Windows 2003 introduced a new type of DNS zone called a Stub Zone. A Stub Zone is a zone that it obtains its resource records from other name servers. A stub zone is like a secondary zone, however it is read-only so administrators can't manually add, remove, or modify resource records on it.

Stub zones only contain the following types of DNS records - A copy of the SOA record for the zone. - Copies of NS records for all name servers authoritative for the zone. - Copies of A records for all name servers authoritative for the zone. A Stub zone will not contain any CNAME records, MX records, SRV records, or A records for hosts in the zone. Stub zones can be integrated with Active Directory, unlike secodary zones, and use TCP for all transfers. Stub zones are normally used to make name resolution between forests more efficient. One more use for a Stub zone is to keep delegated zone information up to date. This will prevent lame delegation which can cause name resolution within a forest to break. So how does one setup a Stub zone? Easy! Open up the DNS Management MMC, right click on Forward Lookup Zones and select New Zone to start the New Zone wizard. Click Next to proceed. Now select the Stub Zone option and click Next. Keep the default replication settings as shown and click Next.

Give the zone a name and click Next.

Enter the IP address of the Master DNS server and click next.

Once you have completed the wizard and the replication has occured you will see the Stub zone and an SOA record as well as NS and A records for the zones name servers.

For more information see:

Article ID: 811118 - Support WebCast: Microsoft Windows Server 2003 DNS: Stub Zones and Conditional Forwarding