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

[DrFranken <midrange@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

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.