Is it necessary to rename a domain controller for reverse dns

Hello: I have a customer who had another consultant install Active Directory
and Exchange on the same server. They used, as the domain name, BDL.local
and the full computer name: bdas01.BDL.local. They've had some issues with
Exchange, and I recently noticed they never setup a PTR for reverse DNS. I
contacted their ISP to do this, but they need a valid mail server name. As
far as I can tell, the mail server (which is the same server as the domain
controller) is named bdas01.BDL.local. Unfortunately, their public domain
name is bennettdesign.com. I would think the IP address of their mail server
would need to resolve to a server name that has bennettdesign.com in it in a
reverse DNS lookup. Any recommendations on how to handle this? Do I need to
change the server name? Do I need to change the Active Directory domain name
to bennettdesign.local?

Thanks, Adam V.

Anthony
Fri Dec 07 13:24:53 PST 2007

Hi Adam,
No, you don't need to do either of those.
Whoever is hosting the dns zone for bennettdesign.com needs to set up an MX
record for your mail server. The name can be whatever you like, but
mail.bennettdesign.com sounds good. Then in your firewall you need to do NAT
so that your internal Exchange Server has an external address, which
corresponds to the address of the MX record.
Then your ISP, who is providing you with the IP addresses, needs to set up
that name in their Reverse zone. So when AOL say "who is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx?"
they look up the ISP's reverse zone and find its you.
There is no relationship at all betwen the actual server name, the Active
Directory name, and the internet domain name.
Hope that helps,
Anthony, http://www.airdesk.com


"Adam V." <AdamV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:CFF6FEB1-F7DE-4E00-9337-78BB49142373@microsoft.com...
> Hello: I have a customer who had another consultant install Active
> Directory
> and Exchange on the same server. They used, as the domain name, BDL.local
> and the full computer name: bdas01.BDL.local. They've had some issues
> with
> Exchange, and I recently noticed they never setup a PTR for reverse DNS.
> I
> contacted their ISP to do this, but they need a valid mail server name.
> As
> far as I can tell, the mail server (which is the same server as the domain
> controller) is named bdas01.BDL.local. Unfortunately, their public domain
> name is bennettdesign.com. I would think the IP address of their mail
> server
> would need to resolve to a server name that has bennettdesign.com in it in
> a
> reverse DNS lookup. Any recommendations on how to handle this? Do I need
> to
> change the server name? Do I need to change the Active Directory domain
> name
> to bennettdesign.local?
>
> Thanks, Adam V.

AdamV
Fri Dec 07 19:01:00 PST 2007

Thanks Anthony. Very, very helpful.

Adam V.

"Anthony" wrote:

> Hi Adam,
> No, you don't need to do either of those.
> Whoever is hosting the dns zone for bennettdesign.com needs to set up an MX
> record for your mail server. The name can be whatever you like, but
> mail.bennettdesign.com sounds good. Then in your firewall you need to do NAT
> so that your internal Exchange Server has an external address, which
> corresponds to the address of the MX record.
> Then your ISP, who is providing you with the IP addresses, needs to set up
> that name in their Reverse zone. So when AOL say "who is xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx?"
> they look up the ISP's reverse zone and find its you.
> There is no relationship at all betwen the actual server name, the Active
> Directory name, and the internet domain name.
> Hope that helps,
> Anthony, http://www.airdesk.com
>
>
> "Adam V." <AdamV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:CFF6FEB1-F7DE-4E00-9337-78BB49142373@microsoft.com...
> > Hello: I have a customer who had another consultant install Active
> > Directory
> > and Exchange on the same server. They used, as the domain name, BDL.local
> > and the full computer name: bdas01.BDL.local. They've had some issues
> > with
> > Exchange, and I recently noticed they never setup a PTR for reverse DNS.
> > I
> > contacted their ISP to do this, but they need a valid mail server name.
> > As
> > far as I can tell, the mail server (which is the same server as the domain
> > controller) is named bdas01.BDL.local. Unfortunately, their public domain
> > name is bennettdesign.com. I would think the IP address of their mail
> > server
> > would need to resolve to a server name that has bennettdesign.com in it in
> > a
> > reverse DNS lookup. Any recommendations on how to handle this? Do I need
> > to
> > change the server name? Do I need to change the Active Directory domain
> > name
> > to bennettdesign.local?
> >
> > Thanks, Adam V.
>
>
>

Anthony
Fri Dec 07 22:47:47 PST 2007

Great, glad to hear it!
"Adam V." <AdamV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:0EED9DB8-9C26-46B4-8304-E435FC4A1F19@microsoft.com...
> Thanks Anthony. Very, very helpful.
>
> Adam V.
>
> "Anthony" wrote:
>
>> Hi Adam,
>> No, you don't need to do either of those.
>> Whoever is hosting the dns zone for bennettdesign.com needs to set up an
>> MX
>> record for your mail server. The name can be whatever you like, but
>> mail.bennettdesign.com sounds good. Then in your firewall you need to do
>> NAT
>> so that your internal Exchange Server has an external address, which
>> corresponds to the address of the MX record.
>> Then your ISP, who is providing you with the IP addresses, needs to set
>> up
>> that name in their Reverse zone. So when AOL say "who is
>> xxx.xxx.xxx.xxx?"
>> they look up the ISP's reverse zone and find its you.
>> There is no relationship at all betwen the actual server name, the Active
>> Directory name, and the internet domain name.
>> Hope that helps,
>> Anthony, http://www.airdesk.com
>>
>>
>> "Adam V." <AdamV@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
>> news:CFF6FEB1-F7DE-4E00-9337-78BB49142373@microsoft.com...
>> > Hello: I have a customer who had another consultant install Active
>> > Directory
>> > and Exchange on the same server. They used, as the domain name,
>> > BDL.local
>> > and the full computer name: bdas01.BDL.local. They've had some issues
>> > with
>> > Exchange, and I recently noticed they never setup a PTR for reverse
>> > DNS.
>> > I
>> > contacted their ISP to do this, but they need a valid mail server name.
>> > As
>> > far as I can tell, the mail server (which is the same server as the
>> > domain
>> > controller) is named bdas01.BDL.local. Unfortunately, their public
>> > domain
>> > name is bennettdesign.com. I would think the IP address of their mail
>> > server
>> > would need to resolve to a server name that has bennettdesign.com in it
>> > in
>> > a
>> > reverse DNS lookup. Any recommendations on how to handle this? Do I
>> > need
>> > to
>> > change the server name? Do I need to change the Active Directory
>> > domain
>> > name
>> > to bennettdesign.local?
>> >
>> > Thanks, Adam V.
>>
>>
>>