DNS questions... Also looking for your suggestions.

Shawn newsgroup at NOSPAM.kleinart.net
Wed Jun 14 07:35:45 UTC 2000


Here is my current setup:

- two-way cable modem ("always on")

- DYNAMIC IP... although it does change very rarely. An average of a
new IP every 45-60 days or so. I was told due to subscriber growth and
IP renumbering... otherwise as long as my machine is always on, able
to renew, I will keep the same IP. None the less... it's NOT static.
:(

- home LAN with a Windows 2000 Adv Svr machine running NAT for my LAN
and able to run anything (mail, http, ftp, dns, dhcp, etc...)

- I have 5 domains registered, but would like to host or run 4 domains
off my home network.

Prerequisites:

- Other than my cable modem and machine uptime, I desire a 99.95%
uptime of DNS - my domain. I'd like to have "redundancies" in the
aspect of a few resources running DNS for me. I do not have any
friends capable of running DNS, unfortunately.

- I'd like to do my best to keep it free. This is also to allow me to
perform some services... so I can learn how to run DNS, gain the
experience and knowledge.


My questions:

What is my best bet for running multiple domains? I'd prefer a free
DNS service. $20 a year for each domain isn't terrible, however this
post is looking for my other options... what can I do for no cost?

I have tested granitecanyon.com 's free DNS services... I ran into
issues, basically poor service. I read some newsgroups and I was not
alone in this. I now an using centralinfo.net - it seems to be doing a
good job. One problem is the DNS servers are on the same network... no
redundancy here.

* I am a "newbie" to DNS, so I admit to not knowing DNS very well at
this point, I apologize if the below is ignorant:

Even though I have a dyamic IP, can I run my own DNS... being the
PRIMARY DNS?

here is my info for your reference:
NS.KLEINART.NET   24.163.175.5

and the domain I am playing with currently and trying to get to work,
before I move the 3 others (4 total) over to my network.

       useyourdamnsignal.com

Basically my thought is to point the DNS queries to:

kleinart.dyndns.org
AND/OR
kleinart.myISP.net  (I have a "static" host name via my cable modem
provider)

I'd like to do both of the above via CNAME. 

If the DNS records don't give an IP, but use a CNAME to point to a
"static" host name, then a possible worry is dyndns.org going down,
right? However, is it possible to have two CNAME references.... as a
redundancy, as listed above? That way I am not relying on any one
service... that is what I'd like to get away from.

Don't get me wrong, I am not running any mission critical domains /
services, but I'd like as few issues as possible... and as much
uptime.. hopefully as long as my cable modem connection is working
(currently approx 99.5% uptime).

Since I do not have a static IP, will it / could it work for me to run
PRIMARY DNS and have the secondary DNS servers be both centralinfo.net
and granitecanyon.com ??

That way, IF I understand correctly, when my IP changes... the primary
DNS would not be reachable, however my secondaries would be. And
because of this, the CNAME record would point to my machine... as this
information is updated whenever my IP changes. The only reference to
the primary DNS servers would be on my internic records... which is
"NS.KLEINART.NET"

Currently on my WORK network DNS for the above domain,
useyourdamnsignal.com resolves correctly using the centralinfo.net
service. However it will not resolve on my cable modem (home) network.

I do not know DNS well enough to find out why.

I do a NSLOOKUP at work and at home, home doesn't resolve, work shows
kleinart.dyndns.org (as it should). It's been well over 24 hours since
my last DNS update / change... and everything should have populated,
right?

Is it possible to, what tool would allow, me to see what NS servers
are responding to my quires AND what the DNS record contains? Is this
possible? Can you see what I have configured for my DNS records? Id'
like to be able to do more DNS troubleshooting... as it stands, via
Windows NT / 2000 I use NSLOOKUP and pings to test for DNS resolution.
I also do whois queries to check my domain... because I have been
changing the NS servers a few times over the last few days... But I am
currently unable to troubleshoot what resources are resolving my DNS
quires and what my DNS record is, other than me editing it.

Any tools or help on the above?

Lastly, are there any services, would it be possible, that would give
me a static IP and route that IP to my static host name? AND I guess
only route port 53, DNS, traffic? That way, in effect, I'd have a
static IP and be able to run (only) DNS.. as to use minimal bandwidth
resources..... ?

My current zone info... as centralinfo.net running as primary DNS and
NS.KLEINART.NET running secondary:

Zone Type: Primary!

IN SOA    ns1.centralinfo.net. hostmaster.useyourdamnsignal.com.

            ************   ; serial number
            10800   ; refresh
            3600   ; retry
            172800   ; expire
            43200)  ; ttl
         IN NS  ns1.centralinfo.net.
         IN NS  ns2.centralinfo.net.
  IN CNAME kleinart.dyndns.org.
www  IN CNAME kleinart.dyndns.org.
test  IN CNAME kleinart.dyndns.org.



THANKS for your help and reply!
I appreciate it!

Shawn



More information about the bind-users mailing list