04 Jul 2008 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 build 122 released
Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 build 122 is now available at http://www.simpledns.com/download.aspx
For details on the updates and changes in this build, please see release notes.
This is NOT a critical update.
We recommend that all users update to this build, but there is no urgency unless you are directly affected by the issues addressed by this update.
13 May 2008 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.1 BETA now available
Version 5.1 is a smaller update compared to the v. 5.0 release, but it still has some very significant new features.
Check it out at http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1246
For beta download and information see http://www.simpledns.com/beta.aspx
22 Mar 2008 - DNS Blacklist plug-in released for Simple DNS Plus
A new plug-in for hosting DNS blacklists (a.k.a. "DNSBL" / "RBL") with Simple DNS Plus is now available for download.
This plug-in is highly optimized to host DNS blacklists with millions of entries very fast and with very low memory usage.
This is a free add-on for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0.
For more details see KB1241
We are also releasing a new freeware DNS Blacklist Editor tool for editing standard DNS blacklist files (RBLDNSD / RBLDNS format), and compiling such files for use with the new plug-in.
07 Mar 2008 - Update to the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM
We have just released version 1.1 of the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM.
Updates in this version:
1) Support for new SPF-record type (requires Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 or later).
2) Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 code base (various optimizations and bug fixes).
3) Included help file/documentation updated to VS2008 style.
Version 1.1 is now available for download:
sdnsapi-setup.exe (662 KB)
If you have a previous release installed, simply run above installation file to upgrade.
For more information about the Simple DNS Plus API for .NET and COM, see the on-line documentation at http://www.simpledns.com/help/api/
02 Mar 2008 - Developing plug-ins for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0
We have just published 3 screen casts demonstrating how to create a plug-in for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 using Visual Basic.NET and Visual Studio 2005.
Check it out at http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1238
01 Mar 2008 - PHP and Simple DNS Plus
Recently we are getting more questions about accessing Simple DNS Plus from PHP code running on both Windows and Linux web-servers.
There are several options for updating DNS data in Simple DNS Plus through scripting and programming - see KB1192.
If you want to update Simple DNS Plus from PHP on a Windows/IIS web-server, the easiest option is probably the Simple DNS Plus .NET/COM API.
The latest version of PHP supports .NET objects - see http://www.php.net/manual/en/ref.dotnet.php
You can also update Simple DNS Plus from PHP directly through the HTTP API.
We have just added a PHP code example for this at http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1135#php
This also works if your PHP web-site is running on a Linux server or your Windows server does not have .NET.
Above is the first PHP code sample we have published, but we will try to include PHP in our code samples going forward.
28 Feb 2008 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 plug-In library documentation
For users and third parties who wish to create plug-ins for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0, we are now publishing detailed documentation for the plug-in library (sdnsplugin.dll) included in the standard Simple DNS Plus installation:
On-line version / Download CHM version (180 KB)
We are also working on a tutorial or possibly a screen-cast describing the process of creating a plug-in for Simple DNS Plus, and will be making this available shortly.
26 Feb 2008 - "MyIP" plug-in released for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0
This plug-in simply returns the IP address of the client that sent the DNS request (as seen by Simple DNS Plus).
This can be used for example by dynamic IP clients to figure out their current IP address - or simply as a diagnostics tool.
This plug-in is obviously very simple and is a nice example of how to develop plug-ins for Simple DNS Plus.
Therefore we are also making the source code (C#) available for download so that anyone interested in creating their own plug-ins for Simple DNS Plus can study this.
We are working on additional documentation and tutorials for creating plug-ins for Simple DNS Plus and will be making this available shortly.
Download the "MyIP" plug-in and source code from http://www.simpledns.com/getplugins.aspx
NOTE: This plug-in requires Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 build 110 (released earlier today) or later.
09 Feb 2008 - MySQL plug-in released for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0
A new plug-in which queries a MySQL Server for host records and optionally reverse records is now available for download.
SQL queries are executed asynchronously (in a separate thread) and therefore won't slow down other requests not using the plug-in.
This plug-in is a free add-on for Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0.
