Step-by-Step Guide for DNS in Small Networks
Domain Name System (DNS) is a system for naming computers and network services that maps those names to network addresses and organizes them into a hierarchy of domains. DNS naming is used on TCP/IP networks, such as the Internet and most corporate networks, to locate computers and services by using user-friendly names. When a user enters the DNS name of a computer in an application, DNS can look up the name and provide other information that is associated with the computer, such as its IP address or services that it provides for the network. This process is called name resolution.
Name systems, such as DNS, make it easier to use network resources by providing users with a way to refer to a computer or service by a name that is easy to remember. DNS looks up that name and provides the numeric address that operating systems and applications require to identify the computer on a network. For example, users enter www.microsoft.com instead of the numeric IP address of the server to identify a Microsoft Web server on the Internet. The name is resolved when the DNS client software on the user's computer sends a request to a DNS server that the user's computer is configured to use. If the DNS server has been configured to respond authoritatively with the address of the requested host, it replies to the request directly. Otherwise, the DNS server passes the request on to another server that can provide the address or a referral to another DNS server that can help provide the address. This is where the name hierarchy comes into play: If a DNS server does not know which server is configured with the address, it can request the server that is responsible for maintaining addresses of servers at each level in the hierarchy until it locates the authoritative server. For example, if the DNS server does not know which server is responsible for the server named www.microsoft.com, the DNS server can ask the server that is responsible for supplying the names of DNS servers in the .com domain to provide the address of the server that is responsible for providing the addresses of DNS servers in the microsoft.com domain. The original DNS server can then query that server for the address of the computer named www.microsoft.com.
DNS requires little ongoing maintenance for small businesses, which typically have one to four DNS servers. (Medium-size organizations usually have 4 to 14 DNS servers.) DNS problems, however, can affect server availability for your entire network. Most DNS problems occur because DNS settings are configured incorrectly or obsolete records remain on the DNS servers. By following the procedures in this guide, you can avoid such problems when you deploy DNS in a simple network that is based on the Windows Server® 2008 operating system.
This guide explains how to install and configure a basic DNS implementation in a network that consists of a single, new Active Directory® Domain Services (AD DS) domain. The guide then addresses some advanced issues that medium-size organizations may have to consider. Finally, it includes some basic DNS troubleshooting steps that you can take if you suspect that your environment has problems with DNS.
In this guide
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