DNS uses general troubleshooting and answers in the Active Directory

DNS is an important part of the Active Directory and is the primary name resolution tool in Windows 2000. Windows 2000 domain controllers dynamically register their own and Active Directory information into DNS, and domain controllers, servers, and workstations in the domain query DNS to obtain corresponding Active Directory information. If the DNS is not properly configured, problems can occur in the domain, such as replication between domain controllers, etc. At the same time, you may not be able to log in to the domain or join workstations or servers to the domain.

Question: What is the most common mistake when an administrator configures DNS in a domain with only one domain controller?
Answer: The domain controller does not point the DNS to itself in the network connection properties.
The "." zone exists in the forward query area of ​​the DNS
Other computers in the LAN do not point the DNS to the appropriate DNS server.

Question: Why do you want to point the domain controller's DNS to itself?
Answer: The NetLogon service in the domain controller registers some records on the DNS, allowing other domain controllers and computers to query Active Directory information. If the DNS of the domain controller is directed to the DNS server of the ISP (Internet service provider), the NetLogon service will not be able to properly register the Active Directory information, and an error message will be generated in the time viewer. The recommended DNS server is the domain controller itself.

Question: What information does the domain controller register in the DNS?
Answer: The NetLogon service registers all srv resource records for the domain controller. These records appear in the _msdcs, _sites, _tcp, and _udp folders in your domain name in the forward lookup zone of the DNS server. Other computers use these records to query domain-related information about the Active Directory.

Question: Why can't I use WINS for name resolution?
Answer: WIN2000 domain controller does not register Active Directory information with WINS, it can only register with DNS, and requires DNS server to support SRV record type.

Question: If I remove the ISP's DNS server in the DNS settings, can I still resolve Internet domain names like microsoft.com?
Answer: As long as there is no "." area in the forward query area, your DNS service will use the default root prompt server. The root prompt server is well known on the Internet and can resolve Internet domain names.

Question: What does the "." area in the forward query area mean?
Answer: She indicates that your DNS server is the root server and usually deletes it. If you don't delete it, you won't be able to use the valid root hint server for external name resolution.

Question: Do you have to set up a DNS forwarder?
Answer: No. By default, the Windows 2000 DNS server uses the root hint server to resolve Internet domain names. Of course, we can set up our DNS server to forward DNS queries to the ISP's DNS server. In most cases, this can improve the performance and efficiency of the DNS, but if the forwarded DNS server is a problem, it will lead to failure. The root hint server can provide some redundancy.

Question: Can I point the DNS of other Win2000-based computers in my domain to my ISP's DNS server?
Answer: Don't do this. If the DNS of these computers is pointed to your ISP's DNS server, they will not find the domain controller, then the operation of joining the domain and logging into the domain is problematic. The recommended DNS should point to the domain controller running the DNS service. If you are using DHCP on your LAN, you need to set the DNS zone selection.

Question: Do I need to point the DNS of a computer running Windows NT 4.0, Windows 95, Windows 98 to a Windows 2000 DNS server?
Answer: These old operating systems use NetBIOS names to find domain controllers. However, we still recommend pointing all computers' DNS to Windows 2000 DNS servers.

Question: What happens if my Windows 2000 DNS server is behind a proxy server or firewall?
Answer: If you can query the ISP's DNS server after the proxy server or firewall, the Windows 2000 DNS server can query the root prompt server. You need to open TCP and UDP port 53 on the proxy server or firewall.

Question: What should I do if the DNS of the domain controller points to itself but the SRV resource record is not registered?
Answer: Check your namespace and run the command Netdiag.exe /fix. To run this command, you need to install the support tools from the Windows 2000 Server CD-ROM.

Question: How should I set up DNS for other domain controllers in my domain?
Answer: For additional domain controllers running DNS services in the domain, the recommended setting is to point to the original DNS server (the first domain controller in the domain).

Question: How to set up DNS for subdomains?
Answer: Create a delegation record for the subdomain on the original DNS server, and then create a secondary area on the subdomain's DNS server to transfer the area on the original DNS server. Point the subdomain's DNS server to itself.