Windows Server 2003 : Configuring Zone Properties and Transfers (part 1)

1. Exploring DNS Zone Properties

The primary means to configure zone settings is through the zone properties dialog box, which is accessible through the DNS console. Each properties dialog box for a standard zone has five tabs: General, Start Of Authority (SOA), Name Servers, WINS, and Zone Transfers. Properties dialog boxes for Active Directory–integrated zones include a sixth tab, Security, that allows you to configure access permissions for the zone.

1.1 General Tab

The General tab, shown in Figure 1, allows you to temporarily suspend name resolution and to configure four basic features: zone type (including Active Directory integration), zone file name, dynamic updates, and aging.

Figure 1. General tab

1.2 Zone Status

The Pause button allows you to pause and resume name resolution for the zone. Note that this feature does not allow you to pause or resume the DNS Server service.

1.3 Zone Type

Clicking Change opens the Change Zone Type dialog box, which allows you to reconfigure the zone as a primary, secondary, or stub zone. Selecting the Store The Zone In Active Directory check box in the Change Zone Type dialog box allows you to store the primary zone information in the Active Directory database instead of in the WINDOWS\System32\Dns folder. In Active Directory–integrated zones, zone data is replicated through Active Directory.

1.4 Zone Replication

When you opt to store zone information in the Active Directory database, the Change button for Replication becomes enabled. This button allows you to configure replication parameters for the Active Directory–integrated zone.

Clicking the Change button opens the Change Zone Replication Scope dialog box, shown in Figure 2. This dialog box allows you to determine among which servers in the Active Directory forest the zone data should be replicated.

Figure 2. Setting the zone replication scope

Table 1 describes the four options available in this dialog box.

Table 1. Zone Replication Options
Options	Description
To All DNS Servers In The Active Directory Forest	Replicates zone data to all DNS servers running on domain controllers in the Active Directory forest. Usually, this option provides the broadest scope of replication.
To All DNS Servers In The Active Directory Domain	Replicates zone data to all DNS servers running on domain controllers in the Active Directory domain.
To All Domain Controllers In The Active Directory Domain	Replicates zone data to all domain controllers in the Active Directory domain. If you want Microsoft Windows 2000 DNS servers to load an Active Directory zone, you must select this setting for that zone.
To All Domain Controllers Specified In The Scope Of The Following Application Directory Partition	Replicates zone data according to the replication scope of the specified application directory partition. For a zone to be stored in the specified application directory partition, the DNS server hosting the zone must be enlisted in the specified application directory partition.

When deciding which replication option to choose, consider that the broader the replication scope, the greater the network traffic caused by replication. For example, if you choose to have Active Directory–integrated DNS zone data replicated to all DNS servers in the forest, this setting produces greater network traffic than does replicating the DNS zone data to all DNS servers in a single Active Directory domain in that forest. On the other hand, replicating zone data to all DNS servers in a forest can improve forestwide name resolution performance and increase fault tolerance.

1.5 Application Directory Partitions and DNS Replication

An application directory partition is a directory partition that is replicated among a specified subset of domain controllers running Windows Server 2003.

Built-in application directory partitions

For DNS, two built-in application directory partitions exist for each Active Directory domain: DomainDnsZones and ForestDnsZones. The DomainDnsZones application directory partition is replicated among all DNS servers that are also domain controllers in an Active Directory domain. The ForestDnsZones application directory partition is replicated among all DNS servers that are also domain controllers in an Active Directory forest. Each of these application directory partitions is designated by a DNS subdomain and an FQDN. For example, in an Active Directory domain named bern.lucernepublishing.com whose root domain in the Active Directory forest is lucernepublishing.com, the built-in DNS application partition directories are specified by these FQDNs: DomainDnsZones.bern.lucernepublishing.com and ForestDnsZones.lucernepublishing.com.

When you select the To All DNS Servers In The Active Directory Forest option in the Change Zone Replication Scope dialog box, you are in fact choosing to store DNS zone data in the ForestDnsZones application directory partition. When you select the To All DNS Servers In The Active Directory Domain option, you are choosing to store DNS zone data in the DomainDnsZones application directory partition.

Note

If either of these application directory partitions is deleted or damaged, you can recreate them in the DNS console by right-clicking the server node and selecting Create Default Application Directory Partitions. If the default DNS application directory partitions are currently available, the Create Default Application Directory Partitions option will not be available.

Creating custom application directory partitions
You can also create your own custom application directory partitions for use with DNS and enlist chosen domain controllers in your network to host replicas of this partition.
To accomplish this task, first create the partition by typing the following command:
```
dnscmd servername /createdirectorypartition FQDN
										
```
Then enlist other DNS servers in the partition by typing the following command:
```
dnscmd servername /enlistdirectorypartition FQDN
										
```
For example, to create an application directory partition named SpecialDns on a computer named Server01 in the Active Directory domain contoso.com, type the following command:
```
dnscmd server01 /createdirectorypartition SpecialDns.contoso.com
```
To enlist a computer named Server02 in the application directory partition, type the following command:
```
dnscmd server02 /enlistdirectorypartition SpecialDns.contoso.com
```
Note
You must be a member of the Enterprise Admins group to create an application directory partition.

To store DNS data in a custom application directory partition, select the fourth (bottom) option in the Change Zone Replication Scope dialog box, and specify the custom application directory partition in the drop-down list box. This option—To All Domain Controllers Specified In The Scope Of The Following Application Directory Partition—is available only if custom application directory partitions are available for DNS on your network.
Replication with Windows 2000 servers
Because application directory partitions are not available on Windows 2000 domain controllers, you must select the third option in the Change Zone Replication Scope dialog box if you want the zone data to be read by Windows 2000 DNS servers. With this option—To All Domain Controllers In the Active Directory Domain—data is not replicated merely among all DNS server domain controllers, but among all domain controllers regardless of whether they are also DNS servers.