Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Hosting Security and Technology Tutorials : The benefits of using Managed DNS (even for web hosts)

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Managed DNS is a service provided by many domain name registrars and other third-party service providers. Some registrars provide this service for free, while other registrars and third-party service providers may charge a small fee.

Managed DNS is a strategy that IMHO should be considered by all online enterprises, and even more so by hosting companies. Not only does it provide an inexpensive level of redundancy, having your Domain Name Servers hosted away from your website infrastructure, but it may increase the performance of your website if you have multiple geographically dispersed name servers. If one nameserver goes offline or an area of the internet temporarily fail, there will be several other name servers in other geographical locations to fill the gap and provide nameservices for your domain.

Other compelling reasons why you might consider Managed DNS include...

It will provide you the flexibility to change and modify your DNS records anytime you like. You can setup all A Address, MX records and CNAME records to suite your business needs. You can create and add private nameservers (including uniquely named NSs) and subdomains on the fly. You can spread your website across several different servers globally. And most powerful of all, any changes that you make are almost instantly propagated.

That last reason IMO is the most compelling if not the most important of all. If for whatever reason you need to move your website(s) to another server, move your server(s) to another data-center, or just need to expand your website over other servers, your A Address and MX Records can be changed and will propigate within seconds or minutes instead of the usual 24-72 hours. This is very powerful if disaster strikes.

Note: email forwarding is often included with managed DNS services, which can be easily changed when necessary as well.

As a web host, Managed DNS should be apart of your contengency plan. If in the event your servers go off line (there are many reasons this could happen), it is important that you are able to get at least your own website up and running so that your customers will be able to find you and be kept appraised of the situation.

I've heard arguements against using Managed DNS, however most of them were related to increased latency which BTW when measured in milliseconds is undetectable to most people; or directed towards some free third-party services. Not all service providers are alike.

I use Managed DNS for all of my domain names including my hosting company. Although this may discourage many potential customers, it is a small part of planning and preparing for emergencies. So far I haven't heard of any reasons why I shouldn't.

I learned about it last last year when I was running into a chain of unfortunate events with cheap hosting providers. The flexibility and nearly instant propagation saved me from ruin on several occassions, and has increased my ability and willingness to experiment and play around with some of my own domains. In less than a year, I swear by it.

I'm not an expert, but I believe many online enterprises (especially web hosting companies)... and even newbies could really benefit from it.

What are your opinions about Managed DNS? What about experiences with different service providers?

[hobzip]

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What provider do you use for your domains?
Thanks

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hobzip

Currently I use Namecheap.com. I have quite a few domain names and I just found their domain name manager to be a lot less confusing and easier to use than some of the others that I've tried. I also like the performance of their nameservers... in three years I have never seen any degradation.

[hobzip]

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Thanks for the reply. I do have another question if you dont mind answering. I use namecheap as well. I have my custom nameservers set up there. Anyway, what I want to do is have my site hosted on two servers just in case one goes down like you described.

What entries do you have to make on the namecheap control planel to make this happen. Do you have to use their nameservers and then go to modify host records then what. And which email selection would you use.

I am sorry that I have no clue on this subject but this is exactly what I think I have been looking for. I am in the same boat you were a while back. Cheap reseller hosting that is not very reliable.

Thanks so much for your help.

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hopbiz

No appologies necessary. I had to start from the same place too... the beginning. It sounds like you already have a good grasp on it.

In your namecheap control panel, pick the domain you wish to modify, then...

go to modify DNS and change your setting to Use Namecheap's NameServers, then...

go to Modify Host Records and modify your domain records.

Here is a link to another thread that will help you setup your DNS records... http://www.webhostingtalk.com...threadid=327475.

Before you make any changes, keep in mind that when you switch to Namecheap's nameservers it will take about 24 hours to propagate. After that your changes will be immediate.

Setup the host records or DNS Zone files on your host server as you normally do. Namecheap's nameservers will direct all requests to your primary IP address. The name server on your host server will redirect the request to the correct website based on its own zone records.

Regarding the email settings, for most of my domains I use the User setting. However, for my hosting company I use Email Forwarding. There is a short wait sometimes, but if the server my website is on goes down, I still want my email.

If you do use Email Forwarding, make sure you go to Modify Email Forwarding and set up where you want your email to go.

I hope this answers your questions.

[hobzip]

Thank you very much. I just set it up on a domain that I dont use so I can make sure I did it right. This really helps. It is nice of you to help people figure this stuff out.

Thanks again.

[wowtim]

One good free DNS service provider is www.zoneedit.com they will allow each user name 5 domains with unlimited subdomains. I have been using them for a few years now.

[WingWebHosting]

thanks for this tutorial it has answered many questions for me.

[rasputinj]

If I was to go with managed DNS, I currently run Bind on my Cpanel server. How can I shut down bind, and make it not have cpanel start it up again, since I will no longer be using it? Or do I just take off my nameservers and leave bind running?

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Originally posted by rasputinj
If I was to go with managed DNS, I currently run Bind on my Cpanel server. How can I shut down bind, and make it not have cpanel start it up again, since I will no longer be using it? Or do I just take off my nameservers and leave bind running?

rasputinj

You do not need to change anything on your server.

[miyami]

Excellent post, 000000000