DNS Only Plans

ranz

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After searching through the forums (and found really only this post: http://www.directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19907) ...

What I am after is a DNS-Only hosting plan, and I would like it to integrate into WHMCS.

The fact that DA already integrates into WHMCS means that it could potentially be (from what I can figure out) a simple issue of:

--> Setting up a custom template and leave only the DNS side of things
--> Creating a plan that uses this template

Am I on the right track here?

What does everyone else do when it comes to just hosting DNS?

We're currently running BIND9 servers and use Webmin - and it's becoming increasingly hard to manage as our client base gets larger. This is why I'm thinking of using DA.

For those who are wondering why DNS only: we have services like Exchange Hosting, SharePoint, CRM, VPS, Dedicated Servers - that are nothing to do with "webhosting" - and I really don't want to have 50 DNS servers all over the place.

Another Q:

If I have 10 DA servers - can I still use Multi-Server to run Secondary DNS?

That is can I have 10 DA Servers all using multi-servers to the 11th (backup) DA server?

Any info would be helpful.

Regards,

Ranz
 
After searching through the forums (and found really only this post: http://www.directadmin.com/forum/showthread.php?t=19907) ...

What I am after is a DNS-Only hosting plan, and I would like it to integrate into WHMCS.

The fact that DA already integrates into WHMCS means that it could potentially be (from what I can figure out) a simple issue of:

--> Setting up a custom template and leave only the DNS side of things
--> Creating a plan that uses this template

Am I on the right track here?
If you really want it to integreate with WHMCS, then unless you have the ability to write your own integration into WHMCS, you should probably try the custom skin route. However you'll have to allow each user to set up multiple domains, as users can only manage DNS for their own domain. And you'll have to figure out a way to NOT start with a DNS zone pointing to your server.
What does everyone else do when it comes to just hosting DNS?
We host only slave DNS; we pick up from clients' master DNS zone files using our own Master2Slave DNS Replicator discussed elsewhere in these forums.
We're currently running BIND9 servers and use Webmin - and it's becoming increasingly hard to manage as our client base gets larger. This is why I'm thinking of using DA.
Give it a try.
For those who are wondering why DNS only: we have services like Exchange Hosting, SharePoint, CRM, VPS, Dedicated Servers - that are nothing to do with "webhosting" - and I really don't want to have 50 DNS servers all over the place.
If you use Master2Slave DNS Replicator each of those systems can run it's own DNS but you can use them all as hidden masters and only publish two main nameservers.
Can I have 10 DA Servers all using multi-servers to the 11th (backup) DA server?
Yes, but don't think of it as a backup; resolvers always ask all listed nameservers and accept the first response.

Jeff
 
Thanks Jeff - I'll search the forum for "Master2Slave DNS Replicator" and see what eventuates.
 
Looks very interesting. Care to install it and let us know what you think?

Jeff
 
I've installed it - on a VPS - it's pretty cool - the project itself is a little outdated. The API is not bad - it's going to take a fair bit of work to get this to where I would like it.

I think that DA can probably do this, only issue is that there isn't any API for DNS Domain Management - perhaps this could be implemented?

So getting back to DA doing a "DNS Only" plan - what are my steps?

--> Create a template that allows only the basic controls + DNS Management
--> Setup a PLAN and allow ONLY DNS Control
--> Configure this as a product in my shoppingcart

Anyone think of anything I could be missing here?
 
Personally I think that's a lot of overkill, though I suppose it's workable.DirectAdmin will still create an account for email (the user account, and all the directory structure. While you could remove the directory structure I wouldn't recommend it, because with DNS in place you can't recreate the domain; if the user ever wanted to host with you, you'd have to recreate everything manually as well as change the skin.

Another issue is that DirectAdmin DNS isn't really set up for the kind of advanced zone management wanted by people who generally want to host their DNS elsewhere (besides their hosting company) for (for example) an enterprise domain. One example is MX records for subdomains handled inside a main zone, but there are other issues as well.

I'd prefer to manage DNS separately, as we currently manage slave DNS separately.

@Ranz: see my PM to you, but please do not respond by PM.

Jeff
 
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