DC / DNS Setup For Dummies

[ikon]

Stop it; I'm getting dizzy and all the blood is rushing to my head

[IanH]

Just wanted to say thank you - Win2012R2E is now actually working like I'd expect

[ikon]

Glad to hear it's all working.

[jmwills]

Just wait until DNS Zones get out of Sync.  <insert evil laugh>

[ikon]

Just wait until DNS Zones get out of Sync.  <insert evil laugh>

 

You, sir, are a baaaaaad man.......

[rhbkweb]

 

 

 

On your DHCP server (aka, your router), in the DHCP section, it usually lets you specify up to 3 DNS servers. Set the first entry to your Server's IP address. Set the second one to your router's IP address and set the third to your ISP's (or preferred) DNS entry.

 

 

 

Hi @Drashna Jaelre

 

About the advice you gave that i quote above, im running the DHCP server on my router and on the DHCP menu i have all set to defaults (0.0.0.0). About DNS server entryes i only have space for 2. So do i really need to add the dns settings that you said?

 

Also the is anything else (besides open / fordward ports 80 and 443 to server ip) that you advice to make on the router to properly run Windows Server 2012 R2 Essentials with DHCP running on the router?

 

Thanks

Edited December 14, 2014 by rhbkweb

[nrf]

I still have a couple BPA alerts hanging around. This was my second attempt at turning up the 'essentials experience', the first time I got kind of freaked by having so many of those.

 

One observation is that lots of them show up at the beginning, then clear out in later bpa scans, especially after you have followed the DNS recommendations in this thread.

 

One of the remaining ones suggests that 127.0.0.1 should not be the primary entry, but if you don't have a backup domain controller, it seems inappropriate. In fact, if you do what it suggests, a ton of new PBA entries result. So BPA is not sensitive to the fact that you are an 'essentials' setup, it assumes you are a general enterprise network with enough capital for a second domain controller.

Edited January 13, 2015 by nrf

[ikon]

Yeah, not every warning needs to, or should be, heeded. Can make things a little confusing.

[Steve Pitts]

Ideal setup, to avoid 99% of DNS issues

Sadly my router (the execrable Virgin Media Super Hub) does not support changing the DNS settings. Any advice on the best way to work around that?? I am thinking that I will turn DHCP on on the server anyway (because the router limits DHCP reservations to 16 and that has become an issue for my preferred way of setting things up - which is to give all known devices a fixed IP based on their MAC address) so if that is part of the solution then so be it. I would prefer name resolution to continue working when the server is down, but if not then it is no big deal since it is also a NAS and therefore I expect it to be up 24 by 7.

[ikon]

I never use the router provided by the ISP. I always set the router to Bridge Mode, either on my own, or with the ISPs assistance if necessary. I simply tell them I refuse to use their lame excuse for a router — that I want to use a real router, without having to resort to double routing — and to please convert the router to a bridge.

 

My ISP is not Virgin, so I don't know their policies, but it might be worth a try. If they agree then you could run something like Untangle, Sophos, or pfSense.