its
configuration. This paper proposes of auto configuring of DNS and dynamic learning of the domain name inside
Local Area Network which is Ad-Hoc in nature.
KEYWORDS: DNS, IPv6, BIND, Computer Network, Name Resolution

_________________________________________________________________________________
INTRODUCTION
Domain Name is the name given to any node in computer network. IP is used for communication between nodes in
computer network and it represent a node in computer network [1] [2]. Domain names provide an easy way to
identify the node instead of IP. The main disadvantage with IP is to remember the number. This advantage can be
overcome by using domain name as an alternative way to represent the node in computer network. Human being
have tendency to remember names than number. But for communication between different nodes in network IP
should be used, Communication with help of names is not possible in TCP/IP networks. Domain Name used for
communication is converted to IP with help of certain mechanisms in Network. Now a days conversion of IP to
Domain name and vice versa is done with help of a centralized system called Domain Name System (DNS).
In this paper I am proposing a system that provide DNS to Local Area Network i.e. LANDS. LANDS is system
that helps in resolving domain name to IP. LANDS will provide name resolution with help of HOSTS file. LANDS
will configure and upload the domain name of computer and its corresponding IP in host file. HOSTS file is used
as database that I propose to use in this system. Unlike BIND, Instead of having a centralized server LANDS work
in decentralized fashion. LANDS working is restricted to LAN unlike DNS which spread in whole Internet. The
main aim of having LANDS is to provide a Domain resolver which is easy to use and configure. LANDS learns the
address of the all the HOSTS in LAN if LANDS is installed and running in all the systems. Systems installed with
LANDS will communicate with each other through a dedicated port.
The rest of the paper is organized as Section discusses about Literature Study. Section 3 lays out proposed work.
Section 4 presents describes the security analysis of our framework. Section 5 concludes the paper and outlines
future enhancements.

Asian Journal for Research and Engineering, Jan-2017, 1(1):1-6

______________________________________________________________________________
LITERATURE STUDY
Hosts File
HOSTS file is file which maps domain names (computer names) with IP address [1] [2]. HOSTS file was
maintained by Stanford Research Institute for ARPANET membership. It was made available for members of
ARPANET through file sharing. If members wanted to domain name resolution, then they have to download the
host file through the file sharing mechanis m. For resolving the Name to IP or vice versa first have to download the
HOSTS file from a system server. Figure 1 the shows HOSTS Systems working and Figure 2 shows sample
entries of HOSTS file.

Figure 1: Host File Working

Figure 2: HOSTS File Example entries for network given in figure 1

Bind
Bind (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) [3] is a most widely used domain name system used which is designed by
University of California Berkeley. BIND is by far the most widely used DNS software on the Intern et, providing a
robust and stable platform on top of which organizations can build distributed computing systems with the
knowledge that those systems are fully compliant with published DNS standards [3]. Bind Consists of 3 main
component.
1.
2.
3.

Domain Name Resolver

Domain Name Authority Server
Tools

Asian Journal for Research and Engineering, Jan-2017, 1(1):1-6

______________________________________________________________________________
INTERNET PROTOCOL
IPv4
IPv4 is a 32 bit unique address used in commutation between systems. The 32 bit IP is mainly divided into 4 equal
parts called octet (8 bits). An IP consist of 4 octets. Integer value of each octet may vary from 0 to 255. Maximum
available address with IPv4 is 232 [4] [5].
Example for IPv4 192.168.0.1
IP Classes
IP Class

