RE: [cobalt-users] Newbe Question

["Rodolfo J. Paiz" <rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

At 4/9/01 02:45 PM -0400, you wrote:
> >Most web hosts offer DNS service as part of the deal. If
> >you're not going
> >to, then you're probably going to lose customers. Unless a
> >customer is a lot
> >more expert than the average one site owner, they're not going
> >to even know
> >what DNS is, much less why they would want to manage it on their own.
> >--
> >Dan Kriwitsky
> >
>
> I don't think running DNS in-house is necessarily mandatory, or even
> required.

FWIW, I have found DNS incredibly easy to manage. For example, I simply 
create the following records for *every* site, whether they use them or not:

domain.com.             IN      NS      ns1.domain.com.
domain.com.             IN      NS      ns2.domain.com.
domain.com.             IN      MX      smtp.domain.com.

ns1.domain.com. IN      A       my.ns1.ip.addr
ns2.domain.com. IN      A       my.ns2.ip.addr
smtp.domain.com.        IN      A       my.smtp.ip.addr
pop.domain.com. IN      A       my.pop.ip.addr
imap.domain.com.        IN      A       my.imap.ip.addr

domain.com.             IN      A       cust.assigned.ip.addr
www.domain.com. IN      A       cust.assigned.ip.addr
ftp.domain.com. IN      A       cust.assigned.ip.addr
secure.domain.com.      IN      A       cust.assigned.ip.addr

I run all mail on the same IP, and websites on other IP's. Thus the only 
thing that changes from domain to domain is the stuff that says 
"cust.assigned.ip.addr". And voilà... DNS! I totally avoid reverse DNS 
problems by having a reverse DNS zone with *all* my IP's in it, pointing to 
my master domain... then I never do reverse again.

I like having this inhouse, since customers who want sub-domains and 
virtual sites within sites get faster service if I can do it all on my own 
machine. However, as soon as I move into the new office and get my network 
numbers, I plan on swapping secondary DNS service with someone at least 
2,000 miles away and on an entirely different network. That'll take care of 
the redundancy thing.

> If (as a web host) you can have someone else run DNS for you, but
> provide a webmin interface on their nameserver, so you could add A,
> CNAME <shudder> and MX records as customers sign up, you could enjoy the
> convenience and no headaches.

Yes, you can. Dan is right in that the customer *must* receive this 
service. However, in-house or out-house doesn't matter as long as you 
provide a quality service and can change things at will.


--
Rodolfo J. Paiz
rpaiz@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx