I've found precious little documentation about clustering the DNS service on
Windows 2003. I've found several Microsoft sites that mention it being done
but no KB articles or tips or suggestions. I tried doing it once but it
didn't end up working, I don't remember why at this point. I'm just looking
for some documentation that will me try again. Anybody know of any?

Thanks,
Jeremy Carter

In news:eCvhpWFzGHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,
Microsoft <me@here.com> stated, which I commented on below:
> I've found precious little documentation about clustering the DNS
> service on Windows 2003. I've found several Microsoft sites that
> mention it being done but no KB articles or tips or suggestions. I
> tried doing it once but it didn't end up working, I don't remember
> why at this point. I'm just looking for some documentation that will
> me try again. Anybody know of any?
> Thanks,
> Jeremy Carter

I've never tried clustering DNS servers, but rather have multiple DNS
servers hosting the same zone, unless of course you are clustering domain
controllers that are running DNS. DNS is not cluster aware, such as Exchange
or AD. For example, Exchange recognizes a cluster installation when you
install it, and therefore installs a different set of binaries that work
with the clustering services.

If the nodes are domain controllers, here's an article discussing it:
Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 cluster nodes as domain controllers
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281662/

--
Ace
Innovative IT Concepts, Inc
Willow Grove, PA

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
Microsoft Certified Trainer

Having difficulty reading or finding responses to your post?
Instead of the website you're using, I suggest to use OEx (Outlook Express
or any other newsreader), and configure a news account, pointing to
news.microsoft.com. This is a direct link to the Microsoft Public
Newsgroups. It is FREE and requires NO ISP's Usenet account. OEx allows you
to easily find, track threads, cross-post, sort by date, poster's name,
watched threads or subject.
It's easy:

How to Configure OEx for Internet News
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=171164

Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations
Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile
"Very funny Scotty. Now, beam down my clothes."

The only constant in life is change...

Thanks for the reply Ace,

I'm currently running with two DNS servers, one is configured as my clients'
primary and the other is their secondary. The reason I'm looking at
clustering DNS is because we have many in-house apps that bang on an Oracle
server and when the primary dns goes down (which isn't often, but it does
happen occasionally), those oracle jobs pile up because each query has to
wait for the 2-second failover delay. There is apparently some sort of
processing limit which gets reached in this scenario and some queries just
plain fail. I'm hoping that by clustering dns, I'll have a primary dns
server IP that is up even if a server goes down for whatever reason.

Answering your other question, my two DNS servers are not running on domain
controllers. They both host secondary zones that point back to a local DC
for dynamic updates.

One of the pages I mentioned where I'd seen MS mention it being done is
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro....mspx?mfr=true

Any other thoughts?
Thanks again,
Jeremy Carter


"Ace Fekay [MVP]" <PleaseAskMe@SomeDomain.com> wrote in message
news:Ok1FW3IzGHA.4232@TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> In news:eCvhpWFzGHA.4816@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,
> Microsoft <me@here.com> stated, which I commented on below:
>> I've found precious little documentation about clustering the DNS
>> service on Windows 2003. I've found several Microsoft sites that
>> mention it being done but no KB articles or tips or suggestions. I
>> tried doing it once but it didn't end up working, I don't remember
>> why at this point. I'm just looking for some documentation that will
>> me try again. Anybody know of any?
>> Thanks,
>> Jeremy Carter
>
> I've never tried clustering DNS servers, but rather have multiple DNS
> servers hosting the same zone, unless of course you are clustering domain
> controllers that are running DNS. DNS is not cluster aware, such as
> Exchange or AD. For example, Exchange recognizes a cluster installation
> when you install it, and therefore installs a different set of binaries
> that work with the clustering services.
>
> If the nodes are domain controllers, here's an article discussing it:
> Windows 2000 and Windows Server 2003 cluster nodes as domain controllers
> http://support.microsoft.com/kb/281662/
>
> --
> Ace
> Innovative IT Concepts, Inc
> Willow Grove, PA
>
> This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
> confers no rights.
>
> Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
> Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
> Microsoft Certified Trainer
>
> Having difficulty reading or finding responses to your post?
> Instead of the website you're using, I suggest to use OEx (Outlook Express
> or any other newsreader), and configure a news account, pointing to
> news.microsoft.com. This is a direct link to the Microsoft Public
> Newsgroups. It is FREE and requires NO ISP's Usenet account. OEx allows
> you to easily find, track threads, cross-post, sort by date, poster's
> name, watched threads or subject.
> It's easy:
>
> How to Configure OEx for Internet News
> http://support.microsoft.com/?id=171164
>
> Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations
> Assimilation Imminent. Resistance is Futile
> "Very funny Scotty. Now, beam down my clothes."
>
> The only constant in life is change...
>
>
>

In news:eD4b54P0GHA.2516@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl,
Jeremy Carter <me@here.com> stated, which I commented on below:
> Thanks for the reply Ace,
>
> I'm currently running with two DNS servers, one is configured as my
> clients' primary and the other is their secondary. The reason I'm
> looking at clustering DNS is because we have many in-house apps that
> bang on an Oracle server and when the primary dns goes down (which
> isn't often, but it does happen occasionally), those oracle jobs pile
> up because each query has to wait for the 2-second failover delay. There
> is apparently some sort of processing limit which gets reached
> in this scenario and some queries just plain fail. I'm hoping that
> by clustering dns, I'll have a primary dns server IP that is up even
> if a server goes down for whatever reason.
> Answering your other question, my two DNS servers are not running on
> domain controllers. They both host secondary zones that point back
> to a local DC for dynamic updates.
>
> One of the pages I mentioned where I'd seen MS mention it being done
> is
> http://www.microsoft.com/technet/pro....mspx?mfr=true
>
> Any other thoughts?
> Thanks again,
> Jeremy Carter
>

Sorry I took so long to reply. Been a busy week.

The effect you are seeing with the delay in going to the second entry is due
to the resolver service's algorithm and the time out period. What are they
querying? Maybe a simple hosts file with that info (as long as it's not AD
resources it's looking for) may do the trick and save you alot of clustering
money.

I read the article, and yes it mentions it as you said, but it is
specifically talking about using MOM Management servers for the failover,
not necessarily clustering a simple DNS server. I actually found that
article interesting.

But Like I said, I have never tried it, but if a simple hosts file can't do
it because it's AD services or it has to query outside to the internet
often, then I would implement cliustering and give it a try. You can test it
out in a VPC enviornment.

Ace