Dear junior IT,Thank you for contacting me regarding your questions, and trust that I will do my best to help you. From what I understand, you work at two branch offices, and have been given the responsibility of discovering where to place an Active-Directory Integrated DNS server. You also have some question of what type DNS server would best meet your company’s needs. First let’s begin with the smaller branch supporting perhaps five user/workstations, with an unusually slow network.The question with such a small branch isn’t really about what kind of DNS server you need, but do you need a DNS server at all.
If there is a very high level of file/data sharing, then yes perhaps you could benefit from a server, but configured in a secondary zone, such as an ADI. However, if there is not enough file/data sharing to really warrant the presence of the server, an ADI server could potentially slow down an already sluggish system.Now let’s move on to the second, much larger branch supporting around thirty users. You stated that this branch has a much better network connectivity than its smaller counterpart. In this case, I would recommend a DNS server set up in the primary zone. The primary zone is the primary source of information within this zone.
I would also further suggest moving your servers from the smaller branch to your larger branch. All files from the smaller branch could be accessed via a “VPN” remote link. This would allow the smaller branch the ability to use a much smaller router, which might help with the lag the users have experienced.Warmest Regards
