[BlueOnyx:00227] Re: How do YOU do dns...

[Chris Gebhardt - VIRTBIZ Internet]

Stephanie Sullivan wrote:
> With BQ/BO servers there is DNS management integrated into the gui on a per-site basis (besides the server admin network services management). This gives rise to the possibility of many ways of managing DNS records.
> 
> In my environment the strategy I use harkens back to the days when I was happily running RaQ3's and 4's. I have DNS services on (currently BQ) servers that have no sites and are dedicate to DNS. I turn off most other services and firewall them up the yin-yang. I have DNS servers: a primary and secondary server. When I provision a site I manually enter the DNS information into the primary server and the secondary record on the secondary server. Very plain-jane.
> 
> With BO/BQ the site can auto provision (saving provisioning time) on the same host and enable site admins to manage domain records. This has some obvious uses and is a nice thing to allow, mostly. As Michael points out CMU has not backed up the DNS records on individual hosts which puts this information at risk.
> 
> My concern is with backup and moving sites. If a site has its primary DNS server on the same server, then migrating or restoring to a server at a changed IP address becomes a nightmare as the primary DNS server's IP has change from what is in their domain registration. Oops. 
> 
> I would like a way to enable secure access to a separate DNS server where the gui can send updates to be applied. Maybe over ssh or using ssl? Let sites manage their DNS records without tying their DNS server to their server's IP address.
> 
> Maybe I'm missing something obvious here, or just being a little thick in the head about this. I would appreciate hearing how others on the list have setup their DNS environments and manage them. Particularly how a strategy handles backup/restore/migration of sites from one server to another.

The way we handle it is to make enable the DNS on the BQ/BO servers but 
we do make them publicly available.   We have nameservers spread out 
across our networks that slave to the hosting boxes.   This way the 
customers can manage their zones within the control panel and then it 
will propagate out to our roots.
-- 
Chris Gebhardt
VIRTBIZ Internet Services
Access, Web Hosting, Colocation, Dedicated
www.virtbiz.com | toll-free (866) 4 VIRTBIZ