“Oh, you know UNIX? Good, we need you to run our DNS.”

If you’re like the majority of our training participants, your career in DNS* started in a similar fashion. Your knowledge of the protocol, the resilience of your DNS infrastructure, whether or not you like to use valid shortcuts in config files and so on, are often very dependent upon which team you found yourself in when you first landed in the DNS world. For the more fortunate among us, the team was “RFC aware,” had a book or two on DNS and existing, working configurations from which to learn. At the other end of the spectrum, some of us have landed where the mention of DNS just elicited a finger pointing to an old dusty machine under an unoccupied desk.

Amazingly, no matter the landing point, folks usually don’t find their way to a training until they have a few years of DNS experience. This speaks volumes about the protocol design and implementations. It also says a lot about the adaptability and tenacity of DNS admins. The critical nature of our “DNS inheritance” becomes very clear, possibly more quickly than we’d like. One does what needs to be done to resolve and prevent issues in a timely manner. Unfortunately, these qualities often produce a “why invest training dollars when you do such a fine job with DNS” hurdle for admins when trying to justify taking a formal course. (Please forward this blog for possible help with that…)

Whatever the length and depth of your DNS experience, an ISC training course is an excellent opportunity to expand your understanding. We discuss the original protocol design goals and how implementation has played out in the real world. Our intensive hands-on labs offer you a fresh environment where you build, configure, implement, and troubleshoot. From experienced DNS admins we often hear comments such as “so that is how that works,” “wish I had known that trick years ago,” and “this really filled in the gaps for me.” For those newer to DNS, you will leave with solid footing and plenty of tips and practice to make sure your DNS behaves as it should.

We offer public trainings around the world with our training partner, Men & Mice. For our most up-to-date schedule of public training sessions, please visit: https://www.isc.org/technicalservices.

We also offer private, on-site trainings. Please inquire at training@isc.org if interested.

* Please re-read this blog substituting “DHCP” everywhere you see “DNS.” We promise it works, it’s true and it’ll be fun!

If you are an executive or manager whose business model relies on DNS, perhaps you’ve said similar words. Often, “DNS Just Works” and you are fortunate enough to maybe not even know who or what team handles this critical aspect of your business. If so, we invite you to consider how much you have invested in infrastructure not specifically related to DNS. Now, think about your return on that investment should DNS no longer function or become even occasionally unreliable. Does your recurring investment in DNS match its importance to your business? If not, ISC training is a good place to begin bridging that gap.