Planning DNS for the upgrade of domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0

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

Planning DNS for the upgrade of domain controllers running Windows NT 4.0

The Domain Name System (DNS) is a hierarchical naming system used for locating computers on the Internet and private TCP/IP networks. This topic describes the planning for DNS that is recommended before you upgrade to Active Directory, that is, before you upgrade the primary domain controller in a Windows NT domain to become a domain controller running Windows Server 2003.

DNS is the name resolution service used by Active Directory. Products in the Windows Server 2003 family can support both the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) common in Windows NT networks, and DNS. You must deploy DNS to support Active Directory; for information, see Active Directory integration. You can choose to migrate from WINS to DNS or configure your new DNS infrastructure to support your current WINS infrastructure.

For the upgrading of a network with one to five servers and 100 or fewer clients (which is the size of network discussed in these Getting Started topics), only a simple DNS plan is needed, because there will be no parent or child domains. For information about upgrading networks with more than five servers, see the Windows Server 2003 Deployment Kit at the Microsoft Windows Server System Web site. For information about obtaining the Windows Server 2003 Resource Kit, see Using the Windows Deployment and Resource Kits.

DNS names consist of name labels separated by periods. A simple DNS domain name for a Windows Server 2003 family domain could take the form domainname.ext where ext is an established "top-level domain" type such as com or org. With a domain name of that form, the form of a computer name in the domain would be:

computername.domainname.ext

When you upgrade the primary domain controller in a Windows NT 4.0 domain (the primary domain controller must be upgraded first, before backup domain controllers), you will be offered several different options for the handling of DNS. If there is no DNS server available to work with Active Directory, you will be offered, by default, the option of installing DNS on the domain controller you are upgrading (formerly the primary domain controller). In a network with one to five servers, the simplest approach is to accept this default. Then, after completing the upgrade of the server on which DNS was installed, take note of its static IP address, and configure other computers to send any DNS requests to that IP address.

See the following for more information: