Client Server Network without DNS?

elover_jm

Hi guys i'm preparing for 70-291....

i have a question>> in a windows 2003 client Server Network, there must be a DNS server available before clients can be authenticated by Active Directory?

royal

Almost every part of Active Directory relies heavily on DNS.

In an Active Directory Integrated zone, you will see several folders in your primary zone. These include _mscds, _sites, _tcp, _udp, etc.. These folders store SRV records. SRV records are used to locate Domain Controllers in an Active Directory infrastructure. Take for instance, the _msdcs. It stores what servers are the global catalog servers, what domain controllers belong to which domain, which domain controller is the pdc, etc.. The _sites directory stores information such as which domain controller belongs to which site. etc..

Services use these SRV records to function within AD. When a client boots up, it will query DNS for the SRV records for a DC in its site. It knows which site its in based on subnet (more of a 294 topic) specifications in AD Sites and Services. The client will then get the SRV records for a DC in its site and attempt a logon to that DC. This is helpful in an AD enviornment with many DCs with many sites. Since the AD-integrated DNS zones stores which DCs belong to which sites, the client can login to a DC that is in the same site as the client allowing for a fast logon instead of randomly logging into a DC that could be anywhere in the world. This is one way DNS is relied upon for AD to function.

Here's a pretty good article I'd read:
http://www.petri.co.il/active_directory_srv_records.htm