TR Dojo: Prevent Windows DNS problems with these five simple tips

Bill Detwiler: The Domain Name System, or DNS, is a criticalservice on Windows networks--Active Directory won't work without it and a hostof other network functions need it.

Well I'm Bill Detwiler, and during this episode of TR Dojo,I'll share five tips for keeping DNS running smoothly across a Windows network.

A while back, TechRepublic blogger Rick Vanover put togethera list of DNS configuration mistakes that IT pros should avoid. It was sopopular, that he followed up with a list of five tips to prevent DNS problemson Windows networks. I'll link to both pieces in the TR Dojo blog.

The first tip on Rick's list is to limit the number ofzones.

For example, suppose your company has five DNS servers andyou merge with another company that has five DNS servers. Do you really need 10DNS servers? Probably not.

So, take the time to do a little DNS housekeeping, bycleaning up any forwarders, removing stale zones, and possibly reducing thenumber of DNS servers.

Now, just because Rick suggests limiting the number of DNSservers, that doesn't mean you should have only one. In fact, Rick recommendsmaking DNS highly available by using two or more DNS servers. This will ensurethat machines can resolve addresses if one of the servers is offline.

Rick also recommends having all systems use the same DNSservers where possible.

You can specify the DNS servers a machine will use and inwhat order on the Advanced tab of the Windows Networking Configuration panel.

Tip number three, run both DNS and DHCP on Windows servers

If 90 percent of the machines on your network run Windows,there really isn't a reason to use a second operating system to provide DNS andDHCP services. Windows DNS and DHCP are straight-forward to configure and workwith non-Windows clients.

Tip number four: Centrally manage DNS configuration withGroup Policy and scripts

There are several DNS settings (like suffixes) that you canconfigure with Group Policy. In fact, Rick wrote an article about doing justthis.

And for DNS settings that you can't manage directly throughGroup Policy try a script. For example, you can configure computer accounts torun a script through Group Policy that will specify the DNS servers for thataccount.

I'll link to a Microsoft TechNet article on how to deployDNS server configuration settings through the netsh scripting utility in the TRDojo blog.

The last tip on our list, is to Remove WINS dependencies

Unless you're running a lot of really old, legacy systems,you don’t need WINS anymore. On modern Windows networks, DNS is fully capableof providing all long and short name resolution services. If the DNS suffixes,search order, and server list are all correct; clients should be able tocorrectly resolve addresses.

These are just a few of the ways to ensure DNS runs smoothlyon a Windows network. For more tips, check out the additional DNS resourcesthat I've linked to in the TR Dojo blog.

And as always, for more teachings on YOUR path to becomingan IT Ninja, visit trdojo.techrepublic.com, sign-up for our newsletter, orfollow me on Twitter.

Thanks for visiting the TR Dojo.