Question : Setup of DNS on Win2003 Server

WEe just set up a 2003 server network with 2 servers. The DC is 192.0.0.20 and the other server is 192.0.0.21. We set up dns forwarding on both servers using the wizard to point to our isp's dns server.

One each workstation in the network we put .20 as the primary dns server and .21 as the secondary.

We thought it was working. But we noticed that some computers could only see certain websites.

We found that if we started to switch them around, meaning 21 as primary and 20 as secondary that it would usually solve the problem. But the problem seems to always come back eventually.

Today we even had a computer that could not find www.mysite.com but could find mysite.com

Any thoughts on what we might be doing wrong?

Answer : Setup of DNS on Win2003 Server

OK,  Here is how to properly setup your DNS.  First, whichever is your preferred DNS server, say .20, point DNS to itself.  On the second server, also point DNS to the .20 box.  Now if your workstations are static or IP's are provided by DHCP, set the DNS ONLY to the .20 server. If using DHCP, set this in the options.

Now, get rid of the forwarders on the DNS servers.  MS designed this so that DNS queries hitting the DNS server will resolve to the Internet root servers if they do not know locally.  Only use forwarders if your ISP requires it or absolutely nothing else works.  Many times people are forced to use forwarders if they setup the domain without internet connectivity.  In that case the dns zone will start with a .  (period).  For those, delete the zone, restart and life should be as it should be.