Specify search domains for Windows DNS

Q. I've added a server to the DNS, but when I do an NS lookup it doesn't show up, unless a fully qualified domain name (FQDN) is used. How can I fix this.

A. There are many ways to fix this.

1) Quickest way is to add the host to your hosts file:

Edit C:\Windows\system32\drivers\etc\hosts file and add at the bottom:

10.10.10.11    servername

This however, leads to a lot of manual work if you want to do it on an organizational level, so the second method is probably better:

2) DHCP Option 015 ("Connection Specific Suffix.") in the Windows DHCP server will allow you to set the domain search suffix

If that fails, here's a good article on how to add search domains in windows.