First Octet Range

Usage

Class A

1-127

Host Assigning

Class B

128-191

Host Assigning

Class C

191-223

Host Assigning

Class D

224-239

Special Purpose

Class E

240-255

Special Purpose

Table 1: IP Classes
According to the starting octet IP is classified into Class A, Class B, Class C, Class D, Class E, Class F. In which
Class D, Class E, Class F. In which Class D, Class E is special purpose which is not used to host-host
communication. Class A, Class B, Class C is used for assigning to the host. The IP ranges of each classes is given in
Table 1[9]
IPv6
IP version 6 (IPv6) [4] is a new version of the Internet Protocol, designed as the successor to IP version 4 (IPv4)
IPv6 solves the address depletion problem of IPv4. In IPv4 maximum number of IP that can be used is up to 232
while in IPv6 it is up to 2128. IPv6 address has length of 128 bit which is divided into 8 parts. Each pa rt is 16-bit
long. Each part is represented using hexadecimal value where minimum value of each part is 0000 and maximum
value is FFFF. With IPv6 6.65 x 1023 addresses are available for every square meter of the Earths surface [6] [7]
[8].
Example for IPv6: 2000:0dd1:83b2:0000:0000:72ae:0307:7400
Address Types
The type of an IPv6 address is identified by the high-order bits of the address, as follows:

Loopback -- ::1/128

Multicast -- FF00::/8

Link-local unicast -- FE80::/10

Site-local unicast -- FEC0::/10

Global unicast -- All other

Global Unicast Address

PROBLEM STATEMENT

Studies are made regarding the existing systems i.e. HOSTS file and BIND. Many issues are found regarding the
configuring, maintain and usage of the existing systems.

Asian Journal for Research and Engineering, Jan-2017, 1(1):1-6

______________________________________________________________________________
The Main issues that users face in existing systems are categorized as follows:

Usage of IP in LAN communication

Manual Configuring and Maintenance of HOSTS File

Difficulty in Configuring BIND by Novice users.

Problems with Centralized System in BIND

Usage of IP in LAN Communication.

IP is used for communicating between different HOSTS in computer network. But main drawback of IP is to
remember numbers but still in LAN the IPv4 is used for ftp, file sharing, checking connections, configurations and
many network related to tasks. IPv4 is decimal numbers and it is comparatively easy to remember. But within
certain time period all networks will be implemented with IPv6 which makes usage IP more difficult than IPv6.
Remembering IPv6 is hard task since IPv6 consist of hexadecimal number. When IPv6 is implemented in internet all
over the world it will be much more complex task to network maintaining persons to work i.e. why need for a local
domain servers is necessary.
Manual Configuring and Maintenance of HOSTS File
In network host file is usually updated and manged by a single authority in a computer and all other host will
download the HOSTS file and save in respective folder. The main reasons for this system are 1) Adding changing
and of the domain name and IP in the network may need update in HOSTS file, else communicating through name
to that system may not be possible. 2) Networks which uses DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol) to
provide IP to other HOSTS. In this scenario IP may change in time to time and HOSTS file doesnt have automatic
updates.
Difficulty in Configuring BIND
BIND is good solution for 2 problems which is discussed above. BIND software de facto standard in internet. The
main difficulty in BIND is initial configurations and maintenance. BIND consist of some complex configuration. It
requires an expert to configure and manage.
Problems with Centralized System in BIND
BIND works like Server Client Architecture in which Bind acts as a Central Server. This kind of architecture
requires server to work all time. If server i.e. BIND fails name resolution is not possible. The whole LAN will be
affected by this failure.
LANDS
The proposed system[10][11], i.e. LANDS is a software which work based on automatic updating of DNS data base
of the LAN. LANDS use HOSTS file as database. Here all updates are done by the LANDS software using
LANDSMSGS. LANDS works based on broadcasting inside LAN. LANDS cant resolve names outside Local Area
Network. LANDS work based on decentralized system. Any systems installed with LANDS have same priority.
LANDS is a software which configure automatically, learn name and address of system automatically and
decentralised system. LANDS used HOSTS file as database and conversion of name and IP is done by the
mechanism provided by OS. The function of LANDS is only to provide update in the HOSTS file. Domain to IP
resolution and vice versa is not done by LANDS.
LANDS uses specific port for communication. The message addressed to the port only goes to LANDS system. The
LANDS system uses LANDS message similar to DHCP messages.
LANDS updating of hosts file
The main purpose of LANDS is to provide mechanism to update HOSTS file. The update can be periodic, triggered
by various system events, Manual. The following are the system events tha t trigger LANDS to update the HOSTS
file.

