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How can I create a highly available VM running the Active directory role and DNS role. If one server goes down I would like it to fail over to the other node where clients within the domain will still be able to resolve their ip address

anon
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  • It seems HA is [built into](https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/answers/questions/76527/implement-domain-controller-as-ha-version.html) Active Directory. I found this with an internet search; should not be too hard to do the same regarding DNS. – berndbausch Jun 19 '21 at 07:04
  • and what have you tried to solve this? take a look into mcsa 2016 there will be such scenarios explained – djdomi Jun 20 '21 at 16:11

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Primary and secondary DNS can be easily configured. You will have to configure 2 DNS servers on the clients and configure DHCP to do the same job. https://www.itingredients.com/how-to-configure-secondary-dns-server-2012-r2/ As for the AD, you should have at least 2 DC in your environment. AD replication will handle HA. Check the following video for other tips: https://www.starwindsoftware.com/resource-library/useful-tips-for-setting-up-microsoft-active-directory-domain-controllers/

Stuka
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HA is built into both DNS and AD services.

All operating systems I've seen allows you to specify multiple DNS servers, and will try the next one if the first one does not respond. In addition, DNS resolution by clients is based on UDP, so there is no states to maintain for a different server to take over.

When it comes to Domain Controllers, clients locate these by DNS records, which will (by default) return a list of all domain controllers. DNS itself supports redundancy through slave servers, and AD's own synchronization mechanisms. If a DC is not answerring, the client will try the next DC listed in DNS.

vidarlo
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