The Cluster service and name resolution

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

The Cluster service and name resolution

Clients use name resolution services to find network resources. Clients use these same services to find resources in a server cluster. The Cluster service also uses these services when a node joins one or more other nodes to form a cluster.

In both cases, name resolution is the process of translating computer names to Internet protocol (IP) addresses. You can use the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS), the Domain Name System (DNS), or both. You can also use IP broadcast name resolution. However, because IP broadcast name resolution increases network traffic, and is ineffective in routed networks, the following sections on the Cluster service and name resolution assume you are using WINS or DNS.

The Cluster service registers a Cluster resource network name and its associated Host (A) and PTR records with a DNS server if the network adapter associated with the resource has a DNS server address specified and the DNS zone accepts dynamic updates. If the zone is also integrated with Active Directory, the zone can be configured to accept only secure updates. In a secure Active Directory-integrated zone, a Cluster resource network name has the Cluster service account associated with the Host (A) and PTR records. This registration can be deleted only by the Cluster service account or the DNS administrator. If a cluster is decommissioned but might have its name reused with a different service account, the Cluster name records must be deleted from the DNS server. If not, new records will not be registered with the DNS server and the resource will fail to go online. The Event Viewer will contain an entry indicating the resource failure along with the text "DNS operation refused" in the log entry.

For more information on resource records, see Resource records reference.

For more information on dynamic updates, see Understanding zones and zone transfer.

For more information on zones and security, see the section about secure dynamic update in Dynamic update.

The Cluster service does not require any special configuration of either WINS or DNS. If you use WINS, all cluster network resource names that have associated IP addresses are registered with WINS.

Do not use static WINS mappings for cluster resources. If you do, the clustering software cannot update the WINS entries in the event of a failover.

For more information on static versus dynamic WINS entries, see Using static mappings.