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Help setting up local DNS on SBS2003

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 7:41 am
by Tyree
I hope this is the correct forum to ask this question.

I'm running a local Apache server (via XAMPP) on a local Windows PC. That PC is within a local domain (domain.local). The local domain controller is a SBS2003 machine which also handles DNS.

Here's the problem:
I can access the website running on the Apache server (website.com) just fine from outside the office, but if I try to type in the web address inside the office, the request times out. However, I can access it by typing in the Apache server's IP address.

So, what do I have to add/change on the local DNS server to get client PCs to resolve the full website domain name (without editing the hosts file on every client machine)?

I'm somewhat of a newb on DNS setup. At least not local DNS....I do pretty well on my web server DNS. :-)

Thanks!!!
Matt

Thanks!
Matt

Re: Help setting up local DNS on SBS2003

Posted: Fri Oct 29, 2010 1:33 pm
by Doug G
.local is a special case for many DNS resolvers. Often .local name resolution will use only multicast DNS to look up the name, and mdns is often problematic when wifi and multiple network segments are involved.

If you only have a couple workstations that need to get to the web server internally, adding a hosts file entry is probably the easiest. You could also try adding an A record in the DNS server for the web server in the .local zone in your DNS server.

Also check that your workstations are using your SBS DNS server as their primary DNS. If your workstation is configured to use an external ISP DNS server you may see the problem you describe.