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I have two domains that are accessible just fine outside my network. However, within the network:

  1. One fails to resolve if the "www" prefix is omitted, but resolves if it is included.
  2. The other fails to resolve, regardless of the "www" prefix.

The error when attempting to access #1 is: This site can't be reached. XXX's server DNS address could not be found. ... ERR_NAME_NOT_RESOLVED.

We are using a Windows DNS server internally. What could the issue be? Our IT department is saying that this is a known issue with Microsoft DNS servers, that Microsoft doesn't play well without a fully qualified domain name, and that if you omit the "www," then Microsoft assumes the primary domain controller, which isn't a web server. Thanks in advance.

reformed
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  • `1.` I can only assume from your question that you're using your public DNS domain name internally. Is that the case? `2.` Your IT people are right, but that isn't a shortcoming of AD, it's a shortcoming of the people who named your AD. – joeqwerty Jun 30 '16 at 16:43
  • @joeqwerty Thanks for your comment. I'm using our public domain internally, yes. e.g., www.website.com works both publicly and internally, but website.com works only publicly. – reformed Jun 30 '16 at 16:50
  • Unfortunately then, there isn't anything you can do about the naked domain name. Your users will need to use the `www` form of the name to access the external website. – joeqwerty Jun 30 '16 at 17:22
  • @joeqwerty I understand that part. My question is why? What technically prevents the domain from being resolved? This also means no subdomains are internally accessible, either (e.g., sub.website.com). – reformed Jun 30 '16 at 17:33
  • @reformed asks "What technically prevents the domain from being resolved?" The answer is that the DNS server _is_ resolving the name. It's resolving it to an AD domain controller. – JasonAzze Jun 30 '16 at 18:25
  • @JasonAzze Thanks. I'm not an IT/network expert so I appreciate the information. Is there a way to make the internal DNS server resolve to the appropriate web server instead of the AD domain controller? – reformed Jun 30 '16 at 18:30

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