Mastering Active Directory - Second Edition

Primary zone

A primary zone is a read/write container that contains the DNS records for a domain. When you create the first domain controller with integrated DNS in a domain, it will create a primary zone by default. It holds a master copy of the zone and stores it in AD DS. Primary zones will be the source for secondary zones. Users are allowed to create primary zones and integrate them with AD DS, even though they are not related to the AD DS domain name.

There are two types of primary zone:

• Standard primary zones
• AD-integrated primary zones

Standard primary zones are mostly used in non-AD environments to manage DNS. As an example, if you are hosting a public-facing website, you can also install a DNS role and manage the DNS for it by ...