Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Hosting Security and Technology : Nameserver with only 1 IP

[mealto]

So we just got our VPS. The host has only given us 1 IP for running our own DNS. They provided a 2nd nameserver + IP to use at the registrar level but since this name server does not match or domain name, the registrar obviously cannot let us register this. Is there an issue if we set ns1 to our IP and ns2 like so even though the 2nd name server is not registered at the registrar level?

For instance:

ns1.ourdomain.com (our IP)
ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com (which cannot be registered at the registrar level)

[HL-Justin]

Why dont you just setup.

NS1.YOURDOMAIN.COM (Your IP)
NS2.YOURDOMAIN.COM (Your IP)


You lose redundancy, but you lose redundancy even if you have 2 unique IPs on one server I guess if pakistan steals your IP (COUGH YOUTUBE INCIDENT) you'd have a second to rely on But that probably wont happen here.

[The Universes]

From what I understand, what you need to do is setup ns1.yourdomain.com at your registrar and then point your domain to ns1.yourdomain.com and ns2.ispdomain.com nameservers.

[plumsauce]

ns1.ourdomain.com (our IP)
ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com (which cannot be registered at the registrar level)

That is absolutely fine.

ns1.somedomainthehostprovided.com
ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com

Would be even better. Let someone else take the load.

Why dont you just setup.

NS1.YOURDOMAIN.COM (Your IP)
NS2.YOURDOMAIN.COM (Your IP)

Not fine. While some lame domain name reseller might let you sneak under the radar with this one, it is against every rule in the book.

[foobic]

Originally Posted by mealto

Is there an issue if we set ns1 to our IP and ns2 like so even though the 2nd name server is not registered at the registrar level?

For instance:

ns1.ourdomain.com (our IP)
ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com (which cannot be registered at the registrar level)

Are you sure the second one isn't registered? You can't register it but the host / owner of somedomainthehostprovided can, should and probably already has.

Provided that's the case it's a good setup.

The other thing you could probably do (slightly iffy but it should work unless / until the host changes their nameserver ips) is to register ns2.ourdomain.com with the IP address of ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com. If you want to go this way don't forget to create a matching A record for ns2 in your zone file.

[mealto]

Thanks for all the replies, that's great.

Originally Posted by foobic

Are you sure the second one isn't registered? You can't register it but the host / owner of somedomainthehostprovided can, should and probably already has.

Provided that's the case it's a good setup.

How can I check if the host registered the 2nd IP?

[foobic]

Assuming it really is a .com you can query the .com nameservers direct:

dig +short @A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com

If that returns the IP address it's registered.

[mealto]

Originally Posted by foobic

Assuming it really is a .com you can query the .com nameservers direct:

dig +short @A.GTLD-SERVERS.NET ns2.somedomainthehostprovided.com

If that returns the IP address it's registered.

Where do we enter that command line? Is it on a website somewhere? Thanks for your patience.

[torrentc]

as far as i am aware if you use Cpanl it wont allow you to use the same ip for both nameservers, also i would always have at least 2 ips for this reason

[foobic]

Originally Posted by mealto

Where do we enter that command line? Is it on a website somewhere? Thanks for your patience.

From a *nix shell prompt. From Windows you can use nslookup or there are Windows binaries of dig available.

But for the easy option just try to delegate a domain to those nameservers - your registrar probably won't let you do it unless they're both registered. Then check the domain with intodns.com or similar.

[mealto]

Originally Posted by foobic

From a *nix shell prompt. From Windows you can use nslookup or there are Windows binaries of dig available.

But for the easy option just try to delegate a domain to those nameservers - your registrar probably won't let you do it unless they're both registered. Then check the domain with intodns.com or similar.

Using intodns.com, it showed 2 errors for the ns and IP that our host gave us:

ERROR: One or more of your nameservers did not respond:

ERROR: One or more of the nameservers listed at the parent servers are not listed as NS records at your nameservers.

Does that mean the host did not register it properly?

[foobic]

Nope. The errors mean exactly what they say. But they do need fixing.

Originally Posted by mealto

ERROR: One or more of your nameservers did not respond:

One of them isn't working. Check the details - is it your ns1 or the host's ns2?

ERROR: One or more of the nameservers listed at the parent servers are not listed as NS records at your nameservers.

You need to change your NS records (edit the zone file, or Edit DNS Zone in WHM) so they match the nameservers you delegated to.

Edit: while you're editing the zone, check you have an A record for your ns1 pointing to the correct IP address.

[mealto]

Originally Posted by foobic

One of them isn't working. Check the details - is it your ns1 or the host's ns2?

It's ns2, the one that the host provided.

Originally Posted by foobic

You need to change your NS records (edit the zone file, or Edit DNS Zone in WHM) so they match the nameservers you delegated to.

Edit: while you're editing the zone, check you have an A record for your ns1 pointing to the correct IP address.

I see. How does one edit the zone file inside Plesk. It doesn't seem to be as intuitive as cPanel. Any tips?

[foobic]

Originally Posted by mealto

It's ns2, the one that the host provided.

Not much you can do then except ask the host what's wrong.

I see. How does one edit the zone file inside Plesk. It doesn't seem to be as intuitive as cPanel. Any tips?

I haven't used Plesk as yet but a quick Google suggests System tab -> your domain name -> DNS icon. Perhaps someone else can provide first-hand experience.