The Active Directory Installation Wizard offers the option to install the DNS Server Service when you install Active Directory.
When you create a new domain, after you have entered all the information necessary, the computer will attempt to locate a DNS server.
If it fails to find one, the wizard will offer to install the DNS Server Service. You can choose to let the wizard do so, or you can choose No,
I will install and configure DNS myself. Active Directory is dependent on DNS and will not work without a DNS server.
Installing a Domain Name System (DNS) server involves adding the DNS server role to an existing Windows Server 2008 server. You can also install the DNS server role when you install the Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role.
This is the preferred method for installing the DNS Server role if you want to integrate your DNS domain namespace with the AD DS domain namespace.
If you have existing DNS servers on your network, you need to be certain that your DNS implementation supports the necessary features for Active Directory to function. At a minimum, this entails support for SRV records that AD uses to locate domain controllers, Global Catalog servers, and site information.
Your DNS servers should preferably support the following advanced features as well:
- Incremental Zone Transfers (IXFR)
- Fast Zone Transfers
- Dynamic Updates
Windows 2000/2003 DNS servers support these advanced features, as do UNIX BIND servers running version 8.2.2 or later.
If your existing DNS servers do not support these features, install DNS on the domain controller itself and delegate control of the Active Directory DNS zone from your legacy DNS servers.