Thanks for the info even though I knew 99% of that. I will be in touch if I need more help. Again, thanks for a very good explanation (it's certainly better then I could've done (grin)). Greg On Wed, Dec 05, 2001 at 08:19:57PM -0700, Darrell Shandrow wrote: > Hi Greg, > > I have stayed out of this until now because I haven't really had any time > to respond properly. My days are usually quite long lately. Anyhow, I am > a sys admin for a regional ISP; perhaps, I can help you. > > A domain is registered through a registrar like Network Solutions or > register.com. When the domain is registered, part of the required > information includes the IP addresses for the primary and secondary name > servers. This information is then added to what are known as the root > servers, which tell the entire world which primary and secondary name > servers know how to answer lookup questions about your domain. In other > words, the root servers delegate authority to the specified primary and > secondary name servers to answer questions concerning your domain > name. You could run one or both of these name servers yourself or have > someone else do DNS. It sounds like you are having someone else do primary > and secondary DNS. As I'm sure you already know, DNS is the domain name > system, which points domain names to IP addresses, and which allows us to > do neat things like browse to www.foxnews.com and send mail to > nu7i at azboss.net instead of having to know all kinds of awful IP addresses > just to perform the simplest of functions on the Internet. So, DNS points > a domain name to an IP address, but how does it work? DNS information > about a domain name is handled by name servers in the form of zone > files. Your domain exists as a zone file on the primary name server, and > the secondary name server is usually set up as a slave to the primary. In > other words, the secondary name server gets its information (the zone file) > from the primary name server and holds onto it, just in case the primary > name server is unavailable for some reason. The domain name system is > really a very large, world wide distributed database. A domain name > contains various types of information which is managed in the form of > various types of records. The first type of record is SOA, which stands > for start of authority. This just specifies your primary and secondary > name servers. You see, if things were set up a certain way, your primary > and secondary name servers could actually delegate authority for your > domain to still other name servers, but this is not common > practice. Another important record type is the A record. This is the > address record, and your domain could have multiple A records, depending on > how many subdomains you have set up. For example my domain name servers > have an A record for shandrow.com which points to 206.124.184.77. There is > also another A record for borg.shandrow.com, a subdomain, which also > happens to point to the same IP address, though it could just as easily > point to another IP address. Another somewhat related record type is a > CNAME, which stands for canonical name. These records are used like > aliases to point subdomains to other domains. For example, I did use a > CNAME record to point www.shandrow.com to shandrow.com, which means it also > has the IP address 206.124.184.77. Yet another important record type is > the MX record. MX stands for mail exchanger. E-mail software uses these > records when figuring out how to deliver e-mail on the Internet. These > records, numbered by priority, tell mail delivery software where mail > should go when destined for a particular domain. For example, my first MX > record priority for shandrow.com (which is MX 10) points to > borg.shandrow.com. That is ultimately pointing to the Sendmail server > which runs on the IP address 206.124.184.77. But, again, this could have > just as easily pointed to any Sendmail server which was configured to > accept and deliver mail for the shandrow.com domain. Additional MX records > can be defined so that, if the server specified in the first priority MX > record is unavailable for some reason, mail delivery software will try a > second, third, fourth and so on server until it can deliver the mail. I > could, if configured properly, have a MX 20 pointing shandrow.com to yet > another Sendmail server, which would be able to receive mail for > shandrow.com in the absence of the primary mail server. > > Finally, there is reverse DNS. This does the reverse of the domain name > system; it translates IP addresses back to domain names. You definitely > want to have your DNS administrator set this up for your domain, because > certain FTP sites, web sites and other types of services on the Internet > use reverse DNS information for security purposes; they want to see that > your forward DNS and reverse DNS point to the same place, or they may also > want to verify that you have a domain which is or is not registered in a > certain part of the world. In