Hi are any of you guys using a dedicated name server along with your cobalt raqs or plesk machines etc or you are running dns from the same servers, the reason why i ask is i want to know the pros and cons of using a dedicated dns server to resolve all the domains on your various servers.....

I run both primary and secondary DNS on the same machine
+ cheap solution. Easy to maintain if you have just one box- just one point
- if server/dns service goes down the error code will be something like 'invalid domain name' instead of 'site is down' - of course since DNS resolving wont work

Running on another box
+ might be easier to maintain to have one dedicated place for DNS - at least if you have lots of servers
- cost if you don't already have the machine
+ user gets a correct error code when trying to connect and it is just the www-server thats down

Running on another box at another provider
- cost if you don't already have the machine
+ user gets a correct error code when trying to connect and it is just the www-server thats down
+ user gets a correct error code when trying to connect even if your www-server provider has serious trouble with all its connections to the Internet

Originally posted by ASPCode.net
I run both primary and secondary DNS on the same machine


*shakes head*

There is a reason why all registrars require two different IP'd nameservers. (Some even require different subnets)

-davidu

I wouldn't host any customers on your name servers though. Just for security's sake. I think security would be the major con.

When someone makes a DNS request, you don't want them to have to wait on a web server process for the reply.

But if you can't afford it, RFC says nothing about hosting DNS on a dedicated machine, but it is probably best practice for best performance.

If you don't start out with dedicated machines, make sure that you'll be using IP addresses that will be easily moved to their own machine when you have money to grow.

Originally posted by bitserve
I wouldn't host any customers on your name servers though. Just for security's sake. I think security would be the major con.


a) who are you talking to?

b) what do you mean by security.

c) What did you mean by this: "When someone makes a DNS request, you don't want them to have to wait on a web server process for the reply. "

-davidu

Originally posted by DavidU


*shakes head*

There is a reason why all registrars require two different IP'd nameservers. (Some even require different subnets)


AFAIK all what happens is that the user when trying to surf to the site gets anm incorrect errocode, like invalid domain name instead of a site down error.

Just wanted to make sure people don't make it a bigger thing than it is.

If you were to have a dedicated DNS server what would be the specs? Obviously you don't need a powerful Dual PIII with 2GB of ram to run a DNS server

Originally posted by DavidU


a) who are you talking to?

b) what do you mean by security.

c) What did you mean by this: "When someone makes a DNS request, you don't want them to have to wait on a web server process for the reply. "

-davidu

a) I was talking to tuvok, who asked a question. If you read his message, my reply seems to make sense. Aspcode's reply and my reply were actually on topic.

b) If you host web sites on your DNS server, then you're giving people at least SOME sort of access to that server, such as FTP/shell.

c) If you host web sites on your DNS server, your DNS server will be slower. It will be serving web pages too. You don't want to have to compete for CPU time with the web server.

If you do have a dedicated dns server, are you guys manually adding zone files etc or are you using a control panel...if so, which ones are available and does anyone have any experience with any of them


thank you