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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9

    Primary & Secondary DNS problem

    I have a domain, say "my-domain.com" with 2 name servers :
    Primary = ns1.nameserver.com , IP = xxx.xxx.xxx.x1
    Second = ns2.nameserver.com , IP = xxx.xxx.xx.x2

    Both name servers are located at different geographical locations (mentioned here because some are located in the same server)

    Additional info : the secondary name server is a new name server that I just got and updated. Before this, the secondary name server is in the same server as the primary.

    The SOA settings at the primary name server is :
    @ IN SOA ns1.nameserver.com. server1.xxxx.com. (
    2004030802 ; serial number
    28800 ; refresh [1h]
    7200 ; retry [10m]
    3600000 ; expire [1d]
    86400 ) ; min TTL [1h]

    The SOA settings at the secondary name server is :
    @ IN SOA ns2.nameserver.com. server2.***********. (
    2004032302 ; serial number
    14400 ; refresh [1h]
    7200 ; retry [10m]
    3600000 ; expire [1d]
    86400 ) ; min TTL [1h]

    Domain whois updated too as :
    primary ns1.nameserver.com
    secondary ns2.nameserver.com

    After 24 hours of updating, even though the primary name server is still available, the domain is already resolve to its secondary name server and keep on pointing to the secondary instead of the primary. So all emails was sent from the secondary too !

    Why is it behave like that ? Any thing wrong with the settings ?
    Other than the SOA settings, anything else that may cause this problem ?

    Appreciate any help.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Feb 2004
    Posts
    772
    Hi Mybes,
    The DNS settings are ok. It seems the problem is with your registrar end. Make sure the nameserver settings are right in the registrar end.

    Regards,

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    673
    Please post the names of your domain and your DNS servers. No one will be able to help you otherwise.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9
    domain name = namecard2u.com
    name servers :
    primary = ns1.besdns.com, ip = 66.246.98.88
    second = ns3.besdns.com, ip = 209.51.149.87

    registrar side declared correctly.

    thanks for help

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9
    The SOA settings at the primary name server is :
    Additional info : the exact SOA set at primary server is :

    @ IN SOA ns1.besdns.com. root.server.besdns.com. (
    2004032303 ; serial number
    28800 ; refresh
    7200 ; retry
    3600000 ; expire
    86400 ) ; min TTL )

    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN NS ns1.besdns.com.
    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN NS ns3.besdns.com.
    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN A 66.246.98.87
    and the rest ..

    Until today the DNS is still pointing to the secondary, not the primary. I have read a lot online articles about the DNS and name servers but can't find one that really explain on how to set the secondary name server.

    There is one article says the secondary DNS is exactly the same as the prime where zone transfer from primary to secondary will take place when the serial number of the primary is updated. What I don't understand is, after 24 hours passed and now the serial number at the secondary server has updated to the same serial number as the primary, but the web page shown is the one on the secondary server !!

    Here I copy exactly the SOA from the secondary server :

    @ IN SOA ns3.besdns.com. root.chris.gen5dns.net. (
    2004032303 ; serial number
    14400 ; refresh
    7200 ; retry
    3600000 ; expire
    86400 ) ; min TTL )

    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN NS ns1.besdns.com.
    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN NS ns3.besdns.com.
    namecard2u.com. 14400 IN A 65.254.35.10
    and the rest ..

    Should the secondary DNS be set exactly follow the primary ?
    I totally got no idea ! This is the first time I'm doing it. The purpose is to let my static site be seen and my email can receive and send during the problem in primary server.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    673
    Yes, you should be serving identical copies of the zone from all of your DNS servers.

    Can you post the "zone namecard2u.com {}" sections of your named.conf files from both servers?

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9
    I have no idea on where named.conf file is located and how to access it as one of the server is not under my control. I have no root pass to it.
    I can amend anything with WHM panel given only.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    176
    IIRC, if ns1.besdns.com is your primary NS, you should have
    Code:
    @ IN SOA ns1.besdns.com. root.server.besdns.com.
    in ns3 too.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9
    thanks Werpon, I have amended the SOA in the sec. server to be the same as in the primary and wait to see what will happen after propagation.
    However the A Record for both primary and sec. are still different. Should the A record be the same too ?

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    673
    mybes: Ask your host to configure the second DNS server to act as a slave, transferring the zone over from the first server automatically.

  11. #11
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Posts
    176
    Yes, the A record should be the same.

    If you just want to reroute your email to another server when the primary is down, add another MX pointing to the backup server, with a higher priority value.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Location
    Malaysia
    Posts
    9
    I totally stuck on this !
    anyone have any idea where i can find a secondary server so that when my primary is not accessible, my web page is still found (at least the static web page that i uploaded to the second will be shown, not the database) and my email will be working as normal (on the new mail server).

    I'm thinking of having the same SMTP / POP settings on both servers so that i don't have to change the settings on my Outlook each time the primary is down.

    I've visited some sites offering secondary DNS services, non of them mentioned about how my site will be displayed . All they said is all my emails can be stored in their mail spool so that when my site is up again, the emails will be delivered. This is not the one i need, i want the sending and receiving of emails is normal during primary is down. Possible ?

    Appreciate advice.

  13. #13
    Join Date
    Jun 2003
    Posts
    673
    This isn't how DNS works. Resolvers won't only ask one of your DNS servers for data and then fail over to the second one when the first is down. Instead, half the queries will go to the first server and the other half will go to the second. If one of the servers goes down, all of the queries will go to the other one.

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