OK don't laugh...

[Stefan Probst]

At 00:33 16.11.00 +0100, you wrote:
-------------------------
>Now you guys have probably had some pretty dumb questions but here is a 
>real
>doozie or doozies rather....

You had at least a catchy subject line ;)

>I running my own virtual server at iserver (verio) with dns provided by
>them. I want to learn more about dns, so I would like to set up my own 
>dns
>server (I know I need 2).

iServer provides its own DNS server, but you have only limited control. 
You can add records only via their webInterfaced, i.e. you can add/edit MX 
and CNAME records, but you can't add NS records. And although you can do a 
lot with their virtual servers, I don't think it is possible to run 
another (self-contolled) instance of bind there.
And every new zone file means one-time setup fees....

>Question is can I utilise my virtual server and setup the dns server as a
>subdomain on the my server - what are the pro's and cons?

As said: I didn't manage yet. Pls. try and tell me your success ;-)
What you can however do is, to use a free DNS like granitecanyon.com 
(rather poor experience in the last time - but you have full control over 
your zone files), or centralinfo.net and point your domains and subdomains 
to your iServer. Note: you can set up subdomains (i.e. CNAMES pointing to 
your normal host) in iServer's DNS server, but you cannot setup new zones 
for those subdomains, unless you register them with them and pay....

>Also the server server runs FreeBSD/Apache so what do I need to install ?

You can use Apache's ability to run virtual domains, i.e. the same Apache 
serves rather different domains, even for domains, which are not covered 
by iServer's own DNS server, but by a third-party DNS server....

>Please bear in mind I am very new at this so no crytic answers please.

Me R nu 2. hope my answer was not too cryptic. ;)
Stefan


>Thanks
>Abraham Sinclair