Network services.
WHY DNS MATTERS PARTICULARLY
Active Directory depends on it entirely. A directory with broken name resolution does not function.
WHAT DOMAIN MEMBERS MUST USE
Internal DNS servers, not public ones.
WHY
Public servers do not hold the records the directory requires.
WHAT THAT MISCONFIGURATION CAUSES
Authentication failures, policy not applying, and errors that appear unrelated.
WHAT TO CONFIGURE
Forwarders for external resolution Reverse lookup zones Scavenging, to remove stale records
WHAT DHCP DOES
Assigns addresses automatically, with configuration.
WHAT TO CONFIGURE
Scopes with appropriate ranges Reservations for devices needing consistent addresses
Correct options: gateway, DNS servers, domain name
WHAT TO RESERVE ADDRESSES FOR
Printers, servers and network equipment.
WHY
Devices whose address changes stop working for everyone referencing them.
WHAT TO PLAN
Address ranges that will not need renumbering.
WHAT TO MONITOR
Scope utilisation, which exhausts without warning.
WHAT TO CHECK WHEN NETWORK PROBLEMS APPEAR
Whether devices received an address, and which DNS servers they were given.
