DNS in a Small Business

Server 2000 Environment

Frank Brown
Support Professional
Small Business Server
Microsoft Corporation
Introduction to the Domain Name
System
 Distributed hierarchical namespace
 Resolves IP addresses to a recognizable host
name (forward lookups)
 Resolves host names to IP addresses
(reverse lookups)
 Used to locate resources in a Microsoft®
Active Directory™ Domain

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Name Resolution Process
com

nwtraders.com

2
3

4
Contoso.local 5
us.nwtraders.com
1 6

Host 1 8 7 Host 2

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Zones vs. Domains
 Domain - a single node in the DNS
namespace and all of its descendant nodes
 Zone - the set of resource records that are
assigned to a particular name server
Domain Zone

Contoso.com Contoso.com
Zone Zone

Northamerica.Contoso.com Southamerica.Contoso.com Northamerica.Contoso.com Southamerica.Contoso.com

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DNS Servers
 Primary server
 Secondary server
 Master server
 Caching-only server

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DNS Zones and Lookup Types
 Zone files
 Standard primary
 Standard secondary
 Active Directory integrated
 Lookup types
 Forward lookup zones
 Reverse lookup zones

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DNS Zone Files
 Domain_Name.dns
 z.y.x.w.in-addr.arpa
 Cache.dns
 Boot.dns

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Resource Records
 Resource records
 SOA – start of authority
 NS – name server
 A – host
 MX – Mail Exchanger
 CNAME – canonical name (alias)
 SRV – service
 Resource record fields
 <host name> IN A <ip address of host>
 <service>.<protocol>.<domain> IN SRV <priority>
<weight> <port> <ip address of host>
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Resource Records Registered by
Windows 2000 Domain
Controllers
 _ldap.tcp.<DNSDomainName>
 _ldap.tcp.<SiteName>sites.<DNSDomainName>
 _ldap.tcp.pdc.ms-dcs.<DNSDomainName>
 _ldap.tcp.gc.ms-dcs.<DNSTreeName>
 _ldap.tcp.<SiteName>.sites.gc.ms-dcs.<DNSTreeName>
 _ldap.tcp.<DomainGuid>.domains.ms-dcs.<DNSTreeName>

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Zone Transfers
A zone transfer is initiated when:
 A primary DNS server sends notification of zone
changes to the secondary server or servers
 The secondary server queries a master DNS
server for changes to the zone file

DNS DNS
Server Server
(Primary) (Secondary)

Primary Zone nwtraders Secondary Zone

Database File Database File

support training

Zone 1
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New Features in Windows 2000
Implementation of DNS
 Service location for Active Directory - DNS is
used as a means to locate services in an
Active Directory-based domain
 Multimaster replication - allows DNS to take
advantage of the multimaster replication
feature of AD
 Support for dynamic updates - client records
are updated either directly or through DHCP
 Supports incremental zone transfers
 Integration with WINS and DHCP
 Enhanced caching and negative caching 11
Active Directory Integrated Zones
 Active Directory integrated zone data is:
 Stored as an Active Directory object
 Replicated as part of domain replication

Active Directory
Integrated Zone

Active Directory
contoso.c
om
DNS Server 12
Dynamic Update
 DNS dynamic update protocol
 Allows clients to automatically update DNS servers
 Can be used in conjunction with DHCP

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Request for IP address DHCP
Server

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Assign IP address
DHCP updates
of 192.168.16.33
Windows 2000
reverse resource record
client updates
for Windows 2000
forward resource
clients and both
record on DNS
resource records for
server
other clients
Computer1
192.168.16.33

DNS Server Zone Database 13

How to Install DNS
 Installed during Small Business Server setup
 Added during the installation of Active
Directory (DCPromo)
 Through Add/Remove Programs applet in
Control Panel (Windows Components,
Networking Services)

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Configuration of DNS During and
After SBS 2000 Installation
 Domain name considerations
 Using the Internet Connection Wizard
 Adding forwarders
 Configuring the DNS properties of the server
network cards
 Integration with DHCP

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Domain Name Considerations
If your company has separate
If your company has the same
internal and external namespaces
internal and external namespaces
org.
Internet Root Domain com.
edu.
Cache.dns “.” au.
ISP DNS

Internal Domain ...

...
contoso.local org. com. contoso.com
local. ... ...

Contoso.local Contoso.com

Private Network Private Network

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Using the Internet Connection
Wizard

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Adding Forwarders

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DNS Settings of the Server
Network Card(s)

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Advanced DNS Server Parameters

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Troubleshooting Tools
 Ping
 ping [-t] [-a] [-n count] [-l size] [-f] [-i TTL] [-v TOS] [-r count]
[-s count] [[-j host-list] | [-k host-list]] [-w timeout]
destination-list
 IPconfig
 ipconfig [/? | /all | /release [adapter] | /renew [adapter] |
/flushdns | /registerdns | /showclassid adapter | /setclassid
adapter [classidtoset] ]
 Nslookup
 DNS event log
 DNS trace log – enabled through the logging tab on
the DNS server
 DNS.log
 Saved in systemroot\System32\DNS folder
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Nslookup
 Use Nslookup to verify that the information
contained in resource records is correct
 Nslookup has two modes:
 Interactive
 Noninteractive
 Syntax:
 Nslookup [option] [computer-to-find] [server]

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Common DNS Issues in SBS 2000
 Microsoft Windows® 2000 clients cannot
logon
 SBS clients cannot resolve external DNS
names
 Server hangs at “Preparing Network
Connections”
 Netlogon errors 5775, 5781
 Mail delivery issues – cannot send/receive

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Best Practices
 Use the Internet Connection Wizard
 Use separate internal and external DNS
namespace (i.e. contoso.local, contoso.com)
 Configure all network cards to use the SBS
DNS server
 Configure the DNS server as a forwarder
 Configure zones to accept dynamic updates
 Delete the “.” folder if it exists to allow
internet name resolution
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Resources
 Windows 2000 DNS overview:
 http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/
howitworks/communications/nameadrmgmt/dnso
ver.asp
 Windows 2000 DNS white paper:
 http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techinfo/
howitworks/communications/nameadrmgmt/w2kd
ns.asp
 RFCs 1034, 1035, 2782, 2136

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Resources (2)
 Knowledge Base articles
 Q260371 “Troubleshooting Common Active
Directory Issues in Windows 2000”
 Q272674 “IP Address Configuration for Windows
2000 Domain Controllers”
 Q300202 “How to Configure DNS for Internet
Access”
 Q229840 “DNS Server’s Root Hints and Forwarder
Pages are Unavailable”
 Q247811 “How Domain Controllers are Located in
Windows 2000”
 Q249868 “Replacing Root Hints with the
Cache.DNS file”
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