Alternate DNS server option for a worksation that has static ip address assigned

[zillah]

Hi

I have got an Active Directory (2003) environment with an exchange server (2003) ,,,,,,all workstations XP Prof were assigned static ip addresses as below :

IP address : 192.168.0.x,,,,,,,x has got different value form one PC to another

Subnet mask: 255.255.255.0

Default gateway : 192.168.0.1,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,router ip address

Preferred DNS server : 192.168.0.50,,,,,,,,,,,,,,server ip address

Alternate DNS server : empty

I believe (but not sure) because I have done that while ago , when I chose option : " Obtain DNS server address automatically" when I set outlook 2003 would not know how to retrieve emails from the exchange, therefore I had assigned DNS manually and I had pointed to the server.

Since DNS is assigned manually to each workstation and since DNS is pointing to the server , what happened recently the server was down , all workstations would not able to go to the internet because of DNS.

Now if would need to assign ip address to "Alternate DNS server " option which DNS should I use ?

Although I am going to try that when I get a chance ,,,,would option "Obtain DNS server address automatically" overcome this issue ?


Thanks

 

[Database]

A) Either configure whatever you use for DHCP correctly (router or server) and have it hand out the correct addresses.

B) set a static DNS setting on each PC to point to the router and ensure that it has the correct DNS settings for your ISP

C) Use a public DNS server from an ISP or OpenDNS and set that address statically as the secondary dns server on each workstation.

 

[Method]

If I understand correctly what you are asking then the "Obtain DNS server address automatically" would only give the DNS you have defined in your DHCP scopes. If you want the workstations to be able to get to the internet when your "server" is down you need to define a outside DNS server as your secondary, but they will not resolve any internal names.
That said the best practice would be to put up another internal DNS server and point to that as your secondary and use built in DNS replication between the two then you done have to worry about a single server going down and you will have both internal and external DNS fault tolerance

 

[/usr/home]

A) Either configure whatever you use for DHCP correctly (router or server) and have it hand out the correct addresses.

B) set a static DNS setting on each PC to point to the router and ensure that it has the correct DNS settings for your ISP

C) Use a public DNS server from an ISP or OpenDNS and set that address statically as the secondary dns server on each workstation.

^ +1

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

If your server goes down and you want to allow people to surf the net while your server is down, flip on DHCP on your router for the meantime.

I don't have secondary DNS servers on smaller network usually...I always have the server run DHCP. Now you can modify the DHCP properties so that it hands out a 2nd DNS server...like your routers LAN interface, or your ISPs DNS servers or OpenDNS...you'll find sometimes a workstation will boot up, your DC might not answer fast enough so the workstation will hit the 2nd DNS server..and you'll get symptoms of incorrect DNS as it won't find active directory properly. So the only time I do secondary DNS is when there's another DC on the network. Actually, to back up a bit, I do a secondary DNS on workstations at satellite offices of WANs.....in case the tunnel goes down.

 

[zillah]

If you want the workstations to be able to get to the internet when your "server" is down you need to define a outside DNS server as your secondary, but they will not resolve any internal names.

What about if i use router ip address 192.168.0.1 as a secondary DNS address rather than using outside DNS server as the secondary address ?

Thanks

 

[Method]

What about if i use router ip address 192.168.0.1 as a secondary DNS address rather than using outside DNS server as the secondary address ?

Thanks

That will not work. Your router needs to be your gateway but it doesnt have DNS running on it.

Your gateway/router is where the computers look to get a path out to the outside world but it doesn't resolve the name "www.whatever.com or mail.internal.etc" to an IP address

 

[YeOldeStonecat]

What about if i use router ip address 192.168.0.1 as a secondary DNS address rather than using outside DNS server as the secondary address ?

Thanks

That's fine...if your router supports it, meaning...it has a local DNS service, or it simply does DNS forwarding. "Most" do these days, but some do not. Most biz grade ones do..which is why I mentioned it as an option in my prior post.