README

Simple Management for BIND
 by Ole Myhre <ole@norlinux.com>, Ben Lentz <ben.lentz@gmail.com>

* What is smbind?

  Smbind is a tool for people who want to administer their
  BIND DNS servers from a web interface, and delegate zones to users.

* Why use smbind versus the 250 other web-based BIND management softwares on SourceForge?

  smbind is 100% PHP, with no dependancy on perl (not that I don't love perl!). 
  It also features error checking using bind's built-in named-checkconf and 
  named-checkzone binaries, removing single records that do not pass their criteria,
  and writing only the valid records to the zone files.

* Does smbind use cron, like the 250 other web-based BIND management softwares on SourceForge?
  No way. Changes are committed out of the database on-the-fly, on-demand from the
  web interface. Changes are instant, so there's no waiting around for cron to kick in.
  Changes to the zone data are applied without bringing BIND down, through the use of 
  "rndc reload". This means changes can be applied while BIND is "hot".

* Why use smbind, and not the SQL-based PowerDNS?

  BIND is todays standard for DNS-servers. It's stable, robust and secure.
  Smbind extends BIND's functionality with a SQL backend. You can make changes
  directly in SQL, and let smbind update your zone files.

* What databases are supported?

  All of them :)
  Smbind uses php's PEAR DB modules. Any database supported by PEAR DB will
  be work with Smbind. See http://pear.php.net/package/DB for a complete list.

* Where did the template and/or graphics come from?

  The html template is based on "Blue Curve" from the http://www.ubooty.co.uk/ site.
  The binary globe graphic is based on "Data across the globe" by Daniel Gilbey 
  from http://www.dreamstime.com/