MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration

MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure

Configuration

Chapter 5

Introduction to DNS in Windows Server 2008

MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration

2

Objectives

• Discuss the basics of the Domain Name System (DNS) and its terminology

• Configure DNS clients• Install a standard DNS server on Windows Server

2008• Create standard DNS zones

3

Domain Name System

• Primary function is to translate human-readable host names

• Assists the flow of e-mail – Provides mail exchanger records that tell a Simple

Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) server where to send an e-mail message

• Supported on the Internet by thousands of distributed servers, or DNS servers


Domain Name System (continued)

• Activity 5-1: Resetting Network Adapters and Disabling DHCP

• Time Required: 20 minutes• Objective: Reset the network adapters on lab

servers

4MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration

DNS Terminology

• DNS namespace• DNS domain• Fully qualified domain name• Hosts• Host name• DNS record• DNS zone


DNS Terminology (continued)

• DNS namespace– Organized into the following domains: root domain

(.), top-level domain (TLD), second-level domain, and subdomain

• DNS domain– The portion of the namespace to the right of the host

name• Fully qualified domain names

– The entire name for a specific host that needs to have a DNS record created





• Activity 5-2: Using Whois• Time Required: 5 minutes• Objective: Research domain names


DNS Terminology (continued)• Hosts

– A computer on the Internet that provides a specific resource

• Host name– Name given to a computer, or host, to make

connecting to it easier• DNS zone

– Collection of connected nodes served by an authoritative DNS name server

• DNS records– DNS uses records to provide the information it stores

in its database




• Activity 5-4: Resolving DNS Records with NSLookup

• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Query a DNS server with nslookup


DNS Queries in Windows Server 2008

• Iterative query– A DNS client requests the best answer that its DNS

server can provide• Recursive queries

– Queries where the client requires an answer from its DNS server



Configuring DNS Clients

• DNS clients– Often referred to as DNS resolvers

• Windows Server 2008 – Uses the DNS Client service to perform DNS queries

on behalf of the client


DNS Client Settings

• DNS servers– For a client to resolve DNS queries, it needs to know

which server to contact– First DNS server in the list is called the preferred

DNS server• DNS suffix

– DNS domain appended to all unqualified name queries, or a query that contains only a host name




DNS Client Settings (continued)

• Activity 5-5: Adding an Alternate DNS server• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Add an alternate DNS server



• Activity 5-6: Adding a Domain Suffix to IP Properties

• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Configure a client with an additional

DNS suffix



• Activity 5-7: Creating a Full Computer Name• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Change the computer name


Dynamic Updates

• Windows Server 2008 – Supports dynamic updates with both standard and

Active Directory Domain Services–integrated domains

• Dynamic updates – Sometimes referred to as DDNS


Installing DNS in Windows Server 2008

• DNS – A role that can be installed on Windows Server 2008

Full and Server Core versions– Often combined with other services such as DHCP


Installing Cache-Only DNS Servers

• Cache-only DNS server – Server that has the DNS role installed– Does not hold a DNS zone so it is not authoritative

for any DNS zones– Does it maintain any DNS records


Installing Cache-only DNS Servers (continued)

• Activity 5-8: Installing DNS on MSN-SRV-0XX• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Install the DNS Server role


Installing Cache-only DNS Servers (continued)

• Root hints– Provide IP address pointers to top-level DNS servers

– When configured, a DNS server can perform queries

when it receives domain name requests for zones in which it is not authoritative

– Provide referral answers to queries in a DNS server’s quest to resolve an unknown domain name request

• Forwarders – Servers used to resolve names


DNS Zones

• Zones – Building blocks for creating your DNS infrastructure

• DNS zones – Classified in three ways

• The information they store• Where they are stored• Their read/write status

– Fall into two categories• Standard and Active Directory


Standard Zones

• zone.dns – Used to store DNS records – Found in the %systemroot%\system32\DNS folder

• Berkeley Internet Name Domain (BIND)– Industry standard of DNS servers on the Internet

and networks running DNS on UNIX/Linux systems


Standard DNS Zone Types

• Primary DNS zone– The zone that is authoritative for a specific domain

and its name records• Secondary DNS zone

– Read-only version of the DNS records for a zone• Stub zone

– Read-only copy of a zone that obtains its resource records from the name servers that are authoritative for a particular zone


Standard DNS Zone Types (continued)

• Activity 5-9: Installing a Primary DNS Zone for bentech.local

• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Create a primary DNS zone


Standard DNS Zone Types (continued)

• Activity 5-10: Installing a Secondary DNS Zone on MSN-SC-0XX

• Time Required: 15 minutes• Objective: Install DNS on Server Core


Direction of DNS Zones

• Forward lookup DNS zones– Allow a DNS client to resolve an FQDN to an IP

address• Reverse lookup DNS zone

– Maps IP addresses to host names


Direction of DNS Zones (continued)

• Activity 5-11: Creating a Reverse Lookup Zone• Time Required: 15 minutes• Objective: Create a reverse lookup zone


DNS Resource Records

• Information in a DNS record – Owner, Time-to-Live (TTL)– Class, Type– Resource Record Data (RDATA)

• Start of Authority (SOA) – Record is the starting point for information related to

a zone• Name server (NS) record

– Identifies a DNS server that is authoritative for a zone



DNS Resource Records (continued)

• Host (A) record – Provides host name–to–IP address resolution for

DNS clients• Host (AAAA) Records for IPv6

– Records map a host name to an IPv6 address• Mail exchanger (MX) record

– Specifies the server that is responsible for handling e-mail

• Alias records– Used to create an alias for a specific host





• Pointer records– Resolves IP address to host names for DNS clients

• Service locator records– Provides the following information

• Location of services it needs• Network protocol needed to access the previously

mentioned services• Domain services it provides



• Activity 5-12: Creating DNS Records in the DNS Console

• Time Required: 10 minutes• Objective: Create DNS records



Standard DNS Zone Transfers

• Master server – Provides updated DNS record information to

secondary servers• Slave server

– Gets its updates from the master zone transfer partner specified on the Zone Transfer tab in DNS

• Zone transfers from the master to the secondary server come in two varieties– Incremental zone transfers (IXFRs) – Full zone transfers (AXFRs)



44

Summary

• DNS – Responsible for providing name resolution for clients

on public and private networks• Core functionality of DNS

– To provide host name–to–IP address resolution, or forward lookups

• Standard zones classifications – Primary, secondary, and stub zones

• DNS – Uses many types of records to store information in

its zones


45

Summary (continued)

• Installing the DNS role can be done through the GUI using Server Manager

• DNS console – The main GUI tool responsible for managing DNS– Allows you to add, delete, and modify all aspects of

DNS


Documents

MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration