I edited

DNS Panel
Host Name Record Type Address

www (A) 66.28.252.XX
@ (A) 66.28.252.XX
@ (MX) 66.28.252.XX

Name Servers:
dns1.stargateinc.net 65.118.240.9
dns2.stargateinc.net 65.118.240.12


Is something wrong? Is register.com all you have to do is type the IP you want the domain to point to.

Hi

Star Gate's system takes some getting used to - but to point your site to your chosen host you must have both Name servers and their IP numbers in place of the default (Stargates)

Click "Name Servers" so the rest just takes some digging. Also click Star Gate's who is when you are done - to make sure it's correct.

Clicking DNS is for A and MX records should not be changed, they will effect where your site mail is recived.

If you do not know your host's NS - just post their name here and someone will dig the info up :)

Be a little more patient, sometimes it takes more than 24 hours...=)

If I don't have my own dns server I have to use something like WORLDWIDEDNS.NET???

Originally posted by ClusterMania
I edited

DNS Panel
Host Name Record Type Address

www (A) 66.28.252.XX
@ (A) 66.28.252.XX
@ (MX) 66.28.252.XX

Name Servers:
dns1.stargateinc.net 65.118.240.9
dns2.stargateinc.net 65.118.240.12

Is something wrong? Is register.com all you have to do is type the IP you want the domain to point to.
Originally posted by ClusterMania
If I don't have my own dns server I have to use something like WORLDWIDEDNS.NET???
You have stated, above, that you are using Stargate's DNS. And the DNS panel is where you control the zone file data on Stargate's DNS servers. If so, then you don't need worry about services like WorldWideDNS (http://www.worldwidedns.net). They aren't relevant to your situation. You're already using someone's DNS: Stargate's.


Two answers from Stargate's FAQ that are relevant here:

Q. How long does it take for the DNS Control Panel to update?
A. All updates will take 24-72 hours to propagate.

Q. It has been more than 72 hours and my changes have not take effect. What is wrong?
A. You may have made a mistake making entries in the DNS Control Panel. Please contact support@stargateinc.com with your domain and the entries you made into the DNS Control Panel.


I do see are some peculiarities with your configuration, generally. Of course I confess I have no experience with Stargate's control panel. I'm an eNom fan, myself. But it seems quite similar so, for what it's worth, I'd like to point out that on the eNom panel I would have configured things as follows:

HOSTNAME: @
ADDRESS: 66.28.252.XX
RECORD TYPE: A (Address)

HOSTNAME: www
ADDRESS: @
RECORD TYPE: CNAME (Alias)

HOSTNAME: mail
ADDRESS: 66.28.252.XX
RECORD TYPE: MXE (Mail Easy)

Of course, eNom has the unique "MXE (Mail Easy)" record type which allows both the hostname and the MX record to be established in one entry, as you see immediately above. I have no idea if Stargate has anything like that. If not, then establishing the mail exchange server would require two records on the Stargate system -- one to create the hostname "mail.yourdomain.com" and another to establish said hostname as the mail exchange (MX) server. Such entries would look like this:

HOSTNAME: mail
ADDRESS: 66.28.252.XX
RECORD TYPE: A (Address)

- and -

HOSTNAME: @
ADDRESS: mail.yourdomain.com.
RECORD TYPE: MX (Mail)
MX PREF: 10

And those two records would be used on the Stargate panel instead of the single MXE record used on the eNom panel. So, in total, four records would be required on the Stargate panel to accomplish what you appear to be trying to accomplish, whereas three would do it on the eNom panel because of the unique, dual-purpose MXE record allowing the creation of the mail server to be accomplished in a single entry.

NOTE: Obviously, in the real settings, you would not have "XX" in the fourth position of your IP address; you would have your actual numbers there. And you would use your actual domain name in place of "yourdomain.com" above. I know that all seems painfully obvious, but I've had people take me too literally at moments like this and... well... you can imagine the results.

The DNS server name settings would remain as you already have them. No changes.

I don't know how closely my above settings can be related to the Stargate panel, but at least they should give you some ideas. Stargate panel experts should chime-in right about now.


Only Half the Battle

Your zone file settings on the Stargate panel are only the first half of making your site appear. The other thing you must do is determine if you're site is on a server wherein the IP address you've specified is your own (i.e., assigned to your site and your site only; a dedicated IP address, sometimes called "IP-based virtual hosting"); or whether that IP address is actually the address of the physical server box on which your site resides in a mere subdirectory, and you share its IP address with all the other web sites thereon (sometimes called "name-based virtual hosting").

If it's the former (IP-based virtual hosting), then as long as your web site is in the directory your hosting provider told you to put it in, everything will start working when your settings finally propagate. So nothing more needs to be done at the server end.

But if it's the latter (name-based virtual hosting), then either you or your hosting provider needs to make some entries for your site in the server's httpd.conf file (http://httpd.apache.org/docs-2.0/vhosts/name-based.html) so that when your server receives hits directed to it by DNS it will know which directory to send said hits to in order to find your site. (Granted, that was a grossly oversimplified way of saying it, but it's fundamentally accurate and certainly adequate for our purposes here.)

Finally, xharine is correct: Once you get all that done, it can sometimes take longer than 24 hours. First get your settings right (both in DNS at Stargate and on your web server) and then be patient. It will happen.


Stargate's DNS vs. Your Web Host's DNS

Originally posted by DotComster
...to point your site to your chosen host you must have both Name servers and their IP numbers in place of the default (Stargates)

If you do not know your host's NS - just post their name here and someone will dig the info up
DotComster's suggestion presumes that you do not want to use Stargate's DNS and that you wish to use your web hosting provider's DNS instead. That would be approaching things from a completely different angle. Stargate provides DNS services as part of your domain name registration -- just like eNom and now many other registrars. Stargate's DNS panel is the tool Stargate provides that allows you to control entries related to your domain name on Stargate's DNS servers -- i.e., to control the behavior of your domain name.

If you use your web hosting provider's DNS, then all you would use Stargate's panel for would be to specify your web host's DNS servers instead of Stargate's, and then you would have to use some kind of tool or control panel on your web hosting provider's system to control the behavior of your domain. Or you might have to ask your web hosting provider to make your DNS settings. It just depends on your provider.

If you use Stargate's DNS servers, then they would show-up as your nameservers in your WHOIS record. If you use your web hosting provider's DNS servers, then they would show-up as your nameservers in your WHOIS record.

Personally, I like using the nameservers provided by my registrar (eNom, in this case) rather than those provided by my web hosting provider. It gives me more control and independence. But it's up to you which way you want to go. My settings recommendations, above, presumed that you would use Stargate's nameservers (DNS), which is how you stated in your original posting you had things configured. I would keep it that way... but that's just me.

Though the following thread did not start out discussing the issue of DNS servers provided by registrars versus DNS servers provided by web hosting providers, it eventually got there and in the following thread I cover that subject in detail. You may want to check it out:

http://webhostingtalk.com/showthread.php?s=&threadid=44438

I'm not completely sure that I've really helped you, here, ClusterMania, but I think I've at least pointed you down the right road. And others who read this thread who have anything to add (or who wish to correct me if I'm wrong) will, no doubt, make additional postings here for your benefit.

Whoa... Gregg...
what an answer ....
my kudos to you ... appaluse appaluse...
I'm going to print and file this.

I think I had everything right except for the mail settings. You as least be able to resolve the domain name to a IP by now and it won't resolve. Normally you can just go to IRC and type /dns www.domain.com and it would give a IP but still nothing.

I think you need to get some help from Stargate's support. They even advise you in their FAQ that if you're having problems with configuring the DNS panel you should send an email to support@stargateinc.com

That would probably get you faster and better results.

Originally posted by ClusterMania
If I don't have my own dns server I have to use something like WORLDWIDEDNS.NET??? I prefer zoneedit.com. You get 5 zones for free. I have used them for a long time and really like their service.

Originally posted by projo
I prefer zoneedit.com. You get 5 zones for free. I have used them for a long time and really like their service.
How is that relevant here? He's got a perfectly good DNS server included with his domain registration. Stargate's DNS panel will let him do with his domain virtually anything that can be done with a domain. Why introduce another layer -- and an unnecessary one, at that?

He needs to stick with what he's started, get it right, and then go from there. My explanation, above, was fairly complete. If that didn't help, then he needs to contact Stargate's technical support -- as Stargate invites in its FAQ -- and get them to walk him through it. Then he needs to make sure all is right at the server end -- possibly with the help of his web hosting provider's support personnel.

