I'm curious about the best DNS configurations for two domain controllers. Specifically, should I set up a loopback address followed by the IP address of the other DNS server, or should I just use the individual server IP addresses? What's the best practice here?
3 Answers
I've found that using just the loopback address for DNS on both servers is the way to go. If your DNS setup goes south, you're in trouble anyway. Keep it simple and set them to self.
But why choose loopback over an actual server IP? I prefer to stick with IPs matching what DHCP provides for consistency.
What I do is have Server A list Server B as the primary DNS and the loopback as the secondary. Then, Server B lists A as primary and loopback as secondary. It keeps it organized!
That’s smart! But I’m wondering how you would adapt this when adding a third or fourth domain controller to the setup.
According to Microsoft, it's best to configure domain controllers to use their LAN IP rather than the loopback address. There's a guide with more info on valid setups that you might want to check out!
Just a heads up on that guide: it highlights the issue of setting DNS to itself, warning against creating DNS Islands.
Totally agree! Just using the loopback is straightforward. If one domain controller is constantly pinging the other for DNS, it suggests there might be a bigger issue at play.