One of the new features introduced in Windows 2000 was the ability to integrate DHCP and DNS. This feature is also included with Windows Server 2003 and you can expect to encounter exam questions that pertain to this topic.

The dirt behind this is that DNS clients can dynamically update their own resource records with a DNS server, thereby eliminating the need for administrators to do so manually. Some clients do not support dynamic updates so you can configure your DHCP server to update resource records on their behalf.

First of all, you need to know which clients can update their own resource records and which ones cannot. Clients running Windows 2000 and later can send updates requests directly to a DNS server to update its own pointer and host records. Or the client can request that the DHCP server make the update on its behalf. Pre-Windows 2000 clients, on the other hand, do no support dynamic update.

Next you need to know how to configure the DHCP server for DNS integration. This is accomplished through the DHCP console.

1. Click Start, point to Administrative Tools, and select DHCP.
2. Right click your DHCP server and click Properties.
3. Select the DNS tab.
4. Choose the appropriate settings.
5. Click OK.

From the DNS tab you will see a few different options. You should be familiar with each option and when you would want to select one or the other. Each option is outlined below.

• Enable DNS dynamic updates according to the settings below. This option is selected by default. Deselecting this option means the DHCP server will not perform any dynamic updates.
• Dynamically update DNS A and PTR records only if requested by the DHCP clients. This option is selected by default. Selecting this option means the DHCP server will perform the updates if requested to do so by the client.
• Always dynamically update DNS A and PTR records. Selecting this option means the DHCP server will always update DNS A and PTR records on behalf of DHCP clients.
• Discard A and PTR records when the lease is deleted. Specifies whether the DHCP server should discard the records when a DHCP client lease expires.
• Dynamically update DNS A and PTR records for DHCP clients that do not request updates (for example, clients running Windows NT 4.0). Select this option if there are clients on the network that do no support dynamic updates, such as those clients running Windows NT 4.0. In such cases, the DHCP server will perform the updates on behalf of the client.