I don't think we should complicate things by introducing options that won't, in a very direct way, get him the simple result he seeks: Making his web site and email resolve in DNS. Period. And at this point, his shortest route to that end is to just get help from those whom he has paid for services.

I have to agree with DesElms - his got a DNS server - why does he need zoneedit.com - I certainly don't see the need for zoneedit.com or any other similar services....

One of my domain names seem to be working. Using your instructions. Is the mail correct or am I suppose to use legolas.stargateinc.com


www (A) 66.28.252.xx
@ (A) 66.28.252.xx
mail (MX) 66.28.252.xx
@ (MX) mail.abc.com




(CutOut)

Name Servers:
dns1.stargateinc.net (primary name server)
65.118.240.9 (primary IP address)

dns2.stargateinc.net (secondary name server)
65.118.240.12 (secondary IP address)

Note: If you are currently using Stargate URL Forwarding, Stargate MySite or Stargate POP3 and plan to add an additional A or MX record, the following records must also be added to the DNS Control Panel for each service you subscribe to.

URL Forwarding requires the following two records:
Host Name Record Type Address
Address(A) 65.118.246.242
www Address(A) 65.118.246.242

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
MySite requires the following two records:
Host Name Record Type Address
Address(A) 65.118.245.205
www Address(A) 65.118.245.205

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Stargate POP3 requires the following record:
Host Name Record Type Address
Mail(MX) legolas.stargateinc.com

Originally posted by ClusterMania
One of my domain names seem to be working. Using your instructions. Is the mail correct or am I suppose to use legolas.stargateinc.com

:rolleyes: Hooboy... this is getting complicated.

Okay... [pause] [deep breath] [sigh]

I don't know enough about Stargate's product offering to speak with any real authority, here (hence the reason I invited Stargate experts to chime-in in my earlier message), but it looks like Stargate provides a complete, fully-featured email POP3 (incoming messages) and SMTP (outgoing messages) account with every domain registration. And said email account also appears to include common features like forwarding, aliases and a web-based interface. All of which is very nice.

Your web hosting provider, no doubt, is also including email capabilities with your hosting account. I'm sure he's at least including POP3 (incoming) email capability, and he's probably also providing SMTP (outgoing) email capability.

So you have two choices, here:

1. Do you want to use the email capability that comes with your web hosting account?

- OR -

2. Do you want to use the email capability that comes with your domain registration account at Stargate?

Choose one!

Personally, I'd go with the email services that are included with my web hosting account. I would not use the email services provided by Stargate -- not because they're bad or anything like that but, rather, because the email services provided with my web hosting account are probably more full-featured, probably provide more POP3 inboxes, and are probably more easily controllable on the same web-based control panel where my other web hosting features are controlled...

...that is, if my web hosting provider is even including a web-based control panel with my hosting account. I presume yours is... probably CPanel or Ensim or Plesk or Alabanza's panel... something like that, right? Let's assume so, so we can move on.

Originally posted by ClusterMania
...am I suppose to use legolas.stargateinc.com
The only reason to have legolas.stargateinc.com in your MX entry would be if you were going to use the email capabilities that come with your Stargate domain registration. And if you do that, then your settings, above, are not right. And I suggest you read the email FAQ on Stargate's web site to get more information about how to do it, and also how to configure your email client so that it will know how to pull incoming messages from the Stargate POP3 server, and how to send outgoing message using Stargate's SMTP server. Or contact Stargate's technical support, which was my suggestion earlier.

Your settings:

mail (MX) 66.28.252.xx
@ (MX) mail.abc.com

appear to suggest that you have chosen to use the email capabilities that come with your web hosting account, not the email capabilities of your Stargate domain registration account. If so, then don't become confused by the legolas.stargateinc.com servername. It has nothing to do with what you're trying to accomplish. Forget about it.

Your above settings suggest that your domain name is abc.com. I know it's not, but for our purposes, here, let's go with that.

You're also saying, it appears, that the IP address of the email server included with your web hosting account is 66.28.252.xx (the last two x's, of course, being just placeholders for our purposes here).

And, finally, your above settings suggest that you would like your email server at your web hosting provider to have the name mail.abc.com, where "abc.com" would be your actual domain name (which you apparently don't want to disclose here... and that's fine).

