Configuring DNS (BIND) in isolation

[Andrew Falanga]

Hello,

I have a need to make my own DNS system on an isolated network.  Years ago,
I administered DNS for a couple of different companies, but that was quite a
while ago and since I've turned to programming I haven't done much in the
way of network administration.  I recall from using BIND 4, when I was
reading up on it, that it is most certainly possible to configure an entire
DNS system on a totally isolated network.

Would I need zone files for the root, ".", zone and any other zones I
configure; e.g. "isolation."?  This would seem to be the way to go about it,
but I'm having some difficulty visualizing it in my head.  I just did some
searches online for the O'Reilly book "DNS & BIND".  I recall using this
book in the past and it was quite helpful (and unfortunately for me,
belonged to my former employers).  Would this book be a good reference for
this task as well, or are there better books that I might want to look into
getting for this?  Or, are there good on-line resources that could help me
muddle through?

Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Andy