
A zone is a portion of the domain namespace that is defined by the resource records that are stored in a zone database file. A zone database file stores information that is used to resolve host names to IP addresses and IP addresses to host names. When you configure a zone, you determine the type of zone database file that is stored on a DNS name server, in addition to how the zone database file is updated.
The following table describes the three types of zones that you can configure.
| Zone type | Description |
|---|---|
| Standard primary | The master copy of a zone database file. The standard primary zone is stored in a standard text file. Administer and maintain a standard primary zone on the computer at which you create the zone. |
| Standard secondary | A replica of an existing zone database file. Standard secondary zones are read-only and are stored in standard text files. You can create a standard secondary zone to provide fault tolerance so that a valid copy of the zone information exists in case the primary or any other DNS name server fails. Standard secondary zones also perform load balancing because they provide the same client support as a standard primary zone. |
| Active Directory integrated | A zone database file that is stored in Active Directory. Updates of the zone are performed during Active Directory replication. |
| Note The DNS Server service in Windows NT 4.0 provides the ability to create primary and secondary zones. The DNS Server service in Windows 2000 also allows you to create Active Directory integrated zones, which are primary zones that are stored in Active Directory. Therefore, primary and secondary zones in Windows 2000 are called standard primary and standard secondary zones. |
You can also configure zones to better utilize network resources. For example, you can modify zone properties to:
In addition, you can delegate administrative tasks by creating a subdomain in an existing zone. Creating a subdomain allows you to delegate the administrative tasks that are involved in maintaining the zone database file for a zone.