slow bootup of Windows 2003 domain controllers

I have two Windows 2003 domain controllers on an isolated network (no
Internet access). Both domain controllers are periodically shutdown
and simultaneously restarted. The domain controllers are running no
other applications except Active Directory and DNS. This is a lab test
environment. It takes 7 minutes to complete bootup of both domain
controllers. Takes 1 -2 minutes to boot up a single domain controller
if the other is already started.

Have set DNS preferred entry to point to local server, alternate to
point to other server. Have tried reversing entries also. Nothing has
helped. Event Viewer log seems to indicate a DNS error/problem.

Any ideas? I have seen similar posts but never any resolution.

Thanks for any help.

This is normal if both DNS restart simultaneously because the DC needs the DNS to function. We never restart the DNS servers at the same time. The basic rule for setup DNS is "primary DNS and 2nd DNS servers point to each other as primary and themselves as secondary if both DNS servers are in the LAN"

Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
"TGD" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
I have two Windows 2003 domain controllers on an isolated network (no
Internet access). Both domain controllers are periodically shutdown
and simultaneously restarted. The domain controllers are running no
other applications except Active Directory and DNS. This is a lab test
environment. It takes 7 minutes to complete bootup of both domain
controllers. Takes 1 -2 minutes to boot up a single domain controller
if the other is already started.

Have set DNS preferred entry to point to local server, alternate to
point to other server. Have tried reversing entries also. Nothing has
helped. Event Viewer log seems to indicate a DNS error/problem.

Any ideas? I have seen similar posts but never any resolution.

Thanks for any help.

Also, if your environment requires frequent reboots of both DCs, try making
the Netlogon service dependent on DNS:

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/259277/en-us

Doug Sherman
MCSE, MCSA, MCP+I, MVP

"TGD" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> I have two Windows 2003 domain controllers on an isolated network (no
> Internet access). Both domain controllers are periodically shutdown
> and simultaneously restarted. The domain controllers are running no
> other applications except Active Directory and DNS. This is a lab test
> environment. It takes 7 minutes to complete bootup of both domain
> controllers. Takes 1 -2 minutes to boot up a single domain controller
> if the other is already started.
>
> Have set DNS preferred entry to point to local server, alternate to
> point to other server. Have tried reversing entries also. Nothing has
> helped. Event Viewer log seems to indicate a DNS error/problem.
>
> Any ideas? I have seen similar posts but never any resolution.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>

Robert L [MS-MVP] wrote:
> This is normal if both DNS restart simultaneously because the DC needs the DNS to function. We never restart the DNS servers at the same time. The basic rule for setup DNS is "primary DNS and 2nd DNS servers point to each other as primary and themselves as secondary if both DNS servers are in the LAN"
>
> Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE & CNE
> Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN Troubleshooting on http://www.ChicagoTech.net
> How to Setup Windows, Network, VPN & Remote Access on http://www.HowToNetworking.com
> "TGD" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message news:(E-Mail Removed) oups.com...
> I have two Windows 2003 domain controllers on an isolated network (no
> Internet access). Both domain controllers are periodically shutdown
> and simultaneously restarted. The domain controllers are running no
> other applications except Active Directory and DNS. This is a lab test
> environment. It takes 7 minutes to complete bootup of both domain
> controllers. Takes 1 -2 minutes to boot up a single domain controller
> if the other is already started.
>
> Have set DNS preferred entry to point to local server, alternate to
> point to other server. Have tried reversing entries also. Nothing has
> helped. Event Viewer log seems to indicate a DNS error/problem.
>
> Any ideas? I have seen similar posts but never any resolution.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_0031_01C69126.15085450
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> <DIV><FONT size=2>This&nbsp;is normal if both DNS restart simultaneously because
> the DC needs the DNS to function. We never restart the DNS servers at the same
> time. The basic rule for setup DNS is </FONT><FONT size=3><FONT
> face=Verdana>"</FONT><FONT face=Verdana>primary DNS and 2nd DNS servers point to
> each other as primary and themselves as secondary if both DNS servers are in the
> LAN"</FONT></FONT></DIV>
> <DIV><BR>Bob Lin, MS-MVP, MCSE &amp; CNE<BR>Networking, Internet, Routing, VPN
> Troubleshooting on <A
> href="http://www.ChicagoTech.net">http://www.ChicagoTech.net</A> <BR>How to
> Setup Windows, Network, VPN &amp; Remote Access on <A
> href="http://www.HowToNetworking.com">http://www.HowToNetworking.com</A> </DIV>
> <BLOCKQUOTE
> style="PADDING-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; BORDER-LEFT: #000000 2px solid; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px">
> <DIV>"TGD" &lt;<A
> href="private.php?do=newpm&u=">(E-Mail Removed)</A>&gt; wrote in
> message <A
> href="news:(E-Mail Removed) oglegroups.com">news:1150458607.058834.281450@i40g 2000cwc.googlegroups.com</A>...</DIV>I
> have two Windows 2003 domain controllers on an isolated network
> (no<BR>Internet access).&nbsp; Both domain controllers are periodically
> shutdown<BR>and simultaneously restarted.&nbsp; The domain controllers are
> running no<BR>other applications except Active Directory and DNS.&nbsp; This
> is a lab test<BR>environment.&nbsp; It takes 7 minutes to complete bootup of
> both domain<BR>controllers.&nbsp; Takes 1 -2 minutes to boot up a single
> domain controller<BR>if the other is already started.<BR><BR>Have set DNS
> preferred entry to point to local server, alternate to<BR>point to other
> server.&nbsp; Have tried reversing entries also.&nbsp; Nothing
> has<BR>helped.&nbsp; Event Viewer log seems to indicate a DNS
> error/problem.<BR><BR>Any ideas?&nbsp; I have seen similar posts but never any
> resolution.<BR><BR>Thanks for any help.<BR></BLOCKQUOTE></BODY></HTML>
>
> ------=_NextPart_000_0031_01C69126.15085450--

Thanks for responding. Both domain controllers are shutdown and
restarted together. I do not have the option to only shutdown done and
start one at a time. I found the following answer and implemented it
and it worked. It changed the startup time for both domain controllers
from about 7 minutes to less then 2 minutes.

"Rebecca Leonard (Last update 4/25/2006):
More on Ionut Marin's post: We have 2 domain controllers with DNS and
were experiencing the same issue. Microsoft support told me to add a
registry entry (I am not advocating changing anything in the registry,
particularly on a DC, this is merely a reference) under
HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\NTDS\Parame ters. Add a new DWORD
value named "Repl Perform Initial Synchronizations", with a decimal
value of 0. Evidently, this keeps AD and DNS from querying each other
at the same time after startup. " From:
http://www.eventid.net/display.asp?e...ce=DNS&phase=1