really simple DNS question.
 

Just simply trying to add my local dns server to my ubuntu server box. Whats the command to do so? Ifconfig?

Add them to /etc/resolv.conf -- the syntax is:

nameserver <IP of DNS server>

You need one such line per server.

How do I get into the .conf file to actually add it?

from the etc directory, edit resolv.conf doesn't work..??:(

Try the nano or pico text editors, one of which should be installed on your system (they're virtually identical from a user standpoint. You will need to be root, then type:

nano /etc/resolv.conf

Add your DNS server (add it add the top if you want it to be the primary DNS that Linux tries to use) and then press ctrl+o to save the file and ctrl+x to exit.

thank you my good sir.any idea why it would have a slower response time in pinging the same dns server by its netbios name(dc1)? I could ping the local address just fine 192.168.1.2, but when i ping it by its real name(dc1), it ms response time is a bit slower.

I'm not really sure, but isn't NetBIOS a Windows thing? Maybe there's a little extra processing time doing the NetBIOS lookup? Or it might just be random depending on how heavily loaded your network is. Is the name server on the same network segment as the host you're trying to ping from?

Of course, they are all on the same scheme indeed. Not segregated whatsoever.