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Last modified: 10/7/2010
Introduction: DNS (Domain Name Server) resolution is the process of translating IP addresses to domain names. When a profile is configured to look up all numeric IP addresses, Webtrends makes a call to the network's DNS server to resolve DNS entries. Each computer has its own IP address. The IP address identifies that computer with four sets of numbers of up to three digits, known as octets, each separated by a period. The IP addresses are recorded in the log file. In most cases, IP addresses can be translated into domain names. For example, 63.88.213.170 translates to www.webtrends.com. A user can configure Webtrends to look up all numeric IP addresses. When that feature is selected, Webtrends makes a call to the networks DNS server to resolve IP addresses into DNS entries. Note: Not all IP addresses can be resolved. There is a hierarchy to DNS servers. If the first DNS server cannot resolve the IP address, Webtrends makes a call to another DNS server to find it. It continues this process until it times out. By default, Webtrends gives up on the process after 25 seconds and then goes on to the next record.
Resolve mode IP addresses are translated to domain names. Performance is slightly slower.
IP Address Internet Protocol address that identifies a computer connected to the Internet. *Domain Name* Text name that corresponds to the numeric IP address.
DNS Lookup Translates numeric IP addresses into domain names.
How Resolve Mode Works:
Steps in the DNS resolution process.
Webtrends makes call to DNS server to resolve IP addresses.
DNS server makes attempt to translate IP address to DNS entry.
DNS server returns domain name to Webtrends.
Webtrends takes domain name and checks it against the company database (company.big) or GeoTrends database.
Company database or GeoTrends database returns geographical information.
The Decision to Resolve or Not to Resolve Most users consider domain names more useful for analysis than IP addresses, but DNS resolution can be a slow process. Therefore, you may have a decision to make.
Should you turn DNS off? DNS resolution increases report times. You may decide DNS entries are not all that important in your Webtrends reports and opt to live with IP addresses instead.
Should you configure the Web server to perform DNS resolution? If you configure the Web server to perform DNS resolution, DNS entries will appear in the user IP field in the log files. Since the DNS entries will already be recorded in the log file, you can configure Webtrends to use Quick mode and still see DNS entries in Webtrends reports. That will speed up the report process considerably; however, resolution at the server level can affect the performance of your Web server.
