Lesson 9

This module discussed how to use the Installation Wizard to install Active Directory.
This means that you should now be able to:

1. Install Active Directory
2. Prepare for installation
3. Establish a root domain
4. Add a domain controller
5. Create a child domain
6. Create a tree in a forest
7. Verify the installation of Active Directory

Service (SRV) resource records play a crucial role in the functioning of Active Directory (AD) on Windows Server 2019. These DNS records are automatically created during the installation of Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) and facilitate the proper operation of various AD services. SRV resource records enable the following key functions:

1. Service Discovery: SRV records provide a standardized method for clients and other domain controllers to locate and connect to Active Directory services within the domain. They contain information such as the service type, protocol, port number, and the hostname of the server offering the service. This allows clients to discover services dynamically without manual configuration.
2. Domain Controller Locator (DCL) Mechanism: The DCL mechanism uses SRV records to identify domain controllers within a domain or a forest. When a client, such as a workstation or another domain controller, needs to interact with a domain controller, it queries the DNS server for SRV records to locate the appropriate domain controller. This process ensures the efficient distribution of authentication and replication tasks across available domain controllers.
3. Site Awareness: SRV records enable Active Directory to be site-aware, which allows clients to identify and connect to the nearest domain controller within their site. This minimizes network traffic across site boundaries and optimizes resource usage. When multiple domain controllers are available within a site, clients use the priority and weight values specified in SRV records to determine the most suitable domain controller to connect to.
4. Load Balancing and Failover: SRV records help distribute the load among multiple domain controllers by providing clients with a list of available domain controllers offering the requested service. Clients can use the priority and weight values in SRV records to choose an appropriate domain controller. In case a domain controller becomes unavailable, SRV records facilitate automatic failover, allowing clients to connect to alternative domain controllers seamlessly.

SRV resource records are essential components in the installation and operation of Active Directory on Windows Server 2019. They enable service discovery, facilitate the Domain Controller Locator mechanism, promote site awareness, and support load balancing and failover, ensuring efficient and reliable functioning of Active Directory services.

This module introduced you to the following terms:

1. Child domains: A domain located in the namespace tree directly under another domain name (the parent domain), which contains the name of the parent in its own name. Example: sales.tacteam.net is a child domain of the tacteam.net parent domain.
2. Microsoft Management Console (MMC): A framework for hosting administrative tools, called consoles. A console may contain tools, folders or other containers, World Wide Web pages, and other administrative items. These items are displayed in the left pane of the console, called a console tree. A console has one or more windows that can provide views of the console tree.
3. NetBIOS: Network Basic Input/Output System; an API used by programs on a local network that provides a uniform set of commands for requesting lower level services.
4. Root domain: The first domain created in a domain tree.
5. SRV resource records: Used in a DNS zone to register and locate well known TCP/IP services.

In the next module, you will learn in depth about the physical structure of Active Directory.

Click the Quiz link below to review the skills learned in this module.
Domain Controller - Quiz