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  1. #1
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    Private Nameservers - general questions

    1. Being on a reseller hosting plan with no immediate plans to resell hosting (rather than hosting my own sites), is there any particular reason for setting up my own private nameservers at my domain registrar?
    Apart from the more professional looks (which may be less important if only hosting my own sites), I know that it would make it easier/quicker to change name server settings (it would just propagate for all domains hosted there) in the future when moving servers (or when applying new IP's, i.e. dedicated IP's to the nameserver info)...but I guess that would only really count as a reason when you have tons of sites or are in fact reselling hosting, right?

    2. I have seen where people set up their own ns1.theirdomain.com and ns2.theirdomain.com and when I do a WHOIS search on their nameservers it revealed the complete list of their sites.
    Is this because they are on a VPS or dedicated server, or perhaps they used dedicated IP's for their nameservers (2 of them)? Would that happen also when I am on a Reseller hosting account, or would everyone else's sites on that server come up also, in that case?
    And of those only the ones that are actually using the server's shared IP and/or the host's default nameservers ?

    3. Is there a way to prevent all sites from coming up in a list for someone in a WHOIS search to see, where they all pointed to the same (private) nameserver?
    (I may not always want someone tracing out all the sites by checking the nameserver info on either. I understand that the great majority of people may never bother digging, but if for arguments sake you get one site hacked then you don't want to have your others nicely exposed in a list. Besides, you may have sites in competitive areas and you simply don't want people to be able to see any correlation.)

    4. Am I correct in thinking the domain used for private nameservers will be using the Reseller hosting server's IP (shared or my own allocated dedicated IP) in its nameserver registration settings (at my registrar), hence the logical consequence is that it points to the same server where the site would be hosted for that domain (if actually filled with content)?
    I was only wondering, as on one hand I have seen many sites where the nameserver domain came up in a Whois search along with all the other sites pointing to that same domain's nameservers, but on the other I have seen some nameserver domains where this itself did not appear in the list of domains that come up when I do a Whois search...so I wondered if they used a dedicated IP for that particular domain...although it would still expose all the other domains pointing to it's nameserver.

    5. If you were choosing to set up private nameservers, what thought process would you have in choosing a particular domain name if you haven't one yet registered or available? If you are reselling, well then of course you could do something like xyzsuperhost.com but if you are just hosting your own sites, would you strategically choose some sort of "general/niche non-specific" name and fill it with content just because you know people may out of curiosity check on one of your site's nameservers and then go to have a look...?
    I give you an example: Ewen Chia (a self-proclaimed Internet Marketing "guru") has ewenchia.com as one of his sites. If you do a whois search, you will see that his nameserver is ns1.internetmarketer.com and ns2.internetmarketer.com . Doing a reverse-whois reveals 12 of his other sites and when you cross-check them, you'll soon know that they all use the same nameserver, and that nameserver domain is also listed amongst those 12 sites.

    6. For anyone with expertise in SEO, what implications would there be for ranking on SERPs, if any, when nameserver settings would be changed, i.e. from host's default nameservers to own private nameservers, or moving to another server in which case either the new host's nameserver or IP's would have to be changed in my registrar's domain control panel settings?
    I know any DNS changes would take up to 24-48 to progagate, but I am wondering if this also has any impact on Google search results - my guess is that there will not be any adverse effect as it is based on the domain name not the IP predominantly (provided it stays hosted in the same geographical location), but I could not be 100% certain. Any comments?

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    1. Being on a reseller hosting plan with no immediate plans to resell hosting (rather than hosting my own sites), is there any particular reason for setting up my own private nameservers at my domain registrar?
    Apart from the more professional looks (which may be less important if only hosting my own sites), I know that it would make it easier/quicker to change name server settings (it would just propagate for all domains hosted there) in the future when moving servers (or when applying new IP's, i.e. dedicated IP's to the nameserver info)...but I guess that would only really count as a reason when you have tons of sites or are in fact reselling hosting, right?
    It makes it easier to migrate all of your sites/domains to another provider if you ever switch because all you have to do is modify your private nameservers and not every domain that you've hosted.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    2. I have seen where people set up their own ns1.theirdomain.com and ns2.theirdomain.com and when I do a WHOIS search on their nameservers it revealed the complete list of their sites.
    Is this because they are on a VPS or dedicated server, or perhaps they used dedicated IP's for their nameservers (2 of them)? Would that happen also when I am on a Reseller hosting account, or would everyone else's sites on that server come up also, in that case?
    And of those only the ones that are actually using the server's shared IP and/or the host's default nameservers ?
    It's pretty easy to get a list of sites that resolve to a set of nameservers. It's just the nature of the way they work - you could use the DNS at your registrar if you wanted to keep it a little more hidden.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    3. Is there a way to prevent all sites from coming up in a list for someone in a WHOIS search to see, where they all pointed to the same (private) nameserver?
    Use the DNS at the registrar or use various different providers for hosting and/or dns.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    4. Am I correct in thinking the domain used for private nameservers will be using the Reseller hosting server's IP (shared or my own allocated dedicated IP) in its nameserver registration settings (at my registrar), hence the logical consequence is that it points to the same server where the site would be hosted for that domain (if actually filled with content)? [
    I was only wondering, as on one hand I have seen many sites where the nameserver domain came up in a Whois search along with all the other sites pointing to that same domain's nameservers, but on the other I have seen some nameserver domains where this itself did not appear in the list of domains that come up when I do a Whois search...so I wondered if they used a dedicated IP for that particular domain...although it would still expose all the other domains pointing to it's nameserver.
    It doesn't matter - it's the NS records that are important.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    5. If you were choosing to set up private nameservers, what thought process would you have in choosing a particular domain name if you haven't one yet registered or available? If you are reselling, well then of course you could do something like xyzsuperhost.com but if you are just hosting your own sites, would you strategically choose some sort of "general/niche non-specific" name and fill it with content just because you know people may out of curiosity check on one of your site's nameservers and then go to have a look...?
    I give you an example: Ewen Chia (a self-proclaimed Internet Marketing "guru") has ewenchia.com as one of his sites. If you do a whois search, you will see that his nameserver is ns1.internetmarketer.com and ns2.internetmarketer.com . Doing a reverse-whois reveals 12 of his other sites and when you cross-check them, you'll soon know that they all use the same nameserver, and that nameserver domain is also listed amongst those 12 sites.
    Not to be rude, but who cares? What is it that you're afraid of?

