During the initial System Configuration Dialog, we gave our router a hostname of toronto-1. This can be changed using the hostname command. For example, to change the hostname of this router to cisco2501, enter the following from global configuration mode:
toronto-1(config)#hostname cisco2501
cisco2501(config)#
Notice that the command prompt name immediately changes to cisco2501. The hostname associated with the […]

In the Windows 2000 version of Active Directory, it was not possible to rename domains without demoting all domain controllers, which effectively destroyed the domain. In Windows Server 2003, domains can be renamed, as long as the forest in which they exist are configured to the Windows Server 2003 forest functional level. Of course, this […]

As most of you know, I haven’t been churning out the articles lately. I am in a little bit of a slump, and decided to do a light article this week to help me get back into the swing of things. I decided that one of the best places to start would be with one […]

Certainly there are a great many ways in which DNS can be configured, including as a root server (for your own network if you wanted), a caching-only server, a forwarder, and so forth. There are also a number of more advanced capabilities that you may not understand or appreciate. While you certainly don’t need to […]

Since many networks running NT 4.0 relied on WINS as their primary name resolution facility, Microsoft provided a non-standard method for integrating DNS with WINS. This involved configuring a DNS server with special WINS-related records that would then be used to extend name resolution beyond the records known to DNS. In a nutshell, if configured […]

Three main options exist for troubleshooting DNS servers that you should be aware of. The first is the monitoring tab on the properties of the DNS server.
This tool allows you to pass queries to the DNS server to ensure it is functioning correctly. A simple query is passed only to this server for resolution, and […]

Aside from the details listed above, it is important to understand how to create an initial DNS zone to support Active Directory. This should be done in advanced of installing Active Directory, in order to ensure that things are configured as you wish them to be. If you do not configure the zone in advance, […]

Windows 2000 Active Directory requires DNS to function correctly. DNS support for SRV records is the only absolutely mandatory requirement for Active Directory to function. However, it is also recommended that your DNS server support dynamic updates, since domain controllers dynamically register a number of records in DNS. If your DNS servers do not support […]

In the Windows 2000 DNS implementation, a number of changes have been made. The most important include support for service records, dynamic DNS, secure dynamic updates, incremental zone transfer, and Active Directory integration. Each of these is described below:
Service Records – Windows 2000 DNS implementation provides support for an important type of resource record, service […]

Prior to installing Active Directory in a Windows 2000 environment, it is important to first design a DNS implementation that will meet both your name resolution and Active Directory requirements. Active Directory requires DNS in order to provide both name resolution as well as namespace definition, since domain names in Windows 2000 are based on […]