my example, performing a nslookup on the IP > address 206.124.184.77 will tell you that it reverses to borg.shandrow.com, > which is a valid subdomain pointing to that same IP address. > > Anyhow, this will either help you or confuse you. Please let me know if I > can help you with specifics. > > Regards. > > At 06:38 PM 12/5/2001 -0600, you wrote: > >Well, I'll actually be running a mail server for the building in which I live. > >Instead of being regularly payed, my current connection will be free, and > >I'll get a second free connection > >They're running t1 over here through this HP networking gizmo that > >plugs into the phone jack, and has an rj45 jack on it. > > > > > >The reason I'm asking about the dns stuff is because > >when I told the guy that I've looked at the mail admin docs, and am > >seriously considering running the server, > >his response to me was: > >"so, I'll need to get you a domain with primary and secondary dns servers." > >I said yes to this, but am carious about how his dns servers will know > >where I exist > >since he didn't ask for the name of my box. > >I guess when he tells me he's got things set up, > >my first question to him will be, > >"what name do the dns servers know my machine by?" > > > >He's macroslop licensed, but not meaning to brag, > >I get the impression that I may know more then he does without a license. > > > >In case some of you reading my post now are remembering a few of my other > >posts, I decided > >that getting my own domain name wasn't worth it. > >He said that I could run a small web server here if I want. So, I don't > >think he'd > >have a problem with me running it as http://mybox.domain. > > > >This whole thing started when I got my service, and he came here to get it > >all setup. > >Not only was he impressed that I was the only one in the building so far > >running anything other then windblows, but that it was Linux. > >After my configuring tcp/ip both in windows and in Linux while he just > >watched me do it and gave me my ip address and all the other stuff, > >I asked if I would get a mail account. > >He said no, because there is no body to run one yet. > >Then he tentatively asked if I would be willing to perhaps do it, I said > >I'd read the mailadmin docs and think about it, > >and you know the rest. > > > >He's also looking to hire someone to run apachee. > >But, I'm not touching that for now (grin). > >Sorry for the long and personal post, but since Geoff asked, > >I figured that some other people on this list may be wondering > >why I'm asking theese questions, some of which may sound > >dumb, but are for the most part so that I could make sure that what > >I know is actually correct. > >Greg > > > > > >On Thu, Dec 06, 2001 at 09:29:48AM +1000, Geoff Shang wrote: > > > On Tue, 4 Dec 2001, Gregory Nowak wrote: > > > > > > > 1. Say there is a primary and secondary dns servers on a domain > > called mydomain. > > > > Say also that there is a machine called mybox. > > > > Also, I have ip addresses for primary and secondary dns servers on > > mydomain. > > > > Assumming all of the above, and assuming that I have permission to > > officially be on mydomain which is a valid internet domain, > > > > what do I do on mybox so that it would be resolvable > > > > as mybox.mydomain on the net? > > > > > > Nothing. It's the primary and secondary DNS servers that control how your > > > host is resolved, not your box. As long as mybox has the IP address that > > > ns1.mydomain.com and ns2.mydomain.com think it has, you should be good to > > > go. > > > > > > > 2. Say that I have to nics with 2 static ip address for the outside > > world. > > > > How do I set things up so that my box would use both > > > > nics for outside access instead just either one nic or the other? > > > > > > As Chris said, what comes in where will depend on what address it is sent > > > to. What goes out where depends on a few things. If you want to use one > > > interface to access a particular host or network, you can set up a route > > > accordingly. If you want to access everything with both, you might be able > > > to put 2 default routes (i've seen it done but don't know if it works and > > > if it's supposed to work). I saw you've been looking at bonding which > > > might also work, but I don't know about it. > > > > > > Can I ask, why you have 2 NICs? Is it just to get 2 addresses or are you > > > connected to 2 networks? > > > > > > Geoff. > > > > > > > > > > > > _______________________________________________ > > > Speakup mailing list > > > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > > > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > >_______________________________________________ > >Speakup mailing list > >Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > >http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup > > > _______________________________________________ > Speakup mailing list > Speakup at braille.uwo.ca > http://speech.braille.uwo.ca/mailman/listinfo/speakup
