Checklist: Deploying DNS

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Applies To: Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2, Windows Server 2003 with SP1, Windows Server 2003 with SP2

Checklist: Deploying DNS

Step Reference

Review best practices and all planning issues specific to deploying Domain Name System (DNS) servers on your network when not additionally deploying Active Directory.

Deploying DNS; DNS best practices

Plan your namespace by specifying a domain name standard for your organization.

Namespace planning for DNS

Plan how to divide up your DNS domain name and network address space into forward and reverse lookup zones as needed.

Zone planning for DNS; Reverse lookup

Plan your DNS servers, such as determining how many servers you need to use and where to put them on your network.

Server planning for DNS

(Optional) Test and evaluate server performance using DNS performance optimizing and monitoring tools.

Monitoring and Optimizing Servers

Review migration and interoperability issues, if appropriate.

Migrating servers; Interoperability issues

If clients on your network need to be able to resolve external DNS names, consider the use of forwarders for your network.

Using forwarders; Configure a DNS server to use forwarders

Register your organization's domain name with the Internet domain name registrar. This name is used to form the DNS names your organization uses on the Internet.

Internet DNS

Name: ____________________._____

Note

  • Registering a parent or second-level DNS domain name for your organization with an active Internet domain name registration authority is only required if you plan to use this name externally on the Internet.

Namespace planning for DNS; Interoperability issues

Determine how to manage DNS client resolver configurations.

Managing Clients

Begin adding and configuring zones for your first DNS server.

Configure a new DNS server; Add a forward lookup zone; Add a reverse lookup zone

Install and configure additional DNS servers if they are to be used as secondary servers for your initial zones.

Install a DNS server; Add a secondary server for an existing zone; Using secondary servers

(For primary zones only) If the previous step was used, add additional secondary servers for your existing zones to the name server (NS) record to make them authoritative for the zone.

Specify other DNS servers as authoritative for a zone

(Optional) Install any additional zones (and DNS servers) for subdomains you want to delegate away from your first DNS server and its zones.

Configure a new DNS server; Configuring a new primary server

If the previous step was used, add delegations in parent zones for any subdomains added based on the previous step.

For example, if adding sub.example.microsoft.com as a new DNS domain, you would need to add to it a delegation at the example.microsoft.com zone.

Create a zone delegation; Delegating zones

Add DNS resource records--such as A, PTR, CNAME, and MX records--as needed to complete zone configurations.

Managing resource records; Add a resource record to a zone; Resource records reference

Enable or disable dynamic updates for zones as needed.

Allow dynamic updates; Dynamic update

(Optional) Enable WINS lookup for selected zones.

Enable DNS to use WINS resolution; WINS lookup integration; Using WINS lookup

(Optional) If you want to push updates to secondary servers for a zone, configure DNS notify at the primary server.

Create and manage a notify list for a zone; Understanding zones and zone transfer

Use the monitoring features of the DNS console, such as simple or recursive query testing, to verify that DNS servers are operating correctly.

Monitor Servers

Troubleshoot common DNS-related problems, if needed.

Troubleshooting DNS