17

I'm having a DNS resolving issue that is affecting the performance of my locally hosted web site when browse it on my local machine. If I attach my network's DNS suffix to my local machine name when I go to the URL in my browser, the site has terrible load times (100+ times slower) than without the DNS suffix.

I thought I could fix this by using my hosts file to avoid the need for a lookup. I added an entry to my hosts file like this

127.0.0.1    myMachine.MyDnsSuffix

But this didn't change the load times, even after a reboot. Although it is not important to resolve this specific problem, I would really like to know why this happens.

Also, when I run nslookup on the domain myMachine.MyDnsSuffix, I notice it uses my network's DNS server to find the IP. Could this be related to my problem or am I just mis-understanding how nslookup works?

Improve this question

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
26

I believe nslookup is used to test a DNS server itself, as opposed to utilizing your HOSTS file. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/200525 seems to indicate as much.

Try just a simple ping. Does ping myMachine.MyDnsSuffix resolve to the loopback address you have specified in your HOSTS file?

Improve this answer
8
  • You made a good point about nslookup. I just tried pinging the myMachine.MyDnsSuffix and it resolved to my IP on the network, not 127.0.0.1 like specified in my HOSTS file.
    – Dan Herbert
    Dec 16, 2009 at 17:48
  • What's your OS? I think Windows7 and possibly Vista has some weird UAC protections on the HOSTS file. Are you certain your changes are saving properly?
    – Christopher Karel
    Dec 16, 2009 at 17:54
  • My OS is Windows XP. The changes seem to be getting saved properly.
    – Dan Herbert
    Dec 16, 2009 at 17:57
  • Hmm...there isn't a hash mark at the start of that HOSTS entry, is there? (that would make it a comment) And you're sure it's in C:\Windows\System32\drivers\etc\hosts? Can you add a dummy entry there, and see if that resolves as you specify?
    – Christopher Karel
    Dec 16, 2009 at 18:25
  • 4
    Oh, and don't forget to clear your name cache. ipconfig /flushdns. And the NETBIOS cache too: nbtstat -R. (Case sensitive in windows -- WTF, why?!?)
    – Christopher Karel
    Dec 16, 2009 at 18:28
8

DNS lookups do not use a hosts file. Ever.

Improve this answer
2
  • 3
    @BartDeVos no, it's not wrong. A generic host lookup (i.e. gethostbyname() can go via the hosts file, or via DNS, but a DNS-specific lookup (as performed by nslookup) will not use the hosts file.
    – Alnitak
    Dec 21, 2011 at 14:48
  • That said, gethostinfo/getaddrinfo (the modern versions of gethostbyname) are POSIX, and not necessarily what Windows uses.
    – adaptr
    Dec 21, 2011 at 15:18
2

OK, brand new approach. Let's have you clear your IP and NETBIOS cache. ipconfig /flushdns and nbtstat -R. Then fire up a packet sniffer like Wireshark, and do a ping while it's running.

From the packet capture, we want to see if A) There's a DNS request going out, and if so, what name is it requesting. B) If there's a NETBIOS request going out. It's possible this name is being resolved via NETBIOS instead of proper DNS.

If we don't see either of the above despite you flushing your cache, then it's likely that the name is being pulled from either hosts or lmhosts.

Improve this answer
1

Some people on web forums claim that creating a new hosts file and restarting the DNS client service fixes the problem, but I'm not sure why that would work if you've already tried rebooting.

I realize this is a longshot, but there aren't any Microsoft-related words like MSDN, Microsoft, or MSN in the hosts file entry, are there? Microsoft has written dnsapi.dll to ignore hosts file entries matching certain names. For example, if I add the following entry, Windows skips it and resolves both hostnames in the entry using DNS:

127.0.0.1 www.microsoft.com www.mysite.com
Improve this answer
2
  • I don't have any microsoft related stuff in my HOSTS file. I only have a few internal test domains assigned. My HOSTS file is pretty basic.
    – Dan Herbert
    Dec 17, 2009 at 16:37
  • Hmm, interesting. I knew that they hard-coded MS domains to ignore the HOSTS file, but even the non-MS domain gets ignored if it shares an entry with an MS domain? That’s just poor programming on their part. This is definitely something to look out for if “minifying” a HOSTS file.
    – Synetech
    Aug 31, 2013 at 17:58
0

When using the full DNS name your browser is attempting to go through your proxy server - clicky for IE.

The hosts file or name resolution order is nothing to do with this problem, and the festering sore on the backside of humanity that is the hosts file should be taken out back and noisily shot.

Improve this answer
2
  • I'm not connected to a proxy though.
    – Dan Herbert
    Dec 16, 2009 at 18:07
  • 1
    @mh: i would agree with you about shooting hosts, as long as root servers allow me to add/remove/edit records.
    – Ian Boyd
    Dec 16, 2009 at 20:36

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .