Change Zone Replication

Controlling zone replication allows you to be able to decide the parameters for replication for the DNS zone. These parameters are often called the replication scope. When DNS is integrated with Active Directory, it is replicated along with the other AD partitions between domain controllers. Active Directory consists of forest and domain structures, and there are domain controllers at both logical levels of this hierarchy. This structure lends itself to four replication scope options:

• All DNS servers in the Active NN Directory forest: This scope option will replicate DNS zone data to all DNS servers in the Active Directory forest. That's a broad scope, and depending on the size and physical layout of your forest, it could have some significant impact on replication.
• All DNS servers in the Active Directory domain: This scope option will replicate DNS zone data to all DNS servers that are running on domain controllers in the Active Directory domain. This seems like a tighter scope than the forest scope, but if you think about the size limitations on a domain (functionally there really aren't any), this could present the same issues as the forest scope, albeit with the limitations of the domain.
• All domain controllers in the Active Directory domain: In this scope, you would replicate DNS zone data to all domain controllers whether they were DNS servers or not.
• All domain controllers in a specified application directory partition: This scope allows you to replicate DNS zone data to the domain controllers that you have enlisted in the application directory partition.

Each of the scope options can be used effectively depending on the network environment and DNS implementation in which they are implemented. If you had taken the time to create an application directory partition, it would make sense to change the replication scope to all domain controllers in a specified application directory partition. To make changes in replication scope, you will use the DNS Manager:

1. Open DNS Manager.
2. Locate and right-click the zone, and then choose Properties.
3. On the General tab, locate Replication, and click Change.
4. Select your desired replication scope.