Do I have it?

If so, then you'll need two (2) entries to create an adequate zone file record for your email server. Your settings:

mail (MX) 66.28.252.xx
@ (MX) mail.abc.com

have two (2) entries, but one of them is wrong. Using your nomenclature, your settings should have been:

mail (A) 66.28.252.xx
@ (MX) mail.abc.com

Or, written the way I prefer to write it in situations like this (for clarity, mostly), and also as I would have done it on the eNom system were it not for eNom's cool and unique MXE record type:

HOSTNAME: mail
ADDRESS: 66.28.252.XX
RECORD TYPE: A (Address)

HOSTNAME: @
ADDRESS: mail.abc.com.
RECORD TYPE: MX (Mail)
MX PREF: 10


The first record:

HOSTNAME: mail
ADDRESS: 66.28.252.XX
RECORD TYPE: A (Address)

creates the hostname mail.abc.com as a valid hostname associated with (pointing at) IP address 66.28.252.XX, which is apparently the IP address where your web hosting provider told you your POP3 (and probably SMTP) server(s) live.

The second record:

HOSTNAME: @
ADDRESS: mail.abc.com.
RECORD TYPE: MX (Mail)
MX PREF: 10

turns the hostname mail.abc.com into more than just a hostname that's merely pointed at IP address 66.28.252.XX, but it also officially establishes mail.abc.com as the mail exchange (MX) hostname or servername that is associated with your domain name. There can only be one MX hostname associated with your domain, and this second entry establishes it. But before a hostname can be established as the domain's MX record, said hostname must first already exist. And the first setting, above, creates said hostname.

See what I'm saying? Two records are required to build an email server entry in a domain name zone file: One to create the hostname, and one to establish said hostname as the MX (mail exchange) server.

NOTE: Forget, for now, about what the MX PREF setting means. Just make sure, if you're given a choice, that it's set to 10. We can cover MX PREF in another session.


The reason your settings:

mail (MX) 66.28.252.xx
@ (MX) mail.abc.com

failed is because your first record -- the one that tried to create mail.abc.com as a valid hostname pointed at IP addres 66.28.252.xx -- was incorrectly set as an MX record. It should have been a simple (A)ddress record. And even if it had been an MX record, it would also have been wrong because MX records are never IP addresses. They must always be hostnames.

But it is the former, and not the latter, that was the problem with that particular (the first of your two) record(s). Instead of looking like this:

mail (MX) 66.28.252.xx

it should have looked like this:

mail (A) 66.28.252.xx

Your second record:

@ (MX) mail.abc.com

is correct.


In my earlier message I covered the fact that if you are doing name-based virtual hosting there will also be some settings back at your hosting server that will need to be made in order for it to know what to do with a hit it gets which contains the mail.abc.com hostname in its header. I presume we don't have to cover that here, too. Either you (if you have root server access, which is unlikely), or your hosting provider (who most certainly does), will have to do whatever needs to be done on the server end to make it all work. Alternatively, if your hosting provider has given you a web-based hosting control panel that has a place where you identify hostnames, then you could do it. In any case, your server will not recognize or know how to route a hit it gets with your MX hostname in its header until and unless someone at the server end creates the proper settings in the proper places.

On the other hand, if you're doing IP-based virtual hosting and your 66.28.252.xx IP address is assigned to you and you alone, then as soon as the above settings propagate, your email will start working. Whether your mail.abc.com servername is for just a POP3 server or also an SMTP server as well is something you and your hosting provider need to work out. And from him you should also obtain the settings for your email client (Outlook Express or whatever you're using) so that it will know how to pull POP3 email from the mail.abc.com server, and/or so it can also send (SMTP) email via same.

Hopefully, this puts this matter to rest. Honestly, ClusterMania, if the above doesn't do it, you really need to work it out with the various tech support departments involved. If you do what I said to do above, you probably won't have to worry about Stargate settings. They'll probably be right (although it wouldn't hurt to have someone from Stargate review them if things still don't work). Then you need to work out whatever else is wrong with your web hosting support department.

