hosts file duplication

[Jim Reid]

>>>>> "Will" == Will Boege <will at SpAz.lakes.com> writes:

    Will> I work at an ISP that has hundreds of websites that we host

    Will> In order to save a few minutes when I set up a new site, I
    Will> made a .hosts file for each box, and began to use that hosts
    Will> file in the named.conf for every site on each box with that
    Will> particular IP

You meant to say you use the same zone file for each zone.

    Will> Is this OK DNS practice?  Will it cause me any problems down
    Will> the road?

How you manage your DNS servers is your business. If you decide to do
this in a way that's clumsy or easy to administer, that's your choice.
After all it's you who does that administration so whatever works for
you....

Personally, I recommend that each zone gets its own zone file. Even if
it's possible to make every zone "share" the one file. Eventually one
zone will differ from another in one way. This will then break your
one-zone-fits-all strategy and any administrative or maintenance
procedures surrounding it.