How to configure dedicated server?

Help me configure a simple Win2K DNS name server

• I have a dedicated server with 3 ip addresses tied to my box. I need to create my own Name Servers on my dedicated box. I went to godaddy.com and added the ns1.mysite.com and ns2.mysite.com already. Now I need help to configure Win2k DNS so that my primary and secondary server would work. Can someone give me step by step instructions? I don't have active dir. Parameters: I want ns1.mysite.com to map to 1.2.3.4 and ns2.mysite.com to map to 1.2.3.5, and 1.2.3.6 will be web server. I need help add the appropriate records so that I get to have ftp.mysite.com, mail.mysite.com. I will use this name server to add other domains hosted by my dedicated server. So let say that joecool.com wants to be hosted by me. What entries should I add?

• Answer:

  Hi lochness-ga, First of all, keep in mind that if you're hosting both NS records on the same machine, you're only satisfying the minimum requirement and it won't give any additional redundancy. I can only presume that what you're running hasn't reached a stage where such redundancy is necessary. Also, because of the nature of the web, not everything you configure in your DNS server will take effect immediately. Different ISP will update their DNS caches on their own DNS servers at different times. While you may be able to reach a site you've configured, not everyone else will be in the same boat. Now with that being said, let's get started. With GoDaddy.com, I’ve experienced some problems with their name server ‘registration’ system. Just to avoid hassles, please logon to godaddy, then check the “Domain Host Information” section to ensure that you actually see the IPs of both your NS hosts and not just 0.0.0.0 or some other error msg. Once that’s done, open up the Admin Tools -> DNS snap-in. We will be only concerned with Forward Lookups since unless you’ve leased a whole class C block of 254 IPs, most ISPs will not let you configure your own Reverse Lookup pointers. The first thing you should do is create a primary zone and name it “mysite.com”. Click Next all the way through. Although, if it asks, make sure you check the “Do not allow dynamic updates” of records. I’m currently using Windows Server 2003 so I’m not entirely sure if that question appears. Now you should see 2 records, one for SOA and one for NS. We’re going to ignore them for now and add the A records first. So right-click, goto New Host (A), type in “ns1” into the Name box and the IP. Do not check the Create PTR record box. Repeat this for “ns2” for your second IP. Now you will see 4 records in your current zone. Now for WWW, FTP and Mail, all of which I will assume will be hosted on this machine as well, you should create Alias aka CNAME records. This type of record is simply a ‘shortcut’ if you will that points to another record and it will auto update if you changed that other record. You can nest many CNAMEs together as long as the last item in the nest is an A record. For WWW, you’ll need 2 records, one for http://mysite.com (A record) and another for http://www.mysite.com (CNAME record). First, create a new Host (A) record for your last IP, however, leave the Name box blank this time. Then right-click, goto New Alias (CNAME), type in “www” into the Name box and “mysite.com” as the target FQDN. This will make www.mysite.com automatically point to mysite.com which points to your last IP. For FTP, right-click, goto New CNAME, type in “ftp” into the Name box, and “ns1.mysite.com” or “ns2.mysite.com” or “mysite.com” as the target FQDN, depending on which IP you want it to use. Mail is a different beast and requires 2 records as well. Mail goes through what’s called a MX or Mail Exchanger record. This is done so that multiple mail servers could be setup with redundancy much like how you can setup multiple NS servers. First, setup the CNAME record and have it point to “mysite.com” or “ns1.mysite.com”, depending on the IP you want you mail server to be on. Now right click, goto New MX, leave the Host box empty, and type in “mail.mysite.com” as the FQDN. Since you have 1 mail server currently, any priority (or distance) you put into the last box would not make a difference. If you had multiple MX records, the record with the lowest priority will always be tried first. Now that everything else has been setup, it would make it easier for you to setup the NS and SOA records. The SOA just determines who has authority to make changes to your current zone. So right click the SOA record and goto Properties. In the SOA tab, serial number is just a number assigned by the DNS server that facilitates synchronization between multiple NS servers. Nothing you should be concerned with at this point. In the Primary Server box, type in “ns1.mysite.com”. For Responsible person, this is just an email address except the @ sign is replaced by a period. By default, it’s usually hostmaster.mysite.com which would make the email [email protected]. You would probably want to setup that email account on your mail server, just in case someone wishes to contact you. The rest of the settings on that tab should be okay as defaults unless you have other reasons to change them. Now under the Name Servers tab, remove the existing entry that’s there. Click Add. In the FQDN box, type in “ns1.mysite.com” and click the Resolve button. The IP for it should automatically show up in the list below. Click OK. Repeat this for ns2.mysite.com. Once that’s done, click OK. If you get a msg asking you whether you want to confirm removing the old NS record, click Yes. Your zone is now complete. Now when you’re setting up other clients on your DNS server, add another primary zone for their domain, ie: joecool.com, you would configure it much the same way with a few differences. The Name Servers for joecool.com would all point to ns1.mysite.com and ns2.mysite.com. The SOA are also ns1.mysite.com and hostmaster.mysite.com. The MX record will also point to your mail server, ie: “mail.mysite.com”. You will not need to setup a CNAME record for “mail” for joecool.com. Finally, you will also need to create an A record pointing to your third IP leaving the Host box empty. Then make FTP/WWW CNAMEs use joecool.com as the target. You can also test out many of your changes using nslookup. Just run it and type “server 1.2.3.4 before making other queries. You can check your SOA, NS and MX records using “set type=ns” or “set type=soa”. I hope this will help you get started. With things like these, once you setup enough of them, it’ll become second nature to you. Please let me know if any of the above does not work or if you need clarification on anything by hitting the “Clarify Answer” button. Good luck, mrbuzz-ga