Active Directory-integrated stub zones

  • Article

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

Active Directory-integrated stub zones

A stub zone can be stored in Active Directory on a DNS server configured as a domain controller. The following parameters are stored in the Active Directory-integrated stub zone:

  • Name of the stub zone, such as widgets.example.com.

  • Type of zone (stub zone).

  • List of master servers.

For more information, see Understanding stub zones and Active Directory integration.

Updating stub zones

When Active Directory-integrated stub zones are hosted in separate sites, you can update them using a local list of master servers in each site. For example, an Active Directory-integrated stub zone, widgets.example.com, was loaded in a site in Seattle and propagated to a site in Santiago, and master servers for the stub zone also exist in each of these sites. When the stub zone in Santiago is updated, the domain controller may contact both master servers for resource records for widgets.example.com, but for network traffic reasons, you might want the domain controller in Santiago to use only the master server in Santiago and not the master server in Seattle. To force the domain controller in Santiago to use only the master server in Santiago, you can specify that the stub zone in Santiago be updated using a local list of master servers.

For information about how to use a local list of master servers to update stub zones, see Configure a stub zone for local master servers.