Systems with dynamic IP addresses can be made available for access via the WAN, for example via the Internet, by using the services of commercially available dynamic DNS servers. Servers offering these services can assign the current IP address of a device to its FQDN name (Fully Qualified Domain Name, e.g. “http://MyDevice.dynDNS.org”).
The advantage is obvious: If you wish to carry out remote maintenance via WEBconfig/HTTP, the only information you need is the dynamic DNS name. Also, a DynDNS name can be used to establish VPN connections between remote sites that have changing IP addresses.
In order for the current IP address to match with the DynDNS name at all times, the IP address recorded on the DynDNS server must be constantly updated. This change is triggered by a dynamic DNS client.
- The DynDNS server, maintained by a DynDNS service provider on the Internet, is in contact with the Internet DNS servers.
- The Dynamic DNS client can run on a workstation as a separate client program. As an alternative, a dynamic DNS client is integrated into the device. It can make contact to any one of a number of dynamic-DNS service providers and, assuming that a user account has been set up, automatically update its current IP address for the DNS name translation.
