New DNS and AD DS BPA’s released (or: the most accurate list of DNS recommendations you will ever find from Microsoft)

Hi folks, Ned here again. We’ve released another wave of Best Practices Analyzer rules for Windows Server 2008 / R2, and if you care about Directory Services you care about these:

AD DS rules update

Info: Update for the AD DS Best Practices Analyzer rules in Windows Server 2008 R2
Download: Rules Update for Active Directory Domain Services Best Practice Analyzer for Windows Server 2008 R2 x64 Editions (KB980360)

This update BPA for Active Directory Domain Services include seven rules changes and updates, some of which are well known but a few that are not.

DNS Analyzer 2.0

Operation Info: Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System – Ops
Configuration info: Best Practices Analyzer for Domain Name System - Config
Download: Microsoft DNS (Domain Name System) Model for Microsoft Baseline Configuration Analyzer 2.0

Remember when – a few weeks back – I wrote about recommended DNS configuration and I promised more info? Well here it is, in all its glory. Despite what you might have heard, misheard, remembered, or argued about, this is the official recommended list, written by the Product Group and appended/vetted/munged by Support. Which includes:

Awww yeaaaahhh… just memorize that and you’ll win any "Microsoft recommended DNS" bar bets you can imagine. That’s the cool thing about this ongoing BPA project: not only do you get a tool that will check your work in later OS versions, but the valid documentation gets centralized.

- Ned “Arren hates cowboys” Pyle