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    6. For anyone with expertise in SEO, what implications would there be for ranking on SERPs, if any, when nameserver settings would be changed, i.e. from host's default nameservers to own private nameservers, or moving to another server in which case either the new host's nameserver or IP's would have to be changed in my registrar's domain control panel settings?
    None.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    I know any DNS changes would take up to 24-48 to progagate, but I am wondering if this also has any impact on Google search results - my guess is that there will not be any adverse effect as it is based on the domain name not the IP predominantly (provided it stays hosted in the same geographical location), but I could not be 100% certain. Any comments?
    As long as you keep the site online during propagation there wouldn't be any issues.
    Michael Denney - MDDHosting.com - Proudly hosting more than 37,700 websites since 2007.
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  3. #3
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    Firstly...thanks heaps for your reply!!

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post

    It's pretty easy to get a list of sites that resolve to a set of nameservers. It's just the nature of the way they work - you could use the DNS at your registrar if you wanted to keep it a little more hidden.

    Use the DNS at the registrar or use various different providers for hosting and/or dns.
    I am not sure what it means to use DNS at the registrar - sorry. Is that different to the normal process I have been reading, where you would pick one domain registered with them and register it as your private nameserver, by applying ns1.mydomain.com and ns2.mydomain.com, then adding the IP (given by my webhost) to ns1 and the same (plus 1 digit at the end) to ns2, then pointing all other domains hosted on the same reseller hosting account to that nameserver?

    I know that Namecheap allows you to set up your own nameservers (as per above process, and so do others), and I understand the above described process, but when you say "use the DNS at the registrar" is that something different?
    I have seen this on their website, and I am still not sure how that compares to the process I have just described. I note they say things like "Supports A/AAAA/CNAME/NS/MX//TXT/SRV DNS record type" which I thought would have to be set in WHM, i.e. a setting taking place on my host's server?

    I thought in order to set up private nameservers, I had to enter the (default) IP of the server where the site is physically hosted, in the actual nameserver settings at my domain registrar, hence this is how all other domains pointing to it will come up in a list when doing a Whois search?

    I checked out Namecheap's info and don't quite understand the difference - would you mind explaing this to me noob

    Thanks.


    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post
    Not to be rude, but who cares? What is it that you're afraid of?
    I am just thinking that there could be situations where you may not want to expose competing sites to one another...I give you an example: You are an Info product owner who promotes them via your website/s and at the same time you offer affiliate products from your competitor, using separate websites. While you would create an authority in your own niche, you may prefer to stay anonymous (or use a pen name) with the affiliate sites.
    Other people may have other reasons, but mine would certainly not due to any dubious or BH practises.

  4. #4
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    great discussion!!

    thanks to both guys.......
    professionally managed Web hosting India, Host Company offer Reliable Web Hosting India at economic rate.

  5. #5
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    We operate four of our own nameservers and this just makes such a huge difference in properly controlling all dns issues

    big move but smart move
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  6. #6
    Private nameservers FTW.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

  7. #7
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    Quote Originally Posted by HostXNow View Post
    Private nameservers FTW.
    ? FTW = for the win?

    Would you also have any specific answers to my questions?

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    ? FTW = for the win?
    Correct.

    Quote Originally Posted by MikeDVB View Post
    It makes it easier to migrate all of your sites/domains to another provider if you ever switch because all you have to do is modify your private nameservers and not every domain that you've hosted.
    This is why I said Private Nameservers FTW.

    Quote Originally Posted by Robiro View Post
    Would you also have any specific answers to my questions?
    Nope, Michael pretty much covered everything.
    HostXNow - Shared Web Hosting | Semi Dedicated Hosting | Enterprise Reseller Hosting | VPS Hosting

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