Windows Domain (2008) definition guidance

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lyonrouge

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#70071 18-Oct-2010 14:12

Assuming the best practice that the Windows Domain and the external URL should be different, should the internal domain be completely fictitious, and can it share the same prefix, i.e. If I want a windows domain, ZOOM (zoom.local), should I have a URL that is completely different, i.e. bob.place.co.nz or would zoom.place.co.nz be ok?

FreakyKiwi

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#393176 18-Oct-2010 14:17

Actually I would consider best practice to use the actual domain for both and deploy split DNS

lyonrouge

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#393191 18-Oct-2010 14:59

I don't have externally exposed DNS servers, does a split still apply, or can I just add manual enties in the DNS to ensure local clients resolve to local hosts?

FreakyKiwi

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#393195 18-Oct-2010 15:08

Just adding the manual entries is fine - just dont forget to update them if IP's ever get changed...

lyonrouge

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#396547 27-Oct-2010 21:43

The DNS gottcha that I encountered was the reverse look-up not beign installed by default, once I fixed that it has worked fine.

gehenna

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#396581 27-Oct-2010 22:30

Sounds like you're having fun with all your posts i've been reading lately :)

lyonrouge

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#396657 28-Oct-2010 08:41

Yeah, it's a pretty steap learning curve, I've currently got a simple SBS 2003 domain with a huge cluster of machines hanging off one unmanaged switch, so the strategy is to split the operation up into 3 network segments (ISA) and install a brand new 2008 domain in an isolated segment. As I never really installed the domain before (SBS is pretty much just a chicken pecking exercise) many aspects of this are new.

jaymz

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#396675 28-Oct-2010 09:09

lyonrouge: Yeah, it's a pretty steap learning curve, I've currently got a simple SBS 2003 domain with a huge cluster of machines hanging off one unmanaged switch, so the strategy is to split the operation up into 3 network segments (ISA) and install a brand new 2008 domain in an isolated segment. As I never really installed the domain before (SBS is pretty much just a chicken pecking exercise) many aspects of this are new.

SBS is like one giant wizard! It makes setup easy, but when you want to do it manually it can confuse things!

Below is an article from petri.com which might help you out (if you haven't already seen it)
http://www.petri.co.il/installing-active-directory-windows-server-2008.htm

It steps through the dcpromo setup.

Personally I would leave the two names seperate, ie:

External: domain.co.nz
internal: domain.local

I have found it helps with troubleshooting later down the track. But each to their own in the end!

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lyonrouge

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#396678 28-Oct-2010 09:14

Thanks for that, pity I didn't find it before completing the install.

The challenge now is functions and features of 2008. Got DC1 & DC2 operational with DHCP on DC1. Some of the steepest part of the learning curve has actually been in the ISA space. I wanted the split so I could have a new DHCP server that would not clash with the exsiting SBS 2003 domain, which has been very sucessful.