DA Sales Questions

American

Verified User
Joined
Jul 31, 2003
Messages
11
Location
Dallas, Texas
While evaluating this product I have come across a few items I have questions about:

1. DNS - We have many shared hosting customers and dozens of dedicated servers so obviously we have our own name servers. How do you disable DNS records in DA? No way we want to setup DNS on any DA servers as we will setup the necessary records on our ns1 and ns2. This one is a deal killer if it can't be disabled, I have to be missing something here.

2. Reseller/User - During setup, could use a little more info like the Reseller's and/or User's first and last name, contact phone number, just quick info for contact reasons and easier to identify during support, etc.


3. Help Desk - We use PerlDesk, anything short of something like PD doesn't cut it. If you can't specify groups/techs for tickets to be sent to under X conditions (certain techs receive tickets for reboots, all for general tickets..etc) then it falls short. We use ModernBill for our billing/signup, they have the same shortfalls there as well with their help desk and has been a big gripe with the users. Maybe we can just change the link in DA to point to our PD system. Just an fyi.

4. MySQL - Is there a way to specify remote MySQL accounts? We have a dual AMD MySQL server for larger databases to keep the load off of the web servers, not always a must but can be in certain conditions. It would be nice if you could specify a host (IP) to look for the db. I understand that the phpmyadmin module in DA will be worthless at that point but we have Webmin on our MySQL server and setup Usermin accounts just for MySQL db admin for the user.

Is there a way to limit the size of the MySQL databases on the DA server? Or is that figured in with the total diskspace of the package?

5. IP Admin - Looks like you have to add 1 IP at a time? What about blocks of IP's or a /24 for example. Not a biggie, just a thought.

6. Front Page - Does DA come with the FP extensions? Can we enable them per site or server wide?

We are looking at this to offer for dedicated and shared hosting customers on a fairly wide scale so I'm sure I will have a few more questions but these stand out for now.

Thanks,
 
1. DNS - We have many shared hosting customers and dozens of dedicated servers so obviously we have our own name servers. How do you disable DNS records in DA? No way we want to setup DNS on any DA servers as we will setup the necessary records on our ns1 and ns2. This one is a deal killer if it can't be disabled, I have to be missing something here.
As far as I know, BIND must be installed on your machine, regardless of whether or not you are going to make use of it. For security purposes, if you're not going to utilize BIND, simply firewall port 53 and that'll be that. The records will exist, but they won't be used. I'm not aware of any way to disable the addition of DNS records when domains are created as of now.

2. Reseller/User - During setup, could use a little more info like the Reseller's and/or User's first and last name, contact phone number, just quick info for contact reasons and easier to identify during support, etc.
None of these fields are available in DA, because, as you stated in your post, you use ModernBill for your billing/client management. DA has a very nifty API that would allow something like ModernBill to integrate with DA almost seamlessly, eliminating the need for additional input when a new client is added.

3. Help Desk - We use PerlDesk, anything short of something like PD doesn't cut it. If you can't specify groups/techs for tickets to be sent to under X conditions (certain techs receive tickets for reboots, all for general tickets..etc) then it falls short. We use ModernBill for our billing/signup, they have the same shortfalls there as well with their help desk and has been a big gripe with the users. Maybe we can just change the link in DA to point to our PD system. Just an fyi.
If you use an external ticket system like PD, DA allows you to specify a URL to the ticket system, so clients can be directed directly to that external system.

4. MySQL - Is there a way to specify remote MySQL accounts? We have a dual AMD MySQL server for larger databases to keep the load off of the web servers, not always a must but can be in certain conditions. It would be nice if you could specify a host (IP) to look for the db. I understand that the phpmyadmin module in DA will be worthless at that point but we have Webmin on our MySQL server and setup Usermin accounts just for MySQL db admin for the user.
I /really/ want this feature also - though, it is not available yet. I am hoping that after all the major bugfixes and freeBSD release, this will become a new feature - I am under the impression that it is being considered.

Is there a way to limit the size of the MySQL databases on the DA server? Or is that figured in with the total diskspace of the package?
The database is included in the users total disk space. This way the size of the database is moderated by the user's disk space quota.

5. IP Admin - Looks like you have to add 1 IP at a time? What about blocks of IP's or a /24 for example. Not a biggie, just a thought.
Only one at a time at the moment. I haven't seen anyone else request this, so I can only assume that if it does make the "future feature list" it would be somewhere at the bottom.

6. Front Page - Does DA come with the FP extensions? Can we enable them per site or server wide?
The apache build includes frontpage extensions. These are enabled serverwide.

I have been using DA on a production machine since version 1.05 (I think), and updates have been very speedy. I am extremely impressed with the product, and I have no reason to ever need something like Cpanel or H-Sphere, I'd recommend it to you, and anyone else contempating between control panels.
 
As far as I know, BIND must be installed on your machine, regardless of whether or not you are going to make use of it. For security purposes, if you're not going to utilize BIND, simply firewall port 53 and that'll be that. The records will exist, but they won't be used. I'm not aware of any way to disable the addition of DNS records when domains are created as of now.

No, you do not have to install BIND in order for Apache to work, only if you intend to run Named/DNS services on the server, otherwise Apache just looks to the name servers listed in /etc/resolv.conf. So my question/point is if one does not intend to perform DNS on the same box then why have the DNS record entry boxes there? There is not a need for them. Basically all you want is for DA to add the domain and IP to the /etc/hosts file just so the server knows who the domains are and then of course add the correct Virt Hosts to the httpd.conf file.

I don't want my customers logging in and going "gee.. what is this.. do I need to enter some records? I don't know anything about DNS" so why even go down that path if it's not needed?

None of these fields are available in DA, because, as you stated in your post, you use ModernBill for your billing/client management. DA has a very nifty API that would allow something like ModernBill to integrate with DA almost seamlessly, eliminating the need for additional input when a new client is added.

I realize that info will already exist in MB when a customer signs up but I am still going to setup resellers/users anyway (we don't do auto provisioning) so when I am entering that data it would be nice if we had some fields to enter their real name and maybe a phone number, convenience as much as anything, but I would think their real name would be mandatory, keeps the confusion to a minimum for techs setting up sites.

Thanks for answering the rest of my questions, very helpful.
 
No, you do not have to install BIND in order for Apache to work, only if you intend to run Named/DNS services on the server, otherwise Apache just looks to the name servers listed in /etc/resolv.conf. So my question/point is if one does not intend to perform DNS on the same box then why have the DNS record entry boxes there? There is not a need for them. Basically all you want is for DA to add the domain and IP to the /etc/hosts file just so the server knows who the domains are and then of course add the correct Virt Hosts to the httpd.conf file.

I don't want my customers logging in and going "gee.. what is this.. do I need to enter some records? I don't know anything about DNS" so why even go down that path if it's not needed

I meant, you must have BIND installed, because DA will automatically attempt to access/edit/add DNS records/host files. Of course Apache will work fine without BIND, but DA will not. This is why I suggested simply blocking port 53. As far as your clients messing with their records, you have the ability to restrict their access to that feature in their package settings.

Aside from that...glad I could help :)!
 
I meant, you must have BIND installed, because DA will automatically attempt to access/edit/add DNS records/host files. Of course Apache will work fine without BIND, but DA will not. This is why I suggested simply blocking port 53. As far as your clients messing with their records, you have the ability to restrict their access to that feature in their package settings.

Ok.. yep...I just misunderstood you. I realize that BIND must be installed as a requirement of DA. I didn't see the DNS Control checkbox... if you don't check that box does it make the name servers icon disappear for resellers/users? I can't really tell by the demo what happens in a fully functional application.
 
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