23 Dec 2009 - Windows Server 2008 R2 Active Directory "Bad DNS Packet" error
There is a bug in Windows Server 2008 R2 causing a "Bad DNS Packet" error when you try to setup (or promote) Active Directory using Simple DNS Plus and other non-MS DNS servers.
The problem is described in MS KB 977158 - see
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/977158/EN-US
The solution is to install the mentioned Windows hotfix.
However the MS KB article only links to the IA64 version of the hotfix - not the X64 version which most people need.
You can get a copy of the X64 version from
http://www.simpledns.com/outbox/KB977158-x64.zip
Note that this hotfix will likely be included in a future automatic Windows update and/or a service pack.
So this temporary solution will only be necessary until then.
For more information on using Simple DNS Plus with Active Directory, see
http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1049
17 Dec 2009 - Expiration of support for Simple DNS Plus v. 4.00
Note that from January 17th 2010 we will no longer provide support for Simple DNS Plus v. 4.00 (or earlier versions).
As per our
Support Life-Cycle Policy, a Simple DNS Plus version is supported for 3 years after it is first released, and for 2 years after we stop selling it (whichever comes last).
V. 4.00 was originally released on April 10th 2005, and we stopped selling it on January 17th 2008 when v. 5.0 was released.
We encourage users of v. 4.00 and earlier version to
upgrade to the current v. 5.2.
For details on all the new features and other improvements see:
v. 5.0:
http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1215
v. 5.1:
http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1246
v .5.2:
http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1265
10 Dec 2009 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 build 116 / v. 5.1 build 138 released
Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 build 116 is now available at http://www.simpledns.com/download.aspx
For details on the updates and changes in this build, please see release notes.
Simple DNS Plus v. 5.1 build 138 is now available at http://www.simpledns.com/download-oldver.aspx
For details on the updates and changes in this build, please see release notes.
These are NOT a critical updates. We do recommend that all users update to these builds, but there is no urgency unless you are directly affected by the issues addressed by the updates.
30 Oct 2009 - Update to the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM
We have just released version 1.1 build 4 of the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM.
Updates in this build:
- Update: Uses Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 code base (various optimizations and bug fixes).
- Update: Setting Zone.DefaultTTL value now updates TTL value of all records which had the old default TTL value.
- Update: Record TTL values now automatically synchronized in RRSet (records with same name / type) when adding new records.
- Fixed: Setting DNSZone.AllowZoneTransfer property was not always saved correctly.
Version 1.1 build 4 is now available for download:
sdnsapi-setup.exe (720 KB)
If you have a previous version/build installed, simply run above installation file to upgrade.
For more information about the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM, see the on-line documentation at http://www.simpledns.com/help/api/
29 Oct 2009 - Freeware DNS Client Library for .NET
We have just released
"JH Software's DNS Client Library for .NET".
This can be used to perform simple as well as advanced DNS lookups from any .NET code (.NET v. 2.0 or later).
For details and download see
http://www.simpledns.com/dns-client-lib.aspx
16 Oct 2009 - SPF checking HELO/EHLO host names
It has come to our attention that more e-mail servers are now performing SPF checks on the SMTP session HELO/EHLO greeting host name (in addition to checking the domain name part of the sender's e-mail address).
Therefore always make sure that your e-mail server is configured to use a correct host name (like "mail.example.com") in the HELO/EHLO greeting, and that an A- and/or AAAA-record exists for this host name in DNS.
Also, when using the "Automatic SPF" feature in Simple DNS Plus, make sure that the automatic SPF-record data is also valid for the HELO/EHLO host name, or define a specific SPF-record for the HELO/EHLO name in the zone where this belongs (this will override the automatic SPF record).
Note that the default automatic SPF record data "v=spf1 mx -all" will fail such a test if no MX-record exists for your HELO/EHLO name.
For example, if your domain name is "example.com" and your mail server is named "mail.example.com" (and uses this in HELO/EHLO greetings), you would probably only have an MX-record for "example.com" - not for "mail.example.com", and therefore "v=spf1 mx -all" fails to validate "mail.example.com".
Instead you could use "v=spf1 ip4:1.2.3.4 -all" (where 1.2.3.4 is the IP address of your mail server), which would work for both types of tests.
For more information about SPF in Simple DNS Plus, see
KB1148.
20 Aug 2009 - New "Clone Response" plug-in
This new plug-in provides DNS responses by cloning the DNS records from responses to requests for another specified domain name.
This is an easy way to host many domain names that have the exact same records (except for their zone names).
For more details see KB1289.
Download cloneresponse-plugin.zip (9 KB) and un-zip it to the "plugins" sub-directory under the directory where Simple DNS Plus is installed. After this the plug-in will be available in the Simple DNS Plus Options dialog / Plug-Ins section.
Note that this plug-in requires an "unlimted zones" license and works with Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 build 111 and later only.
18 Aug 2009 - New "TCP Port Forwarder" plug-in
This new plug-in provides simple TCP port forwarding.
If the Simple DNS Plus computer is connected to both the Internet and to a private network (LAN), this can be used to forward connections from the Internet to a computer on the LAN. For example mapping remote desktop connections (port 3389).
For more details see KB1288.
Download tcpforward-plugin.zip (18 KB) and un-zip it to the "plugins" sub-directory under the directory where Simple DNS Plus is installed. After this the plug-in will be available in the Simple DNS Plus Options dialog / Plug-Ins section.
Note that this plug-in works with Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 and later only.
05 Jul 2009 - Updated "Remote DNS Look Up" function
Our on-line
Remote DNS Look Up function has been updated to much closer match the features of the GUI based DNS Look Up tool that comes with Simple DNS Plus.
It now supports a long list of additional record types, it supports EDNS0 options including payload size and DNSSEC, and it supports displaying native characters in IDNs in the repose output.
The output is formatted the same way as in the GUI tool - in fact the on-line and GUI tools now shared much of their program code (both .NET based).
And finally the on-line function is now AJAX based for a smoother experience.
22 Jun 2009 - GeoDNS plug-in for Simple DNS Plus
This new plug-in provides a different DNS response depending on what country a DNS request originates from. This can be used to direct Internet traffic (web, FTP, streaming media, etc.) to a server geographically closer to the end-user, or with contents specific for a geographical area.
This is exactly the same that large web-sites such as Google.com and CNN.com do, and what companies like Akamai charge a lot of money to provide.
Now this functionality is available as a free plug-in for Simple DNS Plus.
For more details see KB1284.
Download geodns-plugin.zip (31 KB) and un-zip it to the "plugins" sub-directory under the directory where Simple DNS Plus is installed. After this the plug-in will be available in the Simple DNS Plus Options dialog / Plug-Ins section.
Note that this plug-in works with Simple DNS Plus v. 5.2 and later only.
Next Page