Hello, First I have to say thank you for all the work and effort that goes into your site. I've been teaching myself Linux (Debian to be specific) for about a year and I wouldn't be where I'm at today without your help. My question relates to the fact I only have one box configured as a web, email, DNS server as I only host a few sites and don't need much more. What are my options for a secondary name server short of configuring a second box? Is it possible to use one box and somehow configure it to be two name servers? A second NIC? I have three unused static public IPs I could draw from. I've poked around the web and see there are sites offering this type of service. Is this a solid way to go? If so, any suggestions as to which service to use? Thanks in advance for your assistance. Tom
Well, the whole idea behind primary/secondary namesevers is that if one dns server fails the second one still can issue the correct dns for a domain... But as you host everything on 1 server there's no real use for a secondary dns server... however most registrars require a second one. Depending on the registrar you can just enter twice the same nameserver or making "two" nameservers using the same IP (e.g. ns1.domain.com / ns2.domain.com and both pointing to XX.XXX.XXX.XX). But there are, however, some registrars the do require two nameservers with different IPs (e.g. for .de TLDs; Denic does not accept if both nameservers have the same IP). So, basically you don't require two different servers but you can create a second fake one pointing to the same location as the first one. Most registrars will accept that but not all of them.
sjau, Thanks for your reply. I realize the secondary name server is for redundancy but I'm not too concerned (yet) about that. I did exactly what you mentioned; ns1.domain.info and ns2.domain.info are mapped to the same IP and my registrar seemed to be accepting of it. One thing was odd, though. When I assigned ns1 and ns2 to my domains (at Stargate, my registrar), all went fine except for one domain where I received the error: "NameServer ns1.crotuxweb.info is not a valid Nameserver" The tech support folks at Stargate sent me this reply to my inquiry: 1. click "Domain Name - Click To Manage" 2. click "Manage Child Name Servers". Now you will have to name them the same as you did in the Manage DNS Service. 3. Once you do that you should be able to add them to any domain as name servers. I opened a support ticket with them as I do not believe I need to do this. Thanks again. Tom
Have you tried what they suggested? I had to do this at DirectI, too (that's one of the registrars I'm using), and it worked.
Falko, Thanks for replying (and also for all the AWESOME information!). I guess I'm a bit confused about Child Name Servers. Here's what I did: 1. Created two child name servers under administrative domain where I originally created ns1 and ns2: ns10.domain.info ns11.domain.info 2. Assigned ns10 and ns11 to the domain which did not allow me to assign original ns1 and ns2 (at my registrar) 3. Assignment of ns10 and ns11 was successful (at my registrar) I hope you followed that. Did I understand correctly? What I find strange is I was able to assign ns1 and ns2 to the other two domains I have registered at the same registrar. Hmmm.... I then went into ISPConfig and assigned ns10 and ns11 to the domain I could not assign ns1 and ns2 to. I'm assuming I need to wait for propogation to know for sure. Am I on the right track, Falko? Thanks again!!!!! Tom
Yes, it works now. Both sets of name servers: ns1.xxx.info ns2.xxx.info ns10.xxx.info ns11.xxx.info Looking good.
