Configuring DNS for Active Directory - MCTS Guide to Microsoft Windows Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration - page 379

9

Figure 9-16

WINS configuration options

• Do not replicate this record —If WINS forward lookups are enabled, selecting this check
box prevents the WINS resource record from being replicated to other DNS servers. This
option should be selected if you have non-Windows DNS servers in your environment
because WINS resource records are Windows specific, and including them in a zone trans-
fer could corrupt the zone or prevent its transfer.
• IP address —Enter the IP addresses of WINS servers that should be contacted for name
resolution.
• Time to live (TTL) —This text box specifies how long a cached WINS resource record is kept.

Using the GlobalNames Zone Although WINS is still supported in Windows Server
2008 and Vista, Windows Server 2008 includes a new feature to help IT administrators migrate
away from WINS. This new feature, the GlobalNames zone (GNZ) , provides a method for IT
administrators to add single-label names (computer names that don't use a domain suffix) to
DNS, thereby allowing client computers to resolve these names without including a DNS suffix
in the query. The GNZ is not a replacement for a dynamically created WINS database because
records in this zone must be added manually. For important servers with names currently being
resolved by WINS, however, a GNZ is an option worth considering, especially if only a few hosts
are the sole reason for maintaining WINS.
GNZ functionality is not just a partial replacement for WINS, however. If your network sup-
ports mobile users whose laptops and other mobile devices are unlikely to have the correct DNS
suffixes configured, GNZ can make access to servers these users need more convenient. Instead
of mobile users having to remember resource FQDNs, they can simply access them by using a
single-label name, such as Web1.
GNZ functionality must be enabled on servers hosting this zone by using Dnscmd.exe.
Before you create a GNZ, enter the following command:

Dnscmd server /config /EnableGlobalNamesSupport 1