Microsoft DNS Server

By Joshua Erdman
Digital Foundation, inc.

Microsoft DNS Server is not only designed to handle all your DNS needs, it is also intended to replace the infamous WINS server that has plagued Windows networks. With client systems running Windows 2000 or newer, they prefer to use DNS over WINS (the difference between the two will be another article).

In a Windows 2000 Active Directory Domain DNS Servers play an integral part. They work together with the Domain Controllers to provide correct information to the clients on the location of important Active Directory Resources. In other words, if you want to be able to log in on your Windows 2000 Professional computer, it is the DNS server that tells your computer where to check the account credentials before you are logged on. Without at least one DNS server on a Windows 2000 Network, everything comes to a halt.

Because of this DNS reliance Microsoft has designed their DNS server to be robust and work seamlessly with the Active Directory Structure

The creation of domains, and records in the Graphical Interface is quite easy so we will not discuss that here. What we will talk about is the difference between an Active Directory Integrated Domain, a Standard Primary Domain, and a Standard Secondary Domain.

Active Directory Integrated

This simply means that the domain information is stored in the Active Directory database. The domain can only be Active Directory integrated if the DNS Server Service is running on a Domain Controller (which is usually the case). If the DNS Server Service is on a stand-alone server your only options are Primary and Secondary. You can have a domain hosted on multiple DNS Servers as Active Directory Integrated and both copies will be updated automatically using the built-in Active Directory updates.

Standard Primary Domain Records

This specifies that this domain entry on this server is the main or authority. You should never have the same domain be primary on 2 different servers if they are to have the exact same data (and you know what you are doing). Only one server should have the primary domain the others would have secondary domains, pulling (or replicating) the domain data from the server hosting the primary copy. The Main Difference between a Primary Record and an Active Directory Integrated Record is that a Primary Record is stored in a text file, as mentioned before, the Active Directory Integrated Domains are stored in the Active Directory itself.

Standard Secondary Domain Records

Secondary Domain Records are the "backup" of the main (or authoritative) record. The main record should be hosted as either a Primary Domain Record or an Active Directory Integrated Record (but you should not have one of each for the same domain on 2 different servers). The secondary record obtains its data from the Primary Standard Domain or an Active Directry Integrated Domain pulling (or replicating) the domain data from the server hosting the primary copy using a standard domain update request. There is no such thing as an Secondary Active Directory Integrated Domain.

References:

ICANN - Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers
IANA - Internet Assigned Numbers Authority

Article last reviewed: 01/30/2003

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Created by: Digital Foundation, inc.

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