I am setting up DNS in my network. when it's done, I will have 3 hosts, each with their own dns name:

toombs.ath.cx(192.168.0.254/*random ipv6*) - the linux one. it will be the gateway/fileserver/nameserver
ballistic.toombs.ath.cx(*random ipv6*) - a windows xp machine.
doug.toombs.ath.cx(192.168.0.3/no ipv6) - a win98se computer I named 'doug'. don't ask why...

the gateway, as you can see, works in both ipv4 and ipv6 so that my windows 98 one can get in the network too. This will be, at the same time, the coolest thing I have ever done and the most difficult.

But I have a lot of things unanswered. I need some answers, obviously, and what better place to ask then a forum?

#1 internal vs. external. what's the difference?
#2 reverse dns/forward dns. again, what's the difference?
#3 is it even possible to create sub-sub-domains with free dns names like toombs.ath.cx?
#4 I'm still very very confused as to how well windows xp can support ipv6. do i still need ipv4 on that computer too?

I think that's it. Thanks in advance for explaining all this to a poor old newbie like me...

#1 internal vs. external. what's the difference?
Most name server software allows you to configure "views", that is multiple copies of the same zones, but with different IPs depending on what IP the request comes from.

#2 reverse dns/forward dns. again, what's the difference?
Forward DNS maps names to IPs. Reverse DNS maps IPs to names.

#3 is it even possible to create sub-sub-domains with free dns names like toombs.ath.cx?
Technically yes, but what would be the point?

#4 I'm still very very confused as to how well windows xp can support ipv6. do i still need ipv4 on that computer too?
Ask a Windows forum

if you look at my network you can see I have names like ballistic.toombs.ath.cx. toombs.ath.cx would be my network domain and ballistic is a host within that domain. At least, that is how I see it. Oh yeah I got another (yes another) question. this one concerns dns over ipv6. right now, my linux computer isn't even acting as a dns server. right now, dns is provided by two ipv4 nameservers my ISP gave me. now. will those two dns servers be able to resolve AAAA records of ipv6-only hosts? if not, how do I resolve ipv6 hosts?

Well yes you could create a sub-domain for your internal hosts, but make sure you don't publish that information on a public DNS server. You would want to host that internally and not allow queries from the outside, but that's exactly what using zone "views" accomplishes, so I would recommend just learning how to use views instead.

In order to make IPv6 DNS queries you need to have an IPv6 DNS server. Most DNS servers do return IPv6 records (AAAA), but they don't support queries from IPv6 hosts. One of the root servers does support IPv6 queries now, so if you setup your own DNS server and enabled IPv6 support on it, your IPv6 hosts could use that DNS server.

ok here's a new schematic of my network then.
internal view (from 192.168.0.0/24 (it's 24 right...) or from *insert random ipv6 /64 allocation* and localhost)
domain: .toombs.lan
192.168.0.254/ipv6 address here - linux.toombs.lan
192.168.0.2/ipv6 address here - ballistic.toombs.lan
192.168.0.3/no ipv6 - doug.toombs.lan

external view (from anywhere else)
*random ipv4 and iv6 addresses here* - toombs.ath.cx (the linux server)

actually, the .ath.cx part might change because I'll need a free dns domain that supports ipv6... know any?

anyway, if there's anything in particular wrong with that setup pease let me know. Thankyou for all of the help so far. it's going great!

*bump*

(if this isn't allowed please let me know)