Bind | rndc.key
 

In my chrooted installation of bind, I found the file rndc.key. I found out later it is used for some kind of authentication. Could anyone please enlighten me with the following, or point me to a webpage (Google did not return anything worthy):

1. why is dns authentication necessary
2. how do I make use of this key
3. (although not related to security) why does service named status show an error when the dns server is not connected to the internet

Thanks for your answers in advance.

google has a huge number of hits, you really couldn't find anything?? http://www.tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=323 for example.

anyway...

1. so people can't change your dns records without permission.
2. read up on the docs as in link above
3. what error? there's no reason the service won't still be running without a connection.

also this is not about netowkring, but about a server. moved to Linux - Server.