i'm setting up a solaris 9 box to be my home network's DNS server. actually it's up and running, but it's set as a caching-only name server.

can i set it up to be the primary name server? what are the advantages if i can set it up to be a primary name server vs. a caching only name server?

yes you can set up any machine to be a primary named server.

as far as advantages and disadvantages. i think you should learn what the differance is between the two and answer that question yourself.

i know the differences... but i still don't get why a primary DNS server is better than a cache-only in a home environment.

btw... i set a solaris 9 box to be a primary DNS server. i must admit, it wasn't as bad as i thought.

now i need to learn how to do dynamic updates for use with active directory.

A caching-only server is not responsible for any updates - it only keeps what it learns about to give faster responses when asked (until the different expirations of the data found).

A primary server is responsible for a certain domain/s. That means all the files have to be set up (Cname, PTR, A records) and must be up for DNS to work (unless you have slave servers set up also).