Hi guys, so sorry for this naive question. Got two AD integrated zones one primary and secondary for fail over purposes. But just want to ask if I want to take the primary offline for maintenance purposes. And after the maintenance, how do I bring the primary back online? Thank you. Every second counts..make use of it.

Hello, how will you set a DNS zone to maintenance? Please elaborate this. Or are you talking about 2 domain controllers where one should be shutdown to maintain it? Then make sure the other DC is GC and DNS server also and that all domain machines are configured to use it on the NIC also. Keep in mind that the tombstone lifetime is your limit for shutting down a DC, between 60-180 days depending on the used OS version.Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights.

Hello, how will you set a DNS zone to maintenance? Please elaborate this. Or are you talking about 2 domain controllers where one should be shutdown to maintain it? Then make sure the other DC is GC and DNS server also and that all domain machines are configured to use it on the NIC also. Keep in mind that the tombstone lifetime is your limit for shutting down a DC, between 60-180 days depending on the used OS version. Best regards Meinolf Weber Disclaimer: This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Hi Meinolf, thanks for your reply. sorry I was talking about two DC's and other one will be shutdown to be maintain. The other DC is configured properly to take the role of the other DC (DNS, GC, DHCP as well). But this is the first time that i'll be shutting down the other DC. So after maintenance, do i just simply plug it in and allow replication to occur. Or how do i go through the steps to bring the other one back? Thank you in advance. :)Every second counts..make use of it.

First of all, when you're talking about AD Integrated there's no such thing as "primary" and "secondary" servers. All AD Integrated DNS servers are primary, eg able to update records etc. You can still have a secondary DNS server configured, but that configuration tends to be used more for things like stub offices, where you want to keep queries local but don't need any updates to be made from that office. In a fully AD Integrated setup then when they're both running your clients will use either server, if you take one offline then obviously the clients will just use the remaining server, and when the server is online again they will go back to using either server. You don't need to do any manual intervention, it will all happen automatically as servers go offline and then come online again.

Hello, you can shut it down without problems. Just make sure that client computers are pointing to the second DC as a DNS server and that is all. If you find DNS resolution problems then make the second DC configured as a primary DNS server on your client computers and check connectivity. Before the shutdown, please make sure that AD replication is made without problems. This posting is provided "AS IS" with no warranties or guarantees , and confers no rights. Microsoft Student Partner 2010 / 2011 Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft Certified Systems Administrator: Security Microsoft Certified Systems Engineer: Security Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Active Directory, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Network Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows Server 2008 Applications Infrastructure, Configuration Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist: Windows 7, Configuring Microsoft Certified IT Professional: Enterprise Administrator

Yes you may but before shutting it down make it sure that your replication is working fine and all the clients point to the other domain controller which is running.http://www.virmansec.com/blogs/skhairuddin

If these conditions are met: 1- Two DC's is DNS had Active Directory- Integrated zone. 2- Two DC's GC. 3- Tow DC's have DHCP with any role 80-20 or 50-50- or 70-30. 4- All clients have configure to point tow DNS (one as Preferred DNs server - onther one as Alternate DNS server) Note : Before shutdown you should check last replicator between tow DC's you can shoutdown any DC without problem for maintenance.Mohamed Abd Elhamid Abd Elaziz Microsoft System Administrator Abdul Samad Al Qurashi Co.

Thank you guys for sharing your ideas..now whole picture is clear..thanks again ;)Every second counts..make use of it.