Download from http://www.simpledns.com/getplugins.aspx
For more details on this plug-in see KB1225
06 Feb 2008 - New reseller in California, USA
We are very happy to introduce MyWebDoor as our authorized reseller in California, USA.
MyWebDoor will sell and provide local support for all JH Software products and services including Simple DNS Plus and Simple Failover.
05 Feb 2008 - Internet DNS root server list update - Now with IPv6
The Internet DNS root server list has just been extended with IPv6 addresses for 6 of the 13 root servers.
See the official announcement at http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-04feb08.htm
All DNS servers (or technically "DNS resolvers") need a list of the Internet DNS root servers in order to resolve any Internet domain name.
This list is referred to as the "root hints file" and is typically provided with the DNS server installation, which is also the case with Simple DNS Plus.
The addition of IPv6 addresses to the root server list marks a major step towards the IPv6 Internet.
For the first time it is now possible to resolve DNS for a domain name entirely through IPv6.
This of course requires that TLD and lower level DNS servers implement IPv6 as well, but this has already been available for .com and several other TLDs for some time.
As for Simple DNS Plus, the timing almost couldn't better better!
We just released Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 with full support for IPv6 a few weeks ago.
The updated root server list file (named.root) is included with Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 build 106 and later.
You can download the latest build from http://www.simpledns.com/download.aspx
If you have the Options dialog / DNS / Miscellaneous / "Keep root server list updated automatically" option turned on, Simple DNS Plus will automatically keep the root server list file up to date.
28 Jan 2008 - On-line DNS delegation tracing tool
A new on-line tool for tracing DNS delegation is now available at http://www.simpledns.com/lookup-dg.aspx
This tool traces the DNS delegation for a domain name from the Internet DNS root servers down to the DNS servers responsible (authoritative) for the domain.
This can be very useful to find out if a domain is delegated correctly.
It can also be used to trace reverse DNS delegation. Just enter an IP address (IPv4 or IPv6), and it will trace the delegation for the reverse DNS PTR-record name for the IP address.
Other on-line DNS tools also available:
Remote DNS Lookup: http://www.simpledns.com/lookup.aspx
Lookup GPS coordinates in DNS: http://www.simpledns.com/lookup-loc.aspx
17 Jan 2008 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 released
The all new Simple DNS Plus version 5.0 is here!
This release has more new features and enhancements than any previous update.
For all the details, check out the "What's new" page at http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1215
If you purchased (or upgraded) your current Simple DNS Plus license within the last year (January 17th 2007 or later), the upgrade to v. 5.0 is free. Simply re-use your current license key with the new version.
Otherwise, upgrade pricing and instructions are available at http://www.simpledns.com/upgrade.aspx
If you don't have your license key or if you are unsure when your license was purchased, you can retrieve the license key and status at http://www.simpledns.com/lostkey.aspx
Version 5.0 is available for download from
http://www.simpledns.com/download.aspx
Upgrade instructions are available on the same web page.
IMPORTANT:
Version 5.0 is backwards compatible for the most part - but NOT 100%.
Before upgrading, make sure to check the "Retired features and breaking changes" list at http://www.simpledns.com/kb.aspx?kbid=1204
We hope you like what we have done with Simple DNS Plus in v. 5.0, and as always, we look forward to hearing your comments and suggestions.
15 Jan 2008 - End-of-support for older Simple DNS Plus versions
To help customers and partners with product planning and information technology decisions, we are hereby announcing the end-of-support for older Simple DNS Plus versions.
As of April 10th we will no longer be providing support and software updates for versions 3.60 and older.
For details please see Simple DNS Plus Support Life-Cycle Policy.
We highly recommend that all users of older versions upgrade to the current version of Simple DNS Plus.
Users who upgrade to v. 4.00 now will automatically get a free upgrade to version 5.0 when this is released.
14 Jan 2008 - Community Forums re-opened
Our Simple DNS Plus community forums are now open once again at http://www.simpledns.com/forums.aspx
The server which previously hosted our forums died on January 5th 2008 because of a faulty RAID disk set.
Unfortunately we have lost all the conversation data of the old forums.
We sincerely apologize to everyone we contributed to the old forums - we highly appreciate and value your participation.
