DNS client service - Does it do any good for a home user :-)

[Lars-Erik Østerud]

Windows XP has a "DNS client" service that "Resolves and caches Domain
Name System (DNS) names for this computer. If this service is stopped,
this computer will not be able to resolve DNS names and locate Active
Directory domain controllers. If this service is disabled, any
services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start."

Does this speed up DNS access for a home user with a single PC on a
cable-network through a NAT router, or does the NAT router cache DNS
entries as well?

From the "ipconfig /displaydns" I can see the DNS client service
caches DNS entries, but the "time to live" is often low for an entry,
and then it needs to be fetched again, right? So does it help?

 

[bumtracks]

mine caches and fills up with all the ip's for MSN Messenger & their
advertisements, Microsoft, Passport, hotmail, & their advertisements as well
as some of the more popular advertiser banners. So it's a good thing to
have - besides, its required for local ip(NAT'#s) too as well as some
networking components : I'll get a redX in an EventViewer log for netBT when
its off.

 

[S.Sengupta]

This is a great article tweaking DNS,see if it helps you.
http://www.oreillynet.com/pub/a/network/excerpt/winxphacks_chap1/index1.html?page=3

regards,
ssg MS-MVP

 

[johnsuth]

Windows XP has a "DNS client" service that "Resolves and caches Domain
Name System (DNS) names for this computer. If this service is stopped,
this computer will not be able to resolve DNS names and locate Active
Directory domain controllers. If this service is disabled, any
services that explicitly depend on it will fail to start."

Does this speed up DNS access for a home user with a single PC on a
cable-network through a NAT router, or does the NAT router cache DNS
entries as well?

From the "ipconfig /displaydns" I can see the DNS client service
caches DNS entries, but the "time to live" is often low for an entry,
and then it needs to be fetched again, right? So does it help?

I am told that some NAT routers do serve and cache names.

You cannot do any harm by stopping the service and seeing what happens.

My LAN is downstream of a proxy, and the XP workstations have no DNS client, server or IP address.