ISP DNS server must be listed as Primary DNS

[Bryan]

I administer a small-office network consisting of 1
Windows 2000 Server (Serves files, DNS, and WINS), and 6
Windows XP Professional Clients.

All machines are on our LAN, connected through a 16 port
switch, behind a router.

All machines and the router are assigned local static IP
addresses (192.168.10.XXX).

On the surface, the network "appears" to be running fine,
but I know that the clients are not finding the local DNS
server by errors logged on the client computer's event
logs. I assume that the client names are only being
resolved through WINS.

....HERE IS MY PROBLEM...

In order for any of the clients to be able to use a FQDN
(www.whatever.com) in IE, I must list our ISP's DNS
server as the Primary DNS server in the TCP/IP
properties. By doing this, I get the above mentioned
errors on the client's event logs. If I change the
Primary DNS server to our LAN DNS server (192.168.10.1)
the event log errors stop, but the client's cannot access
web pages by using FQDN in IE (web pages CAN be accessed
by typing the IP address of the web page).

This is my dilemma; either live with the errors and
access the Internet or correct the errors and have no
Internet access.

Incidentally, my ISP's only advice was to list their DNS
server as Primary and live with the errors.

I have entertained two ideas:

1. Set the 2000 server or router to be a DHCP server.

2. Install a second NIC on each client computer.

I do not know if either of these ideas would be helpful,
they are simply things I have thought of over the past
month of researching this problem.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.

-A frustrated, but determined administrator...

 

[Ron Lowe]

I administer a small-office network consisting of 1
Windows 2000 Server (Serves files, DNS, and WINS), and 6
Windows XP Professional Clients.

All machines are on our LAN, connected through a 16 port
switch, behind a router.

All machines and the router are assigned local static IP
addresses (192.168.10.XXX).

On the surface, the network "appears" to be running fine,
but I know that the clients are not finding the local DNS
server by errors logged on the client computer's event
logs. I assume that the client names are only being
resolved through WINS.

...HERE IS MY PROBLEM...

In order for any of the clients to be able to use a FQDN
(www.whatever.com) in IE, I must list our ISP's DNS
server as the Primary DNS server in the TCP/IP
properties. By doing this, I get the above mentioned
errors on the client's event logs. If I change the
Primary DNS server to our LAN DNS server (192.168.10.1)
the event log errors stop, but the client's cannot access
web pages by using FQDN in IE (web pages CAN be accessed
by typing the IP address of the web page).

This is my dilemma; either live with the errors and
access the Internet or correct the errors and have no
Internet access.

Incidentally, my ISP's only advice was to list their DNS
server as Primary and live with the errors.

I have entertained two ideas:

1. Set the 2000 server or router to be a DHCP server.

2. Install a second NIC on each client computer.

I do not know if either of these ideas would be helpful,
they are simply things I have thought of over the past
month of researching this problem.

Any help will be GREATLY appreciated.

-A frustrated, but determined administrator...

Point the clients at the local DNS only.
Configure the Local DNS to forward non-local queries to your ISP's DNS.

Here's my usual lecture on the topic:

XP differs from previous versions of windows in that it uses
DNS as it's primary name resolution method for finding domain
controllers:

How Domain Controllers Are Located in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314861

If DNS is misconfigured, XP will spend a lot of time waiting for it to
timeout before it tries using legacy NT4 sytle NetBIOS.
( Which may or may not work. )

1) Ensure that the XP clients are all configured to point to the local
DNS server which hosts the AD domain. That will probably be the
win2k server itself.
They should NOT be pointing an an ISP's DNS server.
An 'ipconfig /all' on the XP box should reveal ONLY the domain's
DNS server.

( you should use the DHCP server to push out the local DNS server
address. )

2) Ensure DNS server on win2k is configured to permit dynamic updates.

3) Ensure the win2k server points to itself as a DNS server.

4) For external ( internet ) name resolution, specify your ISP's DNS server
not on the clients, but in the 'forwarders' tab of the local win2k DNS
server.

On the DNS server, if you cannot access the 'Forwarders' and 'Root Hints'
tabs because they are greyed out, that is because there is a root zone (".")
present on the DNS server. You MUST delete this root zone to permit the
server to forward unresolved queries to yout ISP or the root servers:

HOWTO: Remove the Root Zone (Dot Zone)
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?kbid=298148

The following articles may assist you in setting up DNS correctly:

Setting Up the Domain Name System for Active Directory
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;237675
HOW TO: Configure DNS for Internet Access in Windows 2000
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;300202