Forum Discussion
Creating parent reverse lookup zone when child zones already exist — what happens?
We have an AD-integrated DNS environment that has accumulated a large number of reverse lookup zones over time, created without any parent zone — essentially DNS sprawl from years of admins creating ...
Hi, I would be careful and test this before changing production AD-integrated DNS. Creating a parent reverse zone should not automatically merge or delete existing child reverse zones, but delegation/lookup behavior can get confusing if the zones overlap.
My safe approach would be:
1. Export or document the existing reverse zones first.
2. Test the same layout in a lab if possible.
3. Create the parent zone only after confirming how the child zones are delegated.
4. Avoid duplicate PTR records across parent and child zones.
5. Clean up gradually, one subnet/range at a time.
The main risk is not the zone creation itself, but duplicate or ambiguous reverse lookup ownership afterward.