DNS gone wild

[RoadKingRick]

I do not use my XServer for internet connectivity, merely for fileserving in a static IP environment, but the fine folks at Apple insist that the OS is so heavily reliant on DNS, that it MUST be on. So, it is on, and the XServer is the primary DNS address in the NIC settings on the Macs, the actual firewall is the secondary.

About 2 weeks ago, I noticed a LOT of outbound DNS activity from the XServer on port 53 (dns), occasionally reaching over 600 concurrent outbound connections. If I uncheck "Recursive" in the dns services (Xserve 10.4.11) it stops, but my then Macs can't connect to the internet.

Any thoughts?

 

[Satcomer]

Maybe you would want to use the OpenDNS Mac server settings and setup a free account detailed in this video. You could take some of the lifting off your DNS and get DNS caching and phishing and block sites for free. Plus setup custom pointers as well, just for your server.

 

[RoadKingRick]

I very much appreciate the info, but my firewall (a completely different computer and OS) handles DNS.
The only reason I have DNS enabled on the XServer at all is because Apple insisted it was necessary even for simple file sharing, but I frankly don't see why that should be.
Maybe if on all the individual computer's NIC's I make the firewall the primary DNS and the XServer the secondary?