internal vs external domain

[stevej]

Hi,

When setting up Active Directory (AD) what would be the most common
scenario for naming the internal domain versus the external domain. If my
client has an Internet domain name ,such as, company.com should the
internal domain be the same or something like, internalcompany.com?

This is the first domain controller on the network.

Thanks
Steve

 

[Dave Shaw [MVP]]

In short, naming the internal domain the same as your external presence is
not a good idea. There are a couple of good ways to deal with this:

If your external domain is (for example) foo.com, you could name your
internal domain:

1 - ad.foo.com (or something like that), making the internal domain name
a child of the external and delegating authority to that internal name in
DNS.

2 - foo.prv (or foo.net or foo.somthingelse), making the internal domain
a completely separate namespace.

Either will work.

-ds

 

[stevej]

Hi Dave,

If I chose option one making the server a child to the external domain and
then delegating authority to the internal DNS, what does that mean to the
external DNS server that is presently holding my domain info?

Thanks
Steve

 

[Lanwench [MVP - Exchange]]

You can do as you choose - I usually use the registered Internet domain
name, and add host records to their AD DNS that point www, etc., at the
appropriate IP address.