Re: ? Own DNS server

From: Ohmster (donteven_at_thinkaboutit.com)
Date: 06/06/04 

Date: Sun, 06 Jun 2004 16:08:26 GMT

"Timothy Law" <timlaw@gamebox.net> wrote in
news:7Vvwc.14971$Yd3.3778@newsread3.news.atl.earthlink.net:

> Sweet...thanks guys
>
> Thanks Markku
>
> I think I need to look up virtual hosting of the web server.
> So far, I only know about subdomain virtual hosting...ie. a1.domain.com,
> a2.domain.com...
>
> But for domain virtual hosting...ie. domain1.com, domain2.com, that's a
> whole new level right? or not..perhaps just a matter of $$$ since domain
> names are $$$ while subdomains are $0 since their price is already credited
> to their main domains.
> Am I right in understanding this?
>
> Thanks again.
>
> Tim
>
>

Uhmm, I just went through all of this with a post a little further down about
virtual domains. You have a few separate questions to answer. So far as
hosting the virtual domains, apache does that and comes with a manual and
some nice examples that you can view with your browser when you get your web
server up and running. It is in the "manual" directory right in your www
root. See section "vhosts".

So far as domains and subdomains, domains cost money but they are not
expensive they used to be. Get your domain for $13.50 a year from
http://www.000domains.com. If you do not want to spend any money at all for a
domain, then you can get a free one at http://www.no-
ip.com/services.php/page/free. You get a subdomain for free on their domain
like timmy.no-ip.com or something similar to that and can get similar
subdomains free. They will provide the DNS to point the URL to your IP
address. no-ip.com also has a free updater that you run on your machine and
this updater tells the DNS server your IP address constantly. If you have a
dynamic IP address that changes, the updater will tell the DNS server your
new IP address for you so that the URL will resolve to your actual, current
IP address. Other DNS servers on the web have similar free updaters. If you
have a static IP address, this is not necessary. When I had a dynamic IP
address, I had problems with this after switching over to PPPoE (This all
worked very well with a bridged ethernet DSL connection.) because you have to
figure out how to automatically restart your firewall so that it updates to
your current IP address as well. I had to restart my linux machine every time
this happened and it was a real pain in the ass. I got a static IP address
and now this hassle is over with thank God.

If you actually purchase a domain, you can get DNS for free from
http://www.zoneedit.com, that is a good deal, you get your domain DNS
completely for free.

They also have free DNS and subdomains at http://freedns.afraid.org/ but I
have never used them so I cannot tell you how good they are. What the heck
for free and if you have the time and want to experiment, it might be the way
to get your feet wet and it will cost you zero dollars.

SUMMARY:

Get a domain for yourself and subdomians if you want, use the free ones to
get started. Something like timothy.no-ip.com and later on just purchase a
real domain like www.timothylaw.com from 000domains.com for $13.50. This is
not a lot of money for your own real FQDN, you could mow a lawn for that much
money.) Assign the DNS to your IP address.

Setup apache to use name based virtual domains and assign the document root
to the location on your hard drive where the web pages for this site will be.
This is actually a very quick and easy process but I got stuck by overlooking
some very basic stuff. I forgot to uncomment out the NameVirtualHost line and
after doing this, it would only work for me if I added the port name to it
this:

NameVirtualHost *:80

And each container begins this:

<VirtualHost *:80>

Go look at the excellent apache manual on your linux hard drive that comes
with apache for some terrific help and examples for virtual hosts. Find it in
your browser at:
http://>/manual
or
http://localhost/manual (do this on the actual apache machine)
After you get apache up and running.

So far as your last question goes about domain and subdomain costs, go look
around on these web sites:

http://freedns.afraid.org
http://www.no-ip.com
http://www.zoneedit.com

...and of course put "free subdomains" and "free dns" in your google search
bar and let 'er rip. Lots of good links there. Virtual hosting is fun and
easy once you get the first one to work, and with free subdomains, you can
experiment a lot with it.

I now have two domains, one is my main one and one that I got for my family
web site to make it easy for my family to go see the site. The first domain I
bought from Network Solutions and this was expensive, $75 to purchase and $35
a year to maintain. The second one I bought from 000domains.com and it cost
$13.50 to buy and $13.50 a year to maintain. I will transfer my original
domain to 000domains when it comes time to renew it again, who wants to pay
$35 a year when I can do it for $13.50? Both are served up by apache on the
same machine and it is each one had it's own server machine.

Once you get this part done, you can do other neat stuff with your domains,
having each one accessible by FTP, setting up sendmail and getting an MX
record for it at the DNS site (You can get free DNS with MX record; www, ftp,
and mail prefixes at http://www.zoneedit.com). How cool would it be to have
your own domain like www.timothylaw.com (Or whatever you decide on.) and have
www.timothylaw.com, timothylaw.com, ftp.timothylaw.com, and your own mail
server at mail.timothylaw.com so you can send an receive email like
tim@timothylaw.com? You can do this for each of your domains if you want, it
is a fun project and you will learn a lot by doing it.

Good luck and have fun, Tim. 

-- 
My email address is invalid, thanks to
all of these rotten spambots.
Email me by assembling this address:
tinykitty "ay tea" ohmster "dee oh tea" com
~Ohmster

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