Directadmin + DNS

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JesperV

Verified User
Joined
Sep 5, 2023
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Dear Users,

I am planning on installing Directadmin for my customers. Before I do this I have some questions.

Does my Directadmin server need 2 public IP addresses to be able to link the domains via nameservers to my directadmin server?

Or do I need a additional server with for example PowerDNS and 2 IP Addresses so that I can manage the DNS via there...

I also know there is a DNS option in directadmin, but then again my question is how do I create 2/3 namservers to link my domain...
 
There are a couple of ways to do this.

The first option is to configure both ns1 and ns2 for your hosting domain (the domain that DirectAdmin will be accessed with) to the same IP.
This will allow you to use just one IP for all websites and services. (Due note that some domain registers require two different IP (and sometimes require them to be on a diffrent subnet) for the two nameservers and thus makes this not an option in all cases.)

The second option is to have two IPs going to the same server and adding the second IP to directadmin via the IP Manager.
This will allow one server to serve the nameserver requests on both IPs but may still not work in all cases depending on the domain extentions that you have. Since some registers require to have both nameservers on a different subnet.

The third option (that is a bit more expensive but also most common) is to have two server/vpses with DirectAdmin and connect them to eachother via multi-server. This will allow you to have two different IPs for the nameservers and adds the redundency of have two servers/vpses. (and if possible in two different locations) Since DirectAdmin Multi-server will handle the transfer of the DNS records between the two servers.
And if you plan to use the second server just for the DNS records, then you can use a personal plus license since the domains are not added to the server as domains but rather as a DNS record and this do not count towards the domain limit.

But what is best for you, really depends on you and your customers needs.
 
Is there a fourth option with PowerDNS?

Make 2 servers with PowerDNS, link your nameservers to the powerdns servers and in PowerDNS match the A record with the directadmin server?
 
There is a fourth option with PowerDNS yes.
And there is a fifth option where you can use a small VPS with DirectSlave on it. It's in fact the same as option 3, but you don't need a DA license.
 
Another option if you have the resources...

Get 1 hidden pdns server to which you connect your customer servers via the supermasters table so this server get's all local dns mutations via named.
Next, get 2 or 3 vps (on different continents preferably) which act as mysql slaves of the hidden pdns server. Make those your public nameservers.
 
Richard G said:
There is a fourth option with PowerDNS yes.
And there is a fifth option where you can use a small VPS with DirectSlave on it. It's in fact the same as option 3, but you don't need a DA license.
Click to expand...
Is DirectSlave reliable for production environments?

Or should I use PowerDNS with a slave server for better reliability
 
JesperV said:
Is DirectSlave reliable for production environments?
Click to expand...
Yes. I've used it for my production environment too, probably others still are.
It's partly working via Directadmin multiserver setup and slave DNS setup, quite easy to configure and easy to secure too.

I think the reliability is the same, but I don't remember if it has a GUI nowadays, which PowerDNS probably has. So maybe for ease of use PowerDNS is better if that has a GUI. I haven't used PowerDNS yet, so I can't give a decent opinion about that, sorry.
 
Richard G said:
Yes. I've used it for my production environment too, probably others still are.
It's partly working via Directadmin multiserver setup and slave DNS setup, quite easy to configure and easy to secure too.

I think the reliability is the same, but I don't remember if it has a GUI nowadays, which PowerDNS probably has. So maybe for ease of use PowerDNS is better if that has a GUI. I haven't used PowerDNS yet, so I can't give a decent opinion about that, sorry.
Click to expand...
So just to confirm.

Directadmin IP will be ns1.example.com and the directslave IP will be ns2.example.com and both need to be on a seperate subnet

Also I cant seem to find a documentation to install directslave. On what OS do you use DS?
 
JesperV said:
On what OS do you use DS?
Click to expand...
On any Linux distro.

As for documentation, there is a whole thread about it here on the forums.

DirectSlave/GO 3 - public beta

Original DirectSlave thread: http://forum.directadmin.com/showthread.php?t=43924 ================================================================================== UPDATE: DirectSlave Updated to version 3.4.2-Advanced! → BUGFIX: pid file was not written when running under Linux systemd...
forum.directadmin.com forum.directadmin.com
and download is here:

DirectSlave :: secondary DNS for DirectAdmin™ powered servers

directslave.com directslave.com
documentation is included in the download too.

As for the seperate subnet, that is your choice. According to RFC that is the official way to do it, seperate subnet and if possible seperate location.
 
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