Domain Name Server on Windows for locally hosted websites

I have a half-dozen domains (with associated domain names), hosted locally on Windows/Apache and accessible to the wider internet. At the moment, the name servers are provided by my domain name register at extra cost. I would like to host a domain name service (on the same machine as is hosting the websites).

I have tried BIND without success, I was unable to configure it correctly. I was confused about zones and the 开发者_StackOverflow社区syntax of configuration, as well as how to test if it is configured correctly!

Most guides seem directed at users who wish to replicate DNS entries for local caching, whereas I simply want to host a name server (locally) which directs users to my local machine, when they request any of the half-dozen websites I host.

Is there a simple application to host limited Domain Name Service this on Windows (Vista Business), or an obvious tutorial that I haven't found yet? Or was I on the right track with BIND and missing something?

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Bind is probably the best choice. The guides you're referring to are talking about configuring a caching resolver. What you want is an authoritative name server. Bind can be a pain to configure because there are so many options, but it's probably worth persevering.

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Depends what your budget is..

The DNS Server on Windows 2003 Server is pretty good and easy to configure.

There's a bunch of alternatives list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_DNS_server_software

Simple DNS Plus could maybe do the trick for your case, but I haven't tried it.

Another option is maybe to use Bind and try to find a GUI for it, there's a few existing, usually web based, like webmin and such...