Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : VPS Hosting : Help with DNS servers

[WebPerfection]

I've just ordered my first VPS (unmanaged) and the only thing I'm really concerned about is setting up/using a DNS server.

I think I have 3 options.

1. Set up BIND on my VPS... this doesn't look like much fun and offers no redundancy. I'd prefer not to do this.


2. Outsource the DNS server. I'd like to use a free one if possible (http://www.everydns.net/ looks good... anyone had any experiences?) but suggestions of cheap services are also webcome.


3. Use my registrar's DNS server. I'm using namecheap at the moment. Here's the screen that comes up:
http://img2.freeimagehosting.net/uploads/3d2ac18af6.png

Would that work? And create subdomain.domain.tld?

Finally, I think I'd need to select 'user' at the bottom and enter an MX record. Would this be domain.tld?



What do you think is the best option?

Thanks

[slowdive]

I use both
http://www.everydns.net/
and
http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/
as external DNS providers. Both work perfectly. Never had an outage with either. I donated to everydns as I was impressed with their free service. I pay for dnsmadeasy as they offer vanity dns service where you can replace all their name server names with your own domain name.
Both work really well in conjunction with a VPS.

[tsj5j]

I use :

http://www.editdns.net/

Excellent uptime and interface for free.

If you've just a few domain names, don't load your server with BIND and just use an external service.

[bryonhost1]

Hi!
You may not want to consider the BIND option for another reason: It is near to impossible creating the proper zone files from scratch..I use ones Cpanel created..and that's the only way I've ever got BIND to work by itself.

I would consider myself a BIND expert..so..go from there.

I used to use zoneedit.com..but have not used them recently.

Bryon

[nimbar]

Hi, I use everydns.net, zoneedit.com and afraid.org for some personal domain names since several years ago. I feel everydns is the most robust free dns service you can find. Good luck.

[chri$]

Is it possible to use 2 of those free service for the same domain for example if one of them is down then my site is still available

[nimbar]

Hi, I do that for my personal domains, you only need to create the same zone content on each provider. However the zone won't be exactly the same as the zone version will be different, but I doubt this would affect the performance of your website. Maybe an expert can verify this.

Good luck.

[bryonhost1]

Hi!
Well..if the servers are talking to each other..the version should be the same. it's no big deal to have two different nameservers from two different services. Something like:

ns1.yourdomain.com>server 1
ns2.yourdomain.com>server 2
ns3.yourdomain.com>server 3

and so on.

The zone record should be exactly the same no matter how many you have..no matter where they are.

If they're not..I don't think it means the end of the world, though.

Bryon

[WebPerfection]

Well I've just installed ubuntu, apache, mysql and php on my home computer (a bit of practice before I get the VPS tomorrow!) and everything went smoothly. I then used the namecheap DNS servers as shown in the screen shot above and everything works without any problems.

Namecheap seem to have 4 nameservers, which I assume will be geographically diverse considering the size of the company, so hopefully that will provide all the redundancy I need for my little projects

[foobic]

The only limitation with using external dns is that you have to update the server and the dns separately each time you add a domain or subdomain, whereas with a control panel and your own nameserver both would be done automatically. But if it's just for your own domains and you don't often add new subdomains you should have no problems.

[david510]

You can install BIND and write a small script to update the or add zone file to the configuration. It is possible.

[tsj5j]

Originally Posted by foobic

The only limitation with using external dns is that you have to update the server and the dns separately each time you add a domain or subdomain, whereas with a control panel and your own nameserver both would be done automatically. But if it's just for your own domains and you don't often add new subdomains you should have no problems.

There are those that support external AXFR zone transfer that syncs zones.

Eg. http://www.editdns.net

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNS_zone_transfer

DNS zone transfer, also sometimes known by its (commonest) opcode mnemonic AXFR, is a type of DNS transaction. It is one of the many mechanisms available for administrators to employ for replicating the databases containing the DNS data across a set of DNS servers.

[foobic]

Yes, of course the OP can install bind and run the external nameservers as slaves, but he prefers not to do this:

Originally Posted by WebPerfection

1. Set up BIND on my VPS... this doesn't look like much fun and offers no redundancy. I'd prefer not to do this.

[Maynard]

Originally Posted by bryonhost1

Hi!
You may not want to consider the BIND option for another reason: It is near to impossible creating the proper zone files from scratch.
...
I would consider myself a BIND expert..so..go from there.
Bryon

Well, it's easy to see the internal conflict and mutual-exclusivity of these two statements.

Creating zone files may have been difficult for you, but many of us have been doing so successfully even way before we became anything near experts.