Windows 2008 R2 - DNS + Domain Name + Email + Websites

Question

I have a brand new dedicated server where I need to install the DNS, set up namespace, email and a website.

I've done this in the past but I'm not sure if i've done it correctly.

I have two domains xx.net and xx.com I use xx.net to set up the namespace server.

I've installed DNS without AD. (Do i need AD?) I ran through the configuration wizard on DNS and configured and Forward and Reverse domain namespace 'xx.net'

What should the SOA settings be? I've just left them as default at the moment.

I've tried to add the namespace records ns1.xx.net but it's not validating. Is this because I need to wait for the domain name host settings to be updated from godaddy?

My next step was going to be adding the A record for ns1.xx.net is this needed? Then setting up the MX records for xx.com

Am I on the right track?

Cheers for clearing this up for me finally.

Answer 1

It looks like you got quite a bit of work on your hands :).

First things first... You'll need to set up AD if you're going to be using MS Exchange for your mail solution as it relies on the AD Schema. I would definetly consider putting this on a seperate server for security reasons.

SOA records are simply the first entries for a DNS zone. By default the settings are fine. If you setup another DNS server as a secondary zone, you'll need to modify the Zone transfers tab to allow replication of the records to occcur.

Here are detailed instructions on how to point GoDaddy to your own DNS server: http://help.godaddy.com/article/668

Once you're mail server is all setup you'll have to create MX records in the zones.