Special Edition Using Microsoft Active Directory

Namespaces

When designing the Active Directory, careful planning of the AD namespace is critical. It affects the implementation of both DNS and the AD. One of the first rules of AD/DNS namespace planning is that the AD namespace and the DNS namespace must match. In other words, if you build an AD domain called fis.local, you must build a DNS zone named fis.local. You can, however, have DNS zones that do not have a corresponding AD domain. In fact, for your external resources, such as Web servers and e-commerce sites, this is preferred. But you cannot have AD domains that do not have a corresponding DNS zone.

Tip

You must make decisions about the DNS namespace before installing Active Directory. Active Directory naming decisions are forever. See ...