If you get all settings right and all parties involved agree that it should be working, yet you are unable to SEND email via the SMTP server, then you'll need to contact the tech support department of your Internet access (dialup, DSL or cable modem) provider. He may have port 25 (the SMTP port) blocked (or, more accurately, filtered) as an anti-spam measure and may be limiting you to his SMTP server only. If so, then you won't be able to use your own SMTP server associated with mail.abc.com and you will, instead need to use the one the your Internet access provider specifies.

Beyond that, I can't think of anything else that could go wrong as long as you finally get all your settings right.

Gregg...

Applause Applause - Now I will call you :

Gregg - THE DNS Guru...

Simple, straight forward answer.... and all this while I have been struggling to read DNS&BIND when here we have Gregg whom is so willing to teach and let us all learn ....

Thank you Gregg.

Originally posted by Royong
Gregg...

Applause Applause - Now I will call you :

Gregg - THE DNS Guru...
Ha! Well, your praise is good for the ego, but it is misplaced. If you only knew what kind of talent is lurking around here. Some of the smartest people on the Internet read (and post in) these forums. Of course there are a bunch of idiots around here, too... me among them a time or two. But, seriously, there are some frieghteningly smart folks here. Just keep reading, you'll spot them. And once you have, you won't be impressed with me any more.

Originally posted by Royong
Simple, straight forward answer.... and all this while I have been struggling to read DNS&BIND when here we have Gregg whom is so willing to teach and let us all learn ....

Thank you Gregg.
Well, that's a good point... not about me, I mean... but what you imply about some of the technical web sites or books or manuals that deal with these issues. I have always felt that some of the really scary (as in so smart they're scary) people who think up and also make some of this stuff work should not also be the ones who try to explain it to mere mortals. Their brains are wired completely differently than the rest of us. They should confine their activities to creating it and then maybe explaining it to someone who actually speaks English and who can then make the rest of us understand it.

It's an ongoing problem not only on the Internet, but with computers in general. Years ago my church had a personal services auction to raise money for a special project. My wife (at the time, now my ex) suggested that I auction-off a day-long seminar for "older folks" who don't know a bit from a byte or a baud rate -- a seminar that breaks it all down into English and uses a lot of familiar analogies to make it all understandable. I did and about 60 people paid to attend... among them a dean from a local university. After the seminar he approached me and asked me to develop a course which he intended to make a prerequisite to all computer courses in the entire university.

I don't tell that story as a way of patting myself on the back. I tell it to help illustrate the point that he made to me, to wit:

He said that after attending my seminar, he realized that computer courses, generally, tended to start somewhere closer to the middle than the beginning; that those who understand it enough to teach it tend to assume a level of knowledge on the part of beginning students which they simply do not have. And having never gotten those rudimentary building blocks of core, fundamental understanding of how it all fits together, he felt that hundreds of students who might otherwise have loved computer science ended-up taking that required programming course they needed just to graduate, and didn't give it a second thought thereafter.

I think he was right.

hey... .that's a great idea..
did you develop the course ?
would love the see it and might even resell in Singapore for you ..

Originally posted by Royong
did you develop the course ?
Yes. But it was no big deal. Simple. Only good for a couple of credit hours. It was truly more of a prolonged seminar than a real course. But it did its job. Got a lot of good feedback.

Originally posted by Royong
would love the see it and might even resell in Singapore for you ..
Ohgosh... that was a million years ago. So much has happened since then. Most universities have something like it now -- only better. Remember, I'm kind of an old dude. Been around awhile. Knew Jobs and Wozniak before they were famous... that sort of thing. Blazed a few trails that mattered then, but don't now.

That having been said, a friend and I developed a one-day seminar a little while back that was long and intense, but so understandable to its attendees that they didn't mind the length. It was (and is) aimed at people who somehow missed or ignored the computer revolution and who now want to get caught-up. Fast. Obviously baby boomers and that ilk. The seminar starts at 8 am. Ends at 6 pm. Two 20 minute breaks, morning and afternoon. And a 90 minute lunch. And at all other times moving fast from the history of computers to how not to get ripped-off on ebay. Well, not really, but the point is, in 8-plus hours we cover about 50 years of history and make it all not only understandable but, more importantly, applicable.

We tried it out on four audiences over about a 14 month period. Mostly in large hotel meeting rooms, catered, that sort of thing. We gave the seminar away at first, just to see what worked and what didn't. The first two were pretty rough, I gotta' tell 'ya.

