Why do I need a static IP address at home to run a DNS server?
The purpose of DNS is to allow friendly domain names to be translated to IP addresses. It’s the job of a DNS server to do that translation. But first, a user’s computer must know the IP address of the DNS server itself! That information comes from the “root DNS servers.” And the root DNS servers obtain it from what’s known informally as the “whois database,” a central registry of domain names, domain owners, and DNS servers. This is the database you’re added to when you register a new domain name. Here’s the kicker: the whois database must contain static IP addresses for your domain’s DNS servers. Otherwise, users have no way to look up www.example.com and get your home IP address. And yes, I said servers, not server – you must have at least two DNS server IP addresses in the whois database. One is the primary DNS server, and the other is the secondary, consulted if the primary isn’t available.
