[GLLUG] DNS and My Server!

[Clay Dowling]

Nicholas Kwiatkowski wrote:
> I wouldn't recommend setting up DNS locally, unless you need this only for
> local applications.
> 
> DNS servers tend to cache primary and secondary DNS Server IP addresses for
> quite a while.  If you are on a dynamic IP address, this can cause your site
> to be unavailable for a while (sometimes days) while the root servers update
> their records.
> 
> Take a look at some 3rd party DNS hosts -- I use one called DtDNS
> http://www.dtdns.com.   You would point the DNS NS1 and NS2 entries to your
> 3rd party host, which would in turn translate the domain name into your IP
> address.  You would them be able to setup Apache to home to multi-domains.

I'll second what Nick says here.  I recently had a big problem with
this.  I'm using www.nettica.com and it's working quite well.  It costs
me a whopping $10/year.

Also, DNS server software tends to be insecure.  Unless you're
sufficiently paranoid running your own DNS is just asking to get hacked.
 I've had machines compromised twice, and it was always through the DNS
server.  If you absolutely have to do it, run your DNS server on FreeBSD
or OpenBSD.  They have a better security track record.

Clay