Domain Name System (DNS) and AD DS live in each other's pockets. Since Windows Server 2003, DNS has become the primary name resolution service. Before that, Windows was using NetBIOS, the Windows Internet Name Service (WINS) name service that it still continues to use. But DNS became the ruler.
WINS and DNS are both TCP/IP networks' name resolution services. There are legacy systems that still use WINS instead of DNS, for example, bar code scanners. That's the reason why WINS still continues with the latest operating systems.
DNS helps locate resources via the internet and intranet. DNS can run as an independent server role on the intranet, perimeter network, or public network. There are different vendors who provide DNS server software other than Microsoft, such as Linux/Unix BIND. There are mainly two categories of DNS infrastructure. One category is organizations that host their own DNS servers to facilitate the name resolution requirements. Another category is organizations that sell DNS as a service, such as Azure DNS, DynDNS, and Amazon Route 53.
In this chapter, our main focus will be to understand how AD-integrated DNS works in the infrastructure. Throughout the chapter, you will be learning about the following:
- Hierarchical naming structure
- How DNS works
- DNS records
- DNS zones
- Zone transfers
- DNS delegation