Hi all,I have a domain (example.com) that is hosted on a web host. The web host allows me to configure DNS entries, for which I have added an 'A' record that points to machines inside our office (testserver.example.com).The problem is that testserver.example.com is given a public ip address, whereas in the office itself we need to access it via it's private ip (eg 192.168.11.11)Currently we adjust everyone's HOSTS file to provide the setting and we'd love to get rid this need. To the question: Can I configure our internal DNS server (the authority for int.example.com) to also include an 'A' record so that testserver.example.com maps to 192.168.11.11? Our general setup:In the office we have configured int.example.com as our domain that we use. Note that testserver.example.com is not part of the int.example.com domain.Any ideas?Thanks for any help.

If you want to refer to the web server by its public IP, aHOSTS file is probably the best bet. You do not have to refer to the web server by its external name. On the LAN you can give it a local name or even go directly to it by its IP address using http://192.168.11.11 . Is there an entry in your local DNS for testserver.int.example .com ? (A machine does not need to be a domain memberto have a DNS entry). If not, set up an 'A' record for it. Then use http://testserver.int.example.comon the local LAN. Bill

In actual fact we host multiple test websites for various clients and these websites are routed through one public IP address which is forwarded onto an ISA server in our DMZ. The ISA is also not part of our domain.So, we have multiple virtual websites and servers: none of which can be accessed simply by going to the IP directly. For configuration purposes and especially QA purposes, we need to ensure that these test servers, are accessed in exactly the same manner as our clients would access them. eg testserver.example.com needs to access resources from soapserver.example.com. Any more ideas?

No. As I said, if you want to use the external name, a HOSTS file entry is the way to go.Bill