Internal Domain Information (OEM)

The Internal Domain Information is used to create your Windows Small Business Server 2003 domain. The default settings for your internal domain are designed to separate your local (or internal) network from the Internet (or external network). The values are typical for a small business and are required for several tools and applications, such as Exchange server or Windows SharePoint Services. If you want to use different values, see "Changing the default values" later in this topic.

A domain is a way to manage access to resources on your network (for example, user accounts, client computers, shared folders, or printers). Using the .local label for the full DNS name for the internal domain is a more secure configuration because the .local label is not registered for use on the Internet. This separates your internal domain from your public Internet domain name. It is recommended that you not use the extension of your registered Internet domain name (for example, .com, .net, and .biz) as this can result in name resolution issues. If you want to use different values, see "Changing the default values" later in this topic.

Important

  • If you have Macintosh client computers that are running the Macintosh OS X version 10.2 operating system or later, and you are using the .local label for the full DNS name of your internal domain, then those client computers cannot discover other computers that are members of the network and that use the .local label. Macintosh OS X version 10.2 uses the .local label for its Rendezvous service. To work around this, it is recommended that you do not use the .local label for the full DNS name of your internal domain. For more information, see "Changing the default values."
  • If you have Macintosh client computers that are running the Macintosh OS X version 10.3 operating system or later, and you are using the .local label for the full DNS name of your internal domain, then those client computers cannot discover other computers that are members of the network and that use the .local label. Macintosh OS X version 10.3 uses the .local label for its Rendezvous service. To work around this, it is recommended that you do not use the .local label for the full DNS name of your internal domain. If you must use the .local label, then you must also configure settings on the Macintosh computers so they can discover other computers on the network. For more information about how to configure client computers running Macintosh OS X version 10.3 or later, see “Connecting Macintosh Computers to a Windows Small Business Server 2003 Network” on the Microsoft Web site at https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkID=39689.
  • After you install Windows Small Business Server 2003, you cannot change the settings specified in Full DNS name for internal domain or NetBIOS domain name. These settings are used to configure server applications during Setup. If you want to change these names, you must reinstall Windows Small Business Server 2003.
Item Description

Full DNS name for internal domain

Specifies the Domain Name System (DNS) name of your local domain. Computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or a member of the Windows Server 2003 family use this name to identify the domain.

It is recommended that you use the default full DNS name for the internal domain. The default value is based on the name you specified for your organization earlier in Setup with the .local label added, for example, organization.local. Spaces or nonstandard characters in your organization name are excluded. If your organization name contains all nonstandard characters, the default DNS name for the internal domain is smallbusiness.local.

If you want to use a DNS name for internal domain other than the default name, see "Changing the default values" later in this topic.

NetBIOS domain name

Specifies the NetBIOS name of your local domain. The NetBIOS domain name is used to identify the domain by Windows NT 4.0 and earlier and Windows 98 and earlier.

It is recommended that you use the default NetBIOS name provided. The default NetBIOS name is the first 15 valid characters of the first label of your full DNS name for the internal domain.

If you want to change the NetBIOS name, see "Changing the default values."

Changing the default values

Before changing the default values, carefully review the considerations and requirements for each of the internal domain settings.

Item Considerations Requirements

Full DNS name for internal domain

If you want to use a full DNS name for the internal domain other than the default, it is strongly recommended that you use the .local label for the extension. Using an internal domain name different from your registered Internet domain name is a more secure configuration. Using a publicly registered Internet domain name can result in name resolution issues.

Important

  • If your Windows Small Business Server network contains client computers running Mac OS X 10.2 or later, change the .local label for the default domain name to a label other than .local. For example, use .lan or .office as the label. For more information, on a computer with Internet access, see the Apple Web site: https://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=201
    Search the Apple Knowledge Base for the article "Mac OS X 10.2: About Your Computer's Rendezvous Name."

The Full DNS name for internal domain can contain letters (a-z, A-Z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens, but not spaces. Use a period (.) to separate each of the discrete parts of a domain name, commonly known as labels. A DNS name cannot have all labels be all numbers and cannot be longer than 63 characters in length.

Important

  • The DNS name can only contain two labels separated by a period. For example, smallbusiness.local is a valid DNS name. If you must use more than two labels for your DNS name, you must reinstall Windows Small Business Server 2003. To do so, you must first complete Setup, and then follow the instructions in Chapter 3B, "Reinstalling Windows Small Business Server 2003," of Completing Your Windows Small Business Server Setup.

NetBIOS domain name

For the NetBIOS domain name, it is recommended that you use the first label of your full DNS name for internal domain (the full DNS name excluding the .local extension). This provides consistency between the full DNS name for the internal domain name used by client computers running Windows 2000, Windows XP, or a member of the Windows Server 2003 family and the NetBIOS domain name used by client computers running Windows 98 and earlier or Windows NT 4.0 and earlier.

Note

  • For example, if your full DNS name for the internal domain is Wingtiptoys.local, use Wingtiptoys for your domain NetBIOS name.

The NetBIOS domain name can contain letters (A-Z), numbers (0-9), and hyphens. It cannot be the same as the computer name, cannot contain all numbers, and cannot be longer than 15 characters in length.