Managing DNS zones

In the previous sections, we have seen some of the DNS configuration items. In this section, we will find out how to manage zones in a DNS environment. Zones are the actual entities in a DNS environment that store the DNS records and control replication. There are different types of zone available in DNS, each serving a specific purpose.

There are three main types of zone available in DNS. They are as follows:

1. Primary zone: As the name indicates, this is the primary source of information for the zone. When a zone is created as primary zone, it can be as a standalone or AD DS-integrated. The standard zone stores the data in file format in the %windir%\System32\Dns folder on the DNS server where it is hosted. In the case of AD DS-integrated zone, information is stored in Active Directory based on the replication type set for the zone (domain or forest).

2. Secondary zone: This zone acts as backup for a primary zone. It obtains data from the DNS server that hosts the primary...