Proxy server vs. DNS Forwarders

If websurfing behind a proxy server affords a degree of Internet anonymity
because the proxy goes out on behalf of the client and returns Inet resources
to the client (and cahces them), is the same degree of anonymity provided by
simply having a DNS server use forwarders to resolve all resources external
to your inet domain(s)?

Thanks
--
JCB\1059

Phillip
Mon Feb 06 11:51:16 CST 2006

DNS Forwarders have nothing to do with "anonymity".

The purpose of a DNS Forwarder is simply the "next DNS" to use if the
current DNS you are using does not contain a "match" to the URL that
requires the resolution.

For example, you request www.google.com and the FQDN goes to your own DNS
Server. It discovers that google.com is not in its database, so it goes to
the Forwarders List and grabs the first DNS listed and relays the request to
google.com to it. The process repeats over and over until, hopefully,
somebody's DNS Server, somewhere along the way, knows what to do with
google.com and then returns the IP# for google.com back to the requesting
user.

--
Phillip Windell [MCP, MVP, CCNA]
www.wandtv.com
-----------------------------------------------------
Understanding the ISA 2004 Access Rule Processing
http://www.isaserver.org/articles/ISA2004_AccessRules.html

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Guidance
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/techinfo/Guidance/2004.asp
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/techinfo/Guidance/2000.asp

Microsoft Internet Security & Acceleration Server: Partners
http://www.microsoft.com/isaserver/partners/default.asp

Deployment Guidelines for ISA Server 2004 Enterprise Edition
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/prodtechnol/isa/2004/deploy/dgisaserver.mspx
-----------------------------------------------------



"JCB_MCSE_wannabe" <JCBMCSEwannabe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:CF112C11-1703-4744-A1CA-F0DC957630DC@microsoft.com...
> If websurfing behind a proxy server affords a degree of Internet anonymity
> because the proxy goes out on behalf of the client and returns Inet
resources
> to the client (and cahces them), is the same degree of anonymity provided
by
> simply having a DNS server use forwarders to resolve all resources
external
> to your inet domain(s)?
>
> Thanks
> --
> JCB\1059

Roger
Mon Feb 06 23:25:58 CST 2006

DNS only translates between host/domain naming and IPs
Visiting this or that as for URL content is done with IPs, but how
the URL names are changed to IPs is not really something that is
usually tracked (relative to one's behaviors being anonymous or
not). A proxy fetches the URL content for one (using its IP),
and the proxy's DNS services are likely also the way the name
in the URL was translated to an IP. Whether that DNS service
knew the translation, worked it out from the root hosts, or used
a forwarder would only be relevant if the investigation was also
tracking this info.

"JCB_MCSE_wannabe" <JCBMCSEwannabe@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:CF112C11-1703-4744-A1CA-F0DC957630DC@microsoft.com...
> If websurfing behind a proxy server affords a degree of Internet anonymity
> because the proxy goes out on behalf of the client and returns Inet
> resources
> to the client (and cahces them), is the same degree of anonymity provided
> by
> simply having a DNS server use forwarders to resolve all resources
> external
> to your inet domain(s)?
>
> Thanks
> --
> JCB\1059