Asian Journal for Research and Engineering, Jan-2017, 1(1):1-6

______________________________________________________________________________
System Start-up Event
LANDS will update the HOSTS file in all system start-ups. LANDS will send broadcast message in LAN. The
system which is installed with LANDS will responds with its IP and Domain Name.
Network Configuration Change Event
LANDS will update the HOSTS file on occasions of change in IP, Domain Name, etc. LANDS will send broadcast
message in LAN. The system which is installed with LANDS will responds with its IP and Domain Name.
Periodic Updating
LANDS will update the HOSTS file periodically. This property is set to check whether any new system is added to
the network.
Forceful Updating
LANDS will update forcefully which means by manual intervention. IF User feels the necessity of updating the
HOSTS file.
LANDS Updating
LANDS update HOSTS file using message and have 3 types of messages
Request: Send Broadcast message in LAN. It request for the IP and domain name in the systems.
Reply: Send unicast message to the system which send request message. This reply consist of domain name and IP
of the system.
Acknowledgement: It is send by the system after receiving Reply message and updating done in hosts file.
CONCLUSION AND FUTURE WORK
The above suggested LANDS provides solution in LAN. Considering internet as whole the BIND or systems similar
to BIND are solution. But considering facts like auto configuring and auto learning for small and medium level
organization LANDS provide a better solutions. This Paper is only provides an abstract working mechanisms. In
future more clarity is needed in sending messages, Port numbers, & backing of mechanism
REFERENCES
[1] P. Mockapetris and K. J. Dunlap, Development of the Domain Name System, ACM, Aug 88
[2] P. Albitz and C. Liu, DNS & BIND, Sebastopol, CA: O'Reilly, 2006.
[3] BIND, ICS, 1 November 2016. [Online]. Available: https://www.isc.org/downloads/bind/. [Accessed 30
November 2016].
[4] R. G. Bal, IP Packet Filtering using Hash Table for Dedicated Real Time IP Filter, IJWMT, vol. (In Press),
2016.
[5] J. B. Postel, Internet network Protocol Specification version 4, IEN: 54 Section: 2.3.2.1, Sep 1978.
[6] Rohit G. Bal, Hash Data Structure for IPv6 Filters, European Journal of Advances in Engineering and
Technology(EJAET), vol. 3, no. 10, pp. 32-35, 2016.
[7] S. Hagen, IPv6 Essentials, CA: O'Reilly Media, Inc, 2006.
[8] Rohit G. Bal, Review on Tries for IPv6 Lookups, European Journal of Advances in Engineering and
Technology(EJAET), vol. 3, no. 7, pp. 28-33, 2016.

Asian Journal for Research and Engineering, Jan-2017, 1(1):1-6

______________________________________________________________________________
[9] Rohit G Bal, IP Packet Filtering using Hash Table for Dedicated Real Time IP Filter, International Journal of
Wireless and Microwave Technologies(IJWMT), Vol.7, No.1, pp.24-29, 2017.DOI: 10.5815/ijwmt.2017.01.03
[10] Cheshire S, Krochmal M. RFC 6762: Multicast DNS. Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) standard. 2013.
[11] Aboba B, Esibov L, Thaler D. Link-local Multicast Name Resolution (LLMNR) Internet Engineering Task
Force (IETF) standard. 2007.

BIOGRAPHY
Rohit G Bal currently working as Assistant Professor in Computer Science department in Nepal
Engineering College & Editor in AJRE. He received the Masters (M.E) degree in Computer
Science and Engineering from Hindustan College of Engineering & Technology under Anna
University TN, India in 2014.and the Bachelors (B. Tech) degree in Computer Science and
Engineering from College Of Engineering Thrikaripur, Kerala in 2011 under CUSAT. He currently
researching about Computer Networks & IP. His area of interest includes Computer Network, Data
Structures & Algorithm, Security Computer and Steganography

How to cite this paper: Rohit G Bal, "Local Area Network automatic Domain name System(LANDS)", Asian
Journal for Research & Engineering(AJRE), 1(1), pp. 1- 6, Jan 2017