We are now re-opening our forums using a new forum software Yet Another Forum which we think will be easier to use, and hopefully simpler to backup.
We believe community forums are a great way for users of our software products to communicate with us and each other.
So please go ahead and sign up, ask your questions, and post your suggestions.
07 Jan 2008 - Server failure - Missing forum and KB/news images
Over this past weekend (January 5th) our main Internet server died because of a faulty RAID disk set.
So for the past few days we have been working round the clock to get everything running again on a new server.
We had good backups of the all critical data (orders, licenses, etc.) and of most of our web-sites etc., but unfortunately we have lost the conversation data from our community forums and image files associated with KB and news articles.
This means that our community forums will be closed for a while as we want to take this "opportunity" to explorer different forum options before re-opening this.
In the mean time we are of course ready to answer any questions you have about our products and services by e-mail.
Also, many KB and news articles are now missing images or only have blurred/miniature versions.
We will probably wait until after the release of Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 to replace the KB images, since many of these will need to be updated with new screen shots from v. 5.0 anyway.
We sincerely apologize for the mess - and yes - we have just signed up our new server for a Mozy Pro backup account.
13 Dec 2007 - Simple DNS Plus on Windows Home Server
Windows Home Server is a scaled down version of Windows Server 2003 with some nice home networking features added.
Like any other version of Windows 98/2000 and later, Windows Home Server runs Simple DNS Plus very nicely.
We are considering making an actual Windows Home Server Add-In edition of Simple DNS Plus at a later time, but for now to install Simple DNS Plus on Windows Home Server you need to either access the server computer directly or through a Remove Desktop connection and install it as you would on a normal Windows computer (not through the "Home Server Connector" software).
07 Nov 2007 - Internet DNS root server list update
The IP address of one of the Internet DNS root servers was changed on November 1st.
For the official announcement see http://blog.icann.org/?p=227
This is actually a pretty rare event (years between) because all DNS servers on the Internet depend on the root DNS server IP addresses being static.
There is a total of 13 DNS root server IP addresses on the Internet, and DNS servers (or technically "DNS resolvers") need a list of these 13 IP addresses in order to resolve any Internet domain name.
This list is referred to as the "root hints file" and is typically provided with the DNS server installation, which is also the case with Simple DNS Plus.
Therefore, for optimal operation, DNS servers must be updated with this new root server IP address before the old address is turned off in 6 months.
So how do you update your DNS server?
For Simple DNS Plus (v. 3.00 and later) the answer is; you don't need to do anything!
By default, Simple DNS Plus automatically pulls a fresh root server list (from a root server) once per week and stores it in the "named.root" file under the "data" sub-directory.
So if your Simple DNS Plus server hasn't updated this already, it should do so within a few days.
The upcoming Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 will of course have the updated root server list as part of the installation.
For most other DNS server software packages however, you will need to manually update the root hints file.
01 Oct 2007 - Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 BETA released
Help us perfect the upcoming Simple DNS Plus v. 5.0 by trying out the BETA and letting us know how it works and performs for you.
For download and more info see http://www.simpledns.com/v50beta.aspx
For a list of new features in v. 5.0 see http://www.simpledns.com/newinv5.aspx
We will be releasing updates pretty frequenty here in the early stages, so make sure to check above web-page on a regular basis for the latest version - or subscribe to the beta RSS feed: http://www.jhsoft.com/rss.ashx?sdnsbeta
We hope you enjoy the beta and look forward to hearing your comments.
29 Sep 2007 - AVG AntiVirus false positive
Since friday morning (September 28th), we have received a number of support requests saying that AVG AntiVirus reported a "Trojan Horse Dropper" in sdnsmain.exe - the main server module of Simple DNS Plus.
This is a false positive - there is NO virus or trojan horse in Simple DNS Plus.
We contacted AVG/Grisoft about this issue and it appears that they have corrected it in their latest virus signature update.
AVG AntiVirus may have quarantined "sdnsmain.exe" rendering Simple DNS Plus unable to start.
You should be able to fix this simply by restoring the "sdnsmain.exe" file.
See also the related disussion in our forum
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