how to name an active directory domain (new)?

[notShai]

hello, i have a domain called apple. it has some difficulties in the event viewer i lost patients with.
i have a new 2008 server i want to configure as a primary domain controller and dns server (i will later assign the print server with the role of secondary domain controller and secondary dns server)

how do i name the domain in the dcpromo dialog???
i read a bunch of preferred ways.

the new domain is tomato - should i type "tomato"? or "tomato.tomato"?
there is no outside

http://www.tomato.com,

it will not be an email server at any point.
i saw somewhere they recommend to add a .dot something, not sure why.
i just want a clean installation.

thanks in advance.

 

[Titleist]

notShai,

Call it tomato.local You need the "dot something" for it to be a proper DNS domain, otherwise you're left with an old style NETBIOS domain (like NT4) which would cause all sorts of issues if you need to setup any transitive trusts.

John

 

[notShai]

local" as in any word after the dot?
when the domain drop down shows up on a networked pc will it display as "tomato.local" or "tomato"? i think i know the answer to that but want to be sure.

also - my current domain is named "apple" no dot anything, i would like to create a trust between my current "apple" and my new "tomato.local", would the "transitive trust" issues you mentioned be a problem?
should i avoid creating a trust between the two?
in the dcpromo i only want to go back to support 2003 and not earlier in the option...

thanks John

 

[58sniper]

.local" is the most common name. You could call it anything, but ".local" is very common after the name. So, "contoso.local" or "fabrikam.local" or "tomato.local"

There are also those orgs that user their public domain name ("contoso.com"), but that brings up extra complexities.

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