Hi,
In case you ever wondered how to do the following, here you go...
Hosting provider has 10 DA servers. Each server is using 2 nameservers, resulting in a total of 20 nameservers being used, with DNS being run on all 10 DA servers. Hosting provider now wants to consolidate all hosting servers across 4 nameservers, hosted on 4 external DNS servers, where you'd have:
ns1.domain.com > DNS Server 1
ns2.domain.com > DNS Server 2
ns3.domain.com > DNS Server 3
ns4.domain.com > DNS Server 4
If DNS servers are located in different DCs/cities/countries then you have a redundant DNS cluster. And more locations means more redundancy.
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DirectAdmin DNS Cluster Setup
1.) On each of your hosting servers, enable server clustering via 'Admin > Multi Server Setup'.
2.) Add each of your DNS servers to your hosting servers via 'Add Remote Server'.
3.) Ensure that 'Zone Transfer' and 'Domain Check' are ticked.
4.) Run the following on your first hosting server:
# echo "action=rewrite&value=named" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue
This will send the DNS records on that hosting server to your DNS servers.
5.) Check that each of your DNS servers are answering authoritatively for your domains which are on that hosting server using this command(should be run external to the DNS servers):
# nslookup domain.com 123.123.123.123
You should see something like this:
Server: 123.123.123.123
Address: 123.123.123.123#53
Name: domain.com
Address: 789.789.789.789
Where 123.123.123.123 is the DNS server's IP and 789.789.789.789 is the hosting server's IP.
If it isn't answering authoratively, you'll see something like this:
Server: 123.123.123.123
Address: 123.123.123.123#53
Non-authoritative answer:
*** Can't find domain.com: No answer
6.) Check if your 2nd, 3rd, 4th DNS servers also answer for this domain authoritatively. If yes for all, then you've just synced your first hosting server DNS records successfully to your DNS servers!
7.) Repeat the step 4.) for all hosting servers, testing that a domain from each hosting server is answered authoratively by each DNS server. Once all DNS records have been sent across to all DNS servers, the first stage is complete, as any changes on hosting servers will now be synced to DNS servers('Zone Transfer' must be ticked).
8.) You can now change the IP associated with your secondary nameservers(ns2/ns4) to the corresponding DNS server IPs at the domain registrar. Note it may take a few hours for these DNS changes to propagate across to all locations.
(Note: If you are transferring existing nameservers running off your hosting servers, you'll also need to edit the DNS zone on the relevant hosting server to change the relevant 'ns' record to the new DNS IP.)
9.) Check a hosted domain using your nameservers at http://www.intodns.com to see if the DNS is now being served correctly by the corresponding DNS server. If the DNS report is clean and error free, proceed to change your primary nameservers. Again put a number of hosted domains through the DNS report to check if the DNS is being answered correctly by your external DNS servers.
10.) If DNS reports are clean and error free for domains across all your hosting servers, sit back and treat yourself for a job well done!
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- For this setup to work, each DNS server/VM needs to have DA installed.
- Only one DA hosting server should hold the DNS zone for your nameserver domain.
DA Help On Multi Server Clustering: http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=97
Zone Transfer: DA will transfer the dns info on the specified server when new domains are added and dns settings are changed.
Domain Check: DA will first check the specified server before creating a domain to ensure the domain does not exist.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Suhail.
In case you ever wondered how to do the following, here you go...
Hosting provider has 10 DA servers. Each server is using 2 nameservers, resulting in a total of 20 nameservers being used, with DNS being run on all 10 DA servers. Hosting provider now wants to consolidate all hosting servers across 4 nameservers, hosted on 4 external DNS servers, where you'd have:
ns1.domain.com > DNS Server 1
ns2.domain.com > DNS Server 2
ns3.domain.com > DNS Server 3
ns4.domain.com > DNS Server 4
If DNS servers are located in different DCs/cities/countries then you have a redundant DNS cluster. And more locations means more redundancy.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
DirectAdmin DNS Cluster Setup
1.) On each of your hosting servers, enable server clustering via 'Admin > Multi Server Setup'.
2.) Add each of your DNS servers to your hosting servers via 'Add Remote Server'.
3.) Ensure that 'Zone Transfer' and 'Domain Check' are ticked.
4.) Run the following on your first hosting server:
# echo "action=rewrite&value=named" >> /usr/local/directadmin/data/task.queue
This will send the DNS records on that hosting server to your DNS servers.
5.) Check that each of your DNS servers are answering authoritatively for your domains which are on that hosting server using this command(should be run external to the DNS servers):
# nslookup domain.com 123.123.123.123
You should see something like this:
Server: 123.123.123.123
Address: 123.123.123.123#53
Name: domain.com
Address: 789.789.789.789
Where 123.123.123.123 is the DNS server's IP and 789.789.789.789 is the hosting server's IP.
If it isn't answering authoratively, you'll see something like this:
Server: 123.123.123.123
Address: 123.123.123.123#53
Non-authoritative answer:
*** Can't find domain.com: No answer
6.) Check if your 2nd, 3rd, 4th DNS servers also answer for this domain authoritatively. If yes for all, then you've just synced your first hosting server DNS records successfully to your DNS servers!
7.) Repeat the step 4.) for all hosting servers, testing that a domain from each hosting server is answered authoratively by each DNS server. Once all DNS records have been sent across to all DNS servers, the first stage is complete, as any changes on hosting servers will now be synced to DNS servers('Zone Transfer' must be ticked).
8.) You can now change the IP associated with your secondary nameservers(ns2/ns4) to the corresponding DNS server IPs at the domain registrar. Note it may take a few hours for these DNS changes to propagate across to all locations.
(Note: If you are transferring existing nameservers running off your hosting servers, you'll also need to edit the DNS zone on the relevant hosting server to change the relevant 'ns' record to the new DNS IP.)
9.) Check a hosted domain using your nameservers at http://www.intodns.com to see if the DNS is now being served correctly by the corresponding DNS server. If the DNS report is clean and error free, proceed to change your primary nameservers. Again put a number of hosted domains through the DNS report to check if the DNS is being answered correctly by your external DNS servers.
10.) If DNS reports are clean and error free for domains across all your hosting servers, sit back and treat yourself for a job well done!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
- For this setup to work, each DNS server/VM needs to have DA installed.
- Only one DA hosting server should hold the DNS zone for your nameserver domain.
DA Help On Multi Server Clustering: http://help.directadmin.com/item.php?id=97
Zone Transfer: DA will transfer the dns info on the specified server when new domains are added and dns settings are changed.
Domain Check: DA will first check the specified server before creating a domain to ensure the domain does not exist.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Regards,
Suhail.