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Hi Guys,
I need bit of assitant with Windows Server 2003 dns please
I have been working on lab at home, and i setup the local dns to be mct.com.au,however if i try to browse to the site www.mct.com.au.I'm unable to do so.Obiviously if i ping mct.com.au it points to the local dns server ,and not the the external public dns.
The only way it works is by adding the public dns to the host file.Is there an easier way of doing this?
Thank you
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This is a common problem with small networks. One of the DNS assumptions is that a domain name is unique. If on your local network, you create a DNS name-space that is the same as a name-space used on the internet you will have a problem unless you reconcile the two. The two options are:
Don't use your internet domain name as the primary domain for your local network. This is the solution I would recommend for most small business networks. The root domain name "local" is set aside specifically for local DNS name-spaces and therefore, it is usually good practice to use a domain name along the lines of companyname.local for your local domain.
Alternatively add host A records for all the resources that use your domain name on the internet. For example, if your domain is company.com and your ISP hosts your web pages on www.company.com, you'll need to add an A record for www pointing to the ISP webserver's IP address, on your local DNS server.
Thanks for the reply,
If i decide to rename the dns,does it mean that i have to rejoin the desktop machines onto the network again?and that it will recreate a new windows profile when logging on?
Ah! the fun and games of profiles. Don't you wish there was an easy way to say "this user will use this profile!".
It is possible the profile will change and/or the PC will have to rejoin the network. In my experience, it doesn't take much for a XP or win2000 machine to decide it should use a different profile. I think there is a good chance you'll have profile issues.
However, I think a bigger issue is what changing the domain name will do to active directory. I'd recommend a good hunt round microsoft.com for articles on changing the network DNS name.
Therefore, in your situation where you already have a working win2003 network in place, I think I'd recommend the second of the two options I posted before. That is create and maintain A host records for the external resources.
Hi ReggieB,
Thanks for your replies.I think id prefer to go with A host records
If i add host records to the server, does it mean that the server is vulnerable to the outside world ?
No. All that the DNS server does is return a name when you give it an IP address, and return an IP address when you give it a name.
At the moment, when you request the IP address of your external resource (e.g. www.companyname.com), the DNS server doesn't have a record for that node name so it fails. The DNS is the authority for your domain and therefore will not go to an external DNS server to see if that has the name - why should it, its meant to be the authoritive name resolver for the name space.
Therefore you need to tell your server a mapping to the external resource. You add a A record. By doing this, all you are doing is telling the DNS server "When someone requests the IP address for this node, return this address." The DNS does not go out and talk to the remote resource. Therefore you are not opening an extra vulnerability. All you are doing is allowing computers on your network to match a DNS name to a specific IP address.
The process then becomes: You attempt to open a connection to the remote resource via it's DNS name. Your computer sends a call to your DNS server saying "What is the IP address for this DNS name". The DNS server then searches its database for matching names and finds the A record. It then returns the IP address you've entered into the A record. Your PC now has the IP address and can use that address to connect to the remote resource.
ReggieB,
Thanks for the reply,
I was wondering how i would tell the server to map to the external address in windows server 2003? is it only a matter of right clicking on on the forward lookup and create a host record?
Right click on the zone you want to add the A record to and select "New Host (A)". On the next screen that pops up enter the node name and the IP address in the appropriate fields.
Note that name is the name specific to the node, so not the whole DNS name. If you are creating a host entry for www.mycompany.com in the mycompany.com zone, you enter a name of www, and the IP address of that network node.
ReggieB,
It's working now
I have removed the host files and added the host files again restarted the server ,and could ping both the mail server and the website
Thanks alot.
I have another question please?
When I get to the stage of entering the username and password it waits for 10 seconds and then I get an error message saying that the domain is unavailable, however if I wait 15-20 seconds before logging on, it logs me on straight away
It only occurs when you first boot up the machine ,and If I enter the username and password I get the domain is available but it's working fine the 2nd attempt and logs me onto the domain very quick
I don’t know if its dns issue ,but it sounds that the machine isn’t getting the ip address from the DHCP server quick enough. What’s your opinion please?
In the DHCP Scope i have dns server as 192.168.168.254 which is the server it self
what's interesting is
i was getting the error message every time I starup the machine,
however the message no longer appears since enabling 100mb full duplex on the network card, but now it sits there for 20-25 seconds and then it starts
applying personal settings instantely.Seems that when it starts up it doesn't
get the ip address from the dhcp server fast enough?
If I log off and log on again, it logs me on straight away.
It only occurs after boot
?
