Mission-Critical Active Directory
Learn how to plan and manage a large-scale enterprise through Windows 2000 Active Directory.
TABLE OF CONTENTS Mission-Critical Active Directory
Chapter 2: Understanding and Designing the Windows 2000 Domain Name System
The Domain Name System (DNS) is Windows 2000 primary locator and name resolution service. The planning and design of an Active Directory infrastructure requires a solid understanding of the internals of this critical service, which is heavily used by the Active Directory and the Windows 2000 operating system. In this chapter we will also explore the critical steps you need to consider when planning and designing an AD DNS namespace and infrastructure for your organization.
2.1 An introduction to the domain name system
This section includes a general introduction to the Domain Name System (DNS). Because DNS is one of the most critical services in Windows 2000, every administrator and architect needs a thorough understanding of how this name resolution service works. To be able to look at the nuts and bolts of DNS we will first look at why we need DNS and explain some key DNS concepts such as DNS domains, DNS namespace, resource records, DNS servers, resolvers.
If you want to read another excellent introduction to DNS, read the book by Paul Albitz and Cricket Liu, DNS and BIND.
2.1.1 Why do we need DNS?
DNS provides an easy way to locate computers and services on a TCP/IP network. On a TCP/IP network, every entity is identified by an IP address. In DNS terminology, any network entity that can be linked to an IP address is known as a host. A host can be a computer, a router, a service, and so on.
IP addresses...
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