_msdcs subdomain best practice with NS records?

Question

I have the _msdcs subfolder under my domain (the grey folder). example below
It has only one DC inside of it for a NS server. This DC is old and no longer exists. I checked my test environment and it has the same scenario (an old DC that does that not exist). example below
I'm just wondering:
1) Is this normal, should this folder update itself with other servers?
2) should I be adding one of my other DC's? and removing the original?
I have a single forest, single domain setup 2008 functional level. My normal
_msdcs Zone does behave as expected and removes and add the appropriate records. Thanks.

Answer 1

I apologize for the late response. I see you've gone further than what I've recommended.
No, you shouldn't have deleted the _msdc.parent.local zone!!!!!! I'm not sure why you did that. Are you working with someone else on this that recommended to do that? If not,
you're over-thinking it. I provide specifics to fix it by simply  updating the NS records, that's it. If you only found the _msdcs folder had the wrong record, then that's all you had to change.
In cases where DCs are removed, replaced, upgraded, etc, it's also best practice to check a few things to make sure things are in order, and one of them is check the NS records on all zones and delegations. Delegation's NS records won't update
automatically with changes, but zone NS records will if DCs are properly demoted.
The _msdcs delegated zone is required by Active Directory. And yes, based on your thread subject, it's best practice. When Windows 2000 came out, and IF you had created the initial domain with it, it did not have it this way, but all domains initially created
with Windows 2003 and newer are designed this way. If you had upgraded from 2000 to 2003, then one of the steps that we must perform is to create the _msdcs delegation.
Please re-create it in this order:
In the DNS console, right-click Forward Lookup Zones, and then click
New Zone. Click Next
On the Zone Type page in the New Zone Wizard, click
Primary zone, and then click to select the Store the zone in Active Directory check box. Click
Next
On the Active Directory Zone Replication Scope page, click "To all DNS servers in the Active Directory forest parent.local.
On the Zone Name page, in the Zone Name box, type
_msdcs.parent.local
Complete the wizard by accepting all the default options.
After you've done that:
Delete the _msdcs subfolder under parent.local.
Right-click parent.local, choose New Delegation.
Type in _msdcs
In the Nameserver page, type in the name of your server, and its IP address.
Complete the wizard
You should now see a grayed out _msdcs folder under parent.local.
Go to c:\windows\system32\config\ folder
Find netlogon.dns and rename it to netlogon.dns.old
Find netlogon.dnb and rename it to netlogon.dnb.old
Open a command prompt
Run ipconfig /registerdns
Run net stop netlogon
Run net start netlogon
Wait a few minutes, then click on the _msdcs.parent.local zone, and click the F5 button to refresh it.
You should see the data populate.
Ace Fekay
MVP, MCT, MCITP/EA, MCTS Windows 2008/R2 & Exchange 2007, Exchange 2010 EA, MCSE & MCSA 2003/2000, MCSA Messaging 2003
Microsoft Certified Trainer
Microsoft MVP - Directory Services
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