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Force Flow
Asked: 2013-07-18 08:41:21 +0800 CST

Adding second Windows Server to domain

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I have a Windows Server 2008 R2 Server (Server A) running as a domain controller with Active Directory, Group Policy, and DNS services.

I set up a second Windows Server 2008 R2 server (Server B), added it to the domain, and installed the Active Directory, Group Policy, and DNS Roles.

If I take Server A offline, then Active Directory and Group policy services are no longer available on Server B.

What would I need to do in order keep AD & GPO services operating while one server or the other is offline?

[edit]: Would I possibly need to do something involving dcpromo.exe on Server B? If so, what might that be?

active-directory

2 Answers

  1. Best Answer

    You need to run dcpromo on the second server to make it a domain controller and install the other roles.

    You need to make sure it is a global catalog so that these services will continue to run if either server is offline. The AD content should replicate between the two servers by AD DS replication

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  2. DNS, DNS, DNS.

    Ensure that each DC is a DNS server for the AD's DNS zone, and ensure that the DNS settings on each server's NIC points to itself and the other DNS server.

    The order of which each should point to is a bit of a bone of contention, you can find people arguing both sides - but without both, when one is down, the other will be sunk.

    Thus, also ensure that your client machines are configured to use both for DNS servers as well.

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