Master the Art of Adding Secondary Domain Controllers in Windows Server

How to Add Secondary Domain Controller (2012, 2016, 2019)

• Having only one Domain Controller is not recommended due to the risk of a single point of failure.
• A secondary Domain Controller helps load balance services and minimize the risk of critical services going down.
• This article provides steps to add a second Domain Controller to an existing domain.
• The steps to add a secondary domain controller are the same for Windows Server 2012, 2016, and 2019.
• Step 1: Configure Basic Server Settings before promoting the server to a secondary domain controller.
• One important setting to configure is the computer name.
• Step 2: Install Active Directory Domain Services (AD DS) role.
• Step 3: Promote the server to a domain controller using the Active Directory Domain Services Configuration Wizard.
• Step 4: Choose the deployment operation, either "Add a domain controller to an existing domain" or "Add a new domain to an existing forest."
• Step 5: Specify the domain and forest functional levels.
• Step 6: Choose the appropriate options for DNS Server and Global Catalog.
• Step 7: Specify the location for the database, log files, and SYSVOL folder.
• Step 8: Review the selections and click Install to add the secondary Domain Controller.