But at the third seminar, something interesting -- and kinda' moving -- happened. A very attractive woman -- business type -- in her... oh, I guess she was maybe in her mid-to-late 40s... was sitting at the third table back, near the aisle, stage right (left side of the room from the attendees' viewpoint). Around about 3:00 in the afternoon I started noticing she was dabbing her eyes and sniffling a lot. Finally she was obviously crying quietly. I didn't know whether to mention it or not. I figured maybe she had learned that a friend died or something during the break. I didn't know what the hell was going on. But when people at the table in front of her turned around and one of them asked if she was okay, I realized the rhythm was lost and she now had the room's attention.

I moved to her table and leaned over and quietly asked if she was okay; if she needed anything. She said "I'm terrific," and she started doing that laugh-even-though-you're-crying thing as she folded her tissue and looked down at it in her hands. Can you picture the scene? This made the rest of the room sort of chuckle for a half second and then it got quiet again... I guess everyone was waiting for her to say something else.

After a pause, I said, with sort of a chuckle, "well, then... um... wh... why... doesn't it look like you're okay? I mean... um I.... wh... what am I missing, here?"

To which she replied, "Oh, believe me, these are tears of joy." And then she proceeded to explain that not understanding computers -- meaning, not even a little bit -- had become a major issue in her life. A huge issue. It was hurting her at work. It was causing fights between her and her husband when he tried to show her things on the computer and her eyes just glazed over after a couple minutes. Her kids, she said, made her feel stupid because it all came so easy to them. She had read books -- including and especially several times through a couple of "...for Dummies" titles. She had taken a course at a community college. And for the life of her, she said, she just couldn't get it.

The woman was clearly not stupid. She had a bachelors degree and though she never finished it she said came close to getting her masters and intended to circle back before she got too old. She had no trouble understanding anything else in this life, she said.

"I even watch This Old House on PBS with my husband on Saturday mornings and I completely understand all that stuff," she lamented, waving her arm in the air as a gesture of her frustration, irritation and resignation, "but I just have never gotten it! I just don't get it?"

"And that's making you frustrated today... because you still don't get it?" I asked.

"No!" she exclaimed with a big, tearful grin, "I finally get it! You made me get it! I can't believe it! I get it! It makes total sense to me now. I can't believe I ever thought this was hard!"

There was a tiny bit of scattered, spontaneous applause. I then assured her that it wasn't because of me; that, at best, I merely tipped-in what was already balancing precariously on the edge of her understanding -- sort of like when one person can't open a mason jar and gives it to a second person who can't either, then the first person takes it back and just pops right open. The second person just loosened it up for the first person. But the first person actually opened it. I assured her it was like that and that the she knew more than she thought she did and that all we did was make it all gel for her. No big deal.

But she swore that we were the magicians that changed her life; that her husband wouldn't believe it; that her children wouldn't believe it; and that she was now going to be able to sit through meetings at work when the IT guy explained why something couldn't be done and she would be able to ask intelligent questions instead of the ones she had learned long ago to just keep to herself. Or at least that's what she said.

I don't know if hers was a unique experience or not. I don't know if she was a person just given to melodrama or what. I didn't actually know what to make of the situation. But at that moment I remember having the feeling that we were probably on to something. Something special.

We did the seminar one more time and it went very, very well. And we never touched it again. That's been... oh... maybe four or five years ago now, I guess. It would be no big deal to update and make current, I'm sure.

But staging a seminar series is a risky damned business. It's extremely costly to promote -- lots of newspaper and television advertising in the cities in which you're scheduling. Planes. Rental cars. Hotels. Meeting rooms. AV equipment. Catering. And in some cities you get standing room only, and in others you get three people to show-up in a room that will hold 300. And in both cities, your expenses are the same.

I lost a bunch of money about 15 years ago trying to do a series. And it was a hot topic, too. It was successful to a point. But it ended-up not being worth it when all was said and done. And it put a really bad taste in my mouth for such things. I love developing the content and, even better, presenting it. But the rest of it kinda' gives me the willies.

If you could make something like that fly and just tell me where to be and when -- even if in Singapore -- and then someone will simply write me a check at the end, then by all means, let's talk!

Otherwise, I fear my little seminar series will forever remain a pipe dream.