DNS Zone Name Question

[anonim1]

I am in the process of setting up DNS on a Windows 2003 server. After DNS is complete, I will make it a Domain Controller and install Exchange 2003 on it.

I am confused about setting up a Forward Lookup Zone. Here is the description:

"The zone name specifies the portion of the DNS namespace for which this server is authoritative. It might be your organization's domain name (for example, microsoft.com), or a portion of the domain name (for example, newzone.microsoft.com). The zone name is not the name of the DNS server."

I have an external DNS name for the server registered through dyndns.org. So would it be correct to use dyndns.org as the zone name? Or would this cause a conflict since dyndns.org has their own DNS server which is authoritatitve for all *.dyndns.org domain names? So then should I use dyndns.local as the zone?

I will also be creating a domain when I install Exchange 2003, and I was planning on using EXCHANGE as the domain name. So perhaps I should name the zone exchange.local?

I know that the AD wizard can set up the DNS settings, but I've read that it has been known to fail, so I want to set up DNS manually and then install AD and Exchange.

 

[Koonan]

I've setup many AD domains, and it has never failed to setup my zone. If this is your first time, I would let DCPROMO create the zone for you. The zone name or domain name should match the name you want for your AD install, not dyndns.org. If you plan to use exchange.local go with that, I would pick some something else though. It is nice to pick something somewhat general, but Exchange seems very focused. Most people go with their company name, but if your company name changes you will have to deal that. The use of .LOCAL is one way to go. Some people like it and some really don't, but it is perfectly acceptable. If you don’t want to use your company name, think of a name that might describe what your company does.


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[anonim1]

Koonan,

I was able to set up the forward and reverse DNS zones manually before promoting the server to a domain controller. I've also got Exchange 2003 installed and humming like a champ now.. thanks for the post.