DNS preventing access to external web site?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mike Wallace
  • Start date Start date
M

Mike Wallace

We recently added an Exchange Server and now we can't get to our web site
hosted by our ISP. When we type in the domain name we get the IIS page that
describes its features. Is there a DNS setting that is required to allow us
to get to the external web site?

Thanks.

Mike
 
Huh? Is the FQDN of the Exchange server the same as your public web site or
something? You'll need to be more specific?

What's your DNS structure look like?
 
This wouldn't be an Exchange issue. If you're using your 'public' domain
name as your AD domain name, which is not uncommon, you'll need to add a
host record (www) to your AD-integrated DNS that points to the IP address of
your public website.
 
Who ever set up the server gave it the same name as the public website. When
we type in www.companyname.com, on some of our workstations we get the IIS
page on others we get an "under construction" page. Both are incorrect.

Our primary server points to itself and has our ISP's servers in the
forwarders. WINS points to the primary server. When I do an nslookup all I
get are internal IP addresses for the server and Exchange server. I tried to
put the IP for the host of the web site in as a forwarder but it didn't
help.

What should I be looking for?
 
Mike Wallace said:
Who ever set up the server gave it the same name as the public website. When
we type in www.companyname.com, on some of our workstations we get the IIS
page on others we get an "under construction" page. Both are incorrect.
Click to expand...

So the name of the Exchange server is www, and the domain name is
companyname.com? That should be the only way that you arrive at your
Exchange server's IIS site when trying to get to your company's web page...
Our primary server points to itself and has our ISP's servers in the
forwarders. WINS points to the primary server. When I do an nslookup all I
get are internal IP addresses for the server and Exchange server. I tried to
put the IP for the host of the web site in as a forwarder but it didn't
help.
Click to expand...

I'm still stumped by the fact that your Exchange installation caused this
trouble (www is a very strange host name for a mail server :), but...

I think you just need to create a host record called www, that points to the
IP address of your public web site. If you use the same domain name for
both your public and private namespace, requests for www.companyname.com
will never make it past your internal name server, because it has a forward
lookup zone matching that domain name. Forwarders are out the window, when
you're dealing with two separate DNS hierarchies, both of which have a
forward lookup zone for the same domain.

Basically, any public systems that you want to be name-addressable from your
internal network need to be created manually within your internal forward
lookup zone.
 
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