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What is DNS?
DNS is the technology that ties text-based domain names to the numeric
IP addresses that are necessary to locate the domain's server on the
net. Simplified picture of how DNS works:
Client enters a
domain name (www.domainname.com) into his browser
The browser
contacts the Client's ISP for the IP address of the domain name
The ISP first
tries to answer by itself using "cached" data.
If the answer is
found it is returned. Since the ISP isn't in charge of the DNS, and is
just acting as a "dns relay", the answer is marked "non-authoritative"
If the answer
isn't found, or it's too old (past the TTL), then the ISP DNS contacts
the nameservers for the domain directly for the answer.
If the
nameservers are not known, the ISP's looks for the information at the 'root
servers', or 'registry servers'. For com/net/org, these start with
a.gtld-servers.net.
NOTE: The
'whois' information is never used for DNS, and is often misleading and
inaccurate
What is
Dynamic DNS, and do you offer it?
Dynamic DNS is necessary when the IP address of a server tied to a
domain name constantly changes. This is typical when the server connects
to the Internet using a modem. In Dynamic DNS, the server contacts the
DNS provider each time its IP address changes in order to update the DNS
entry for the domain hosted by the server.
How can I
host multiple web sites on one IP Address?
You can set up as many domains as you want pointing to the same IP
Address using DNS, just keep adding zones, and setting the IP addresses.
However, you
need a web server that uses the 'host' header to route the different
domains to different web instances.
My ISP
blocked port 80. How can I run a web server?
Don't worry, you can still run one!
1- Sign up and get started with DNSBankoi.
2- Make your web server listen on port number like "6000" or "5000"
3- Check to see if your web server works in a browser by using a URL:
http://3.4.5.6:6000/. Use the port number that you're listening on and
the real IP address of your machine.
4- Add the "IP Address" for
your web server in DNSBankoi: "ww2.domainname.com" points to "ip address".
5- Add a Web Forward entry for your domain called "www.domainname.com"
that points to
http://ww2.domainname:6000/
We recommend turning cloaking off in this case, letting people know thay
are going to http://ww2.domainname.com:6000 is usually OK, and it allows
the browser to perform better.
How can check
to see if DNS is working?
A frequent mistake is to use "ping" to test DNS. On Windows NT/2K and
Unix, there are tools called "nslookup" and "dig".
- Before you
contact Bankoi, you can check to see whether or not your registrar is
pointing your domain to the correct nameservers. The "whois" information
is often wrong, and should not be used. Go to a command prompt/console
and enter the command:
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nslookup -type=NS yourdomainname.com
If the response
does not contain all of the correct name servers, then you should
contact your registrar and have them fix it.
- To check to see
whether a particular server is responding, you can add the server
name:
-
nslookup www.yourdomainname.com ns1.DNSBankoi.com
If the response has a bunch of 'root-servers'
that means the server does not know about the domain name and is
referring you elsewhere.
- To look for a
certain record type, like the "MX" record or the "SOA" record, you can
use the parameter "-type=MX" or "-type=SOA".
-
nslookup -type=MX yourdomainname.com
- If you
don't have access to "nslookup" or "dig", you can use our
online DNS lookup tool instead. It
works for all domain names - not just DNSBankoi ones.
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I set up an MX record
and my mail doesn't work, why?
The most common mistake is to set up an MX record, without setting up
an IP address for the mail host. (IE: mail.example.com is an MX record
for example.com, but has no IP address) Our system tries to alert you
to this before it happens.
Another very frequent mistake is to point an MX record to a mail
server that doesn't route mail for the domain yet, or keeps a separate
user database for each destination domain.
Before reaching the conclusion that DNS is responsible for your mail
routing issues, it's a good idea to test your mail server,
independently of the DNS.
You can use our SMTP Test Utility
to test a mail server, even if MX records aren't set up at all.
How can I
backup/download my zone files?
If you want to back up all DNSBankoi DNS data for a given zone, use
named-xfer:
named-xfer -z atreju.com -f atreju.com.txt ns1.DNSBankoi.com.
On unix, "named-xfer"
comes with most distributions, and it's easy to schedule a daily
backup with cron.
On
Windows, we like to use the ISC standrd
named-xfer tool.
What can I
control via the Domain Manager?
If you have an ISP that will serve your domain, you can assign "A"
records so that visitors to your web site will connect to the web server
that your ISP has assigned to you, and "MX" records so people who send
you e-mail will connect to your ISP's mail server.
If you aren't using an ISP for your domain, you can tell our servers to
park your domain on the web with a "Coming Soon!" introductory web page.
Also, you can redirect visitors at your domain's web page to any other
web page of your choosing, using a WebForward™. You can additionally
create MailForwards™ that will allow you to receive any e-mail directed
at your domain in the mailbox at your ISP, or any free mailbox, like
hotmail, yahoo, etc.
What is an
"A" record?
An "A" record, also called an "address" record, ties a domain name to an
IP address. If there is a server on the Internet that is configured to
handle traffic for this domain, you can enter the name of the domain (like
"www.dnsbankoi.net") and the IP address of the server (like
"217.76.147.2"), and almost immediately, anyone surfing to that domain
connects to the correct server.
What is an
"MX" record?
"MX" ("Mail eXchanger") records are used to specify what server on the
Internet is running e-mail software that is configured to handle e-mail
for your domain. If you want your ISP to handle routing the e-mail for
your domain to you, you need to specify the domain name or IP address of
your ISP's mail server. In addition, you can specify the rank of each
mail server when you have more than one. Make sure your ISP knows that
you're using their servers to route your domain's email, or all your
e-mail will "return to sender"!
What is a "CNAME"
record?
"CNAME" records, short for "Canonical Name", create an alias from a
domain name to another. You could create an alias from "yahoo.mydomain.com"
to "www.yahoo.com", and every reference to "yahoo.mydomain.com" would go
to the other location, regardless how yahoo changed their IP addresses!
Be careful, however; CNAMEs won't work everywhere. If you create an MX
record, and the name used for the mail server was defined using a CNAME,
you might lose e-mail!
Does Bankoi
support round-robin DNS?
We sure do! Simply create 2 "A" records with the same domain name and
different IP addresses, and your visitors will be load balanced between
the two servers.
How do I
enable secondary, backup or slave DNS service?
Our secondary DNS servers will pull DNS information from your primaries.
In the Control Panel, on the View Page, click 'Advanced'. On that screen
you should see a 'Make Slave Zone' link. Clicking on this link will
disable the regular control panel, and will allow you to enter the IP
address of the master server
How do I
enable backup mail? How does backup mail work?
When you sign up for the backup mail service, we automatically add our
backup mail server in an MX record to your zone. This causes all
incoming mail to attempt your primary server first, and if that fails,
to try our backup server. When our backup server gets mail for you, it
looks up your primary server, and periodically attempts to redeliver
your mail to the primary. It will attempt redelivery for 10 days before
returning the mail to the sender as undeliverable.
Please contact us for more information:
Click
HERE
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