Re: [cobalt-users] MX records and off-server mail servers

["Rick Ewart" <cobalt@xxxxxxxxx>]

> Good information in this post, but the question really needs the answer
"Buy a copy of 'Bind & DNS.'"  It is a DNS specific issue, > not a RaQ
issue.
>
> OTOH I don't want to start up that whole discussion of appliance vs.
server again.
>
> Steve

That's a good point Steve, but I posted it for several reasons, some of
which might just be me but I expect it is others as well...

People who buy RaQs are interested in learning - they probably bought a RaQ
because they weren't experts but wanted to get into it and someday be one -
for me, the GUI was also an administration issue - I wanted it so I could
learn the backend and show my son how to manage sites on the GUI. Regarldess
of why we bought the RaQ, 99.9% of what we do for various clients is fairly
repetitious, so having summary information like this [and the entire
archives for that matter] provides 2 things.... 1) a way to get the client
of your back quickly  and 2) a way to learn more about the server.

Frankly, I read books as much as I can.... I erred when starting in that I
bought RedHat books only when I also needed to be buying Bind and other
books.... In fact, it never really occurred to me to get a book as such,
largely because I wasn't sure which books I should be focusing on, and
didn't yet have enough knowledge on how everything interacted... With
several thousand books at the local store, none of which say "Cobalt people
buy this!", it gets overwhelming. Now, I am learning a little more, but
unfortunately there is SO much to learn, so little time to do so, and in the
middle are my customers who aren't going to necessarily wait for me to read
a 500 page book.

I would hire an expert, but that is a last resort to me, as I want to learn
it - I don't mind struggling as its how I learn best and understand how
things work. So, having an example to solve the problem lets one understand
that much more about the way things intereact on a RaQ, something that is
poorly documented in "the wild", and get that "baptism by fire" knowledge
that is priceless.

Seeing these examples that other people post help me understand how my
machine works - even when its not something I am having trouble with. I'm
not looking for a discussion per se, but this is good information (and your
book recommendation will be on my shelf tonight). For what its worth, my
PRIMARY place to start research on a topic is the archives - they contain
far more answers to problems that are the same as mine than any author could
ever hope to do, without entitling it "Cobalt RaQ - the definitive guide" or
something like that.

Again, my 2 cents, but I see similar feelings from others on the list... My
final thought is READ THE ARCHIVES EVERYBODY. I have yet to find any problem
where the answer wasn't in the archive - maybe not easy to find and in
different problems, but read them all and you will probably get it. That's
what this summary was - my posting the summary of 10 different threads, all
with the same problem and no real resolution.

Rick