State of Minnesota DNS is available through MNIT to all customers connected to MNET. Customers may configure devices with the following DNS Resolver IPs:
156.98.1.1
207.171.71.71
207.171.88.188
Customers registering new domain names may use the following server names and IPs:
ns1.state.mn.us 192.112.135.1
ns2.state.mn.us 192.112.136.1
ns3.state.mn.us 192.112.137.1
MNIT provides hosted Authoritative and Delegated Zones in enterprise DNS services for MNET customers. We do not host or support secondary name services.
How Domains are Managed
MNIT is the domain manager and offers DNS for the following domains:
state.mn.us
mn.gov
minnesota.gov
k12.mn.us
lib.mn.us
The mn.gov and minnesota.gov domains are configured to automatically track those of the state.mn.us domain.
k12.mn.us: Naming Conventions & Delegation
K-12 schools and are required to register under the .us domain
For K-12 districts, MNIT delegates authority at the district level. Domain names are typically in one of the following forms:
hostname.districtname.k12.mn.us
hostname.districtnumber.k12.mn.us
For K-12 charter schools, domain names are typically in one of the following forms:
hostname.schoolname.charter.k12.mn.us (delegated by MNIT at the school level)
hostname.schoolname.district.k12.mn.us (delegated by MNIT to the sponsoring school district)
For private schools, MNIT delegates authority at the school level. Domain names are typically in the form:
hostname.schoolname.pvt.k12.mn.us
lib.mn.us: Naming Convention
For libraries, domain names are typically in the form:
libraryname.lib.mn.us
Reverse Domains: What You Need to Know
The in-addr.arpa and ip6.arpa domains handle the task of converting IP addresses back into names. MNIT DNS servers are configured as the primary for MNET assigned address reverse lookup domains.
That means MNIT will not delegate any zones for in-addr.arpa and ip6.arpa domains.
Domain Authority: Best practices
Any DNS server that contains a complete copy of the domain's zone file is considered to be authoritative for that domain.
A complete copy of a zone file must have:
A valid Start of Authority (SOA) record
Valid Name Server (NS) records for the domain
The listed NS records should match the servers listed in the SOA record.
Servers listed in the zone file but not in the SOA record are called lame servers, and should be avoided.
It is standard practice to have a primary authoritative DNS server and one or more secondary authoritative DNS servers.
The secondary server and the primary server should be on different IP subnets and the hardware should be located in different physical locations, reducing the risk of a system outage.
MNIT offers support for IPv6 by request with the ability to provision IPv6 MPLS VPN to any place service is provided. Please contact the Service Desk for requests and assistance.
Network Time Protocol (NTP) is a system to synchronize time of day computer clocks across the Internet and is offered to customers by MNIT. Customers can configure devices as follows.
In single reference mode the client receives time synchronization from a single source. This sources for this mode are:
ntp.state.mn.us
your local MNET gateway address
In dual reference mode the client received time synchronization from two sources. This mode is only required for applications with high precision timing needs. The sources for this mode are:
