SBS 2003 – DNS Event IDs 4521 - Error 9002 attempting to load zone

One of our SBS 2003 boxes started throwing a series of Event ID 4521 errors in the DNS log on a very regular basis:

SBS 2003 – DNS Event ID 4521

The error was:

Event Type:	Warning
Event Source:	DNS
Event Category:	None
Event ID:	4521
Date:		3/12/2009
Time:		2:34:34 PM
User:		N/A
Computer:	ANSBS
Description:
The DNS server encountered error 9002 attempting to load zone . from Active Directory. The DNS server will attempt to load this zone again on the next timeout cycle. This can be caused by high Active Directory load and may be a transient condition.

For more information, see Help and Support Center at http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/events.asp.

The fix for the problem was actually quite simple. At the command line run the following:

• dnscmd /config /BootMethod [Enter]

After recycling the DNS Server service, the errors, as shown in the above screenshot, stopped happening.

Thanks to Robert Premuz for the solution at the bottom of the forum post here: TechArena: DNS Event 4521 after SP2 on SBS 2003 Std.

Philip Elder

MPECS Inc.


Microsoft Small Business Specialists


Co-Author: SBS 2008 Blueprint Book

*All Mac on SBS posts will not be written on a Mac until we replace our now missing iMac! (previous blog post)

Windows Live Writer