_msdcs Zone Not Updating

active-directorywindows-dnswindows-server-2008-r2

I've been working on cleaning up our DNS/DHCP and I'm about ready to turn on scavenging (it's never been enabled) to start cleaning up some old records, but before I do, I wanted to check something.

Under DNS > Forward Lookup Zones I have a _msdcs.company.local zone that is updating but I also have an _msdcs folder under the company.local zone and the records in this folder are not updating. I have scavenging set on the company.local zone and from the looks of things everything under that folder is going to get scavenged.

Should the _msdcs folder under the company.local zone be updating or is the _msdcs.company.local zone good enough?

I don't have enough reputation to post images but perhaps the below diagram will help

-_msdcs.domain.local
  +dc
  +domains
  +gc
  +pdc
-domain.local
  -_msdcs
    +dc
    +domains
    +gc
  -_sites
  -_tcp
  -_udp
  -_DomainDnsZone
  -_ForestDnsZone

Just want to make sure I don't scavenge records that are going to break DNS

Best Answer

The _msdcs.company.local zone is the one being used for lookups, since it's more specific - the copies in the company.local zone are not being used to answer queries (which you can verify by making a change there and checking the response) and can be safely dumped.

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