How to set up hostname and server...

Themis

Themis

Verified User
Joined
Oct 1, 2010
Messages
176
Location
Luxembourg
Hello to you all...

I'm a newbie in hosting business and I would apreciate any help on installing and setting up my server and DA.

Let me start with a few data:

I have a Master Reseller plan with a hosting company, using the domain "netdomain.net" and I host a few sites of my friends and clients (as a website designer).
Due to slow speed and many downtimes at my current hosting provider, I have decided to rent a server in a European datacenter (It's closer to my region).

The problem is:

1. should I use the "domain.net" to set up the server's hostname and admin account for the new server, or should I use a 2nd domain I own "comdomain.com" which is not used right now and then create a second admin at DA with "netdomain.net" in order to move my site (and billing system wich is licenced for "netdomain.net") and all hosting accounts?

2. The domain "comdomain.com" is registered at Godaddy and it's domain management user interface looks really complicated to me (I prefer Enom)
I understand that I should add an A record for "comdomain.com" at Godaddy's domain manager, or should I change the host for the domain to point to my server's IP address? Should I also use the datacenter's nameservers or add 2 new nameservers that point to the datacenter's (my server's) ns1/ns2 IP's?

3. After I enter the client id and licence number for DA (when I run ./setup.sh), asks me what hostname I want to use. Which one is a valid hostname I should use?
server.domain.com. <-- with a dot at the end
server.domain.com
domain.com
or
server

Any help is appreciated.

Best regards
Themis
 
1) you can use any domain you own, but not just the domain name.

Your hostname should always be in the format hostname.example.com.

2) Don't use GoDaddy or any other registrar for DNS management. Always use your own nameservers and your own DNS. You should first register two nameserves with GoDaddy (this is not the same as using their DNS; you can ask their support team how to do this if you can't find it in the control panel).

3) Do NOT put the dot at the end of your domain name anywhere else except in your DNS zone files.

Jeff
 
1. As a hostname you can use whatever-you-want.domain.net or whatever-you-want.comdomain.com (3rd Level Domain), 2nd level is not recommended.

2. As a primary DNS you can use your server, and as a secondary one use datacenter's.

3. See 1 point.
 
Alex, Jeff, thanks for replying...

Till now I had cpanel and whm and DA seems to me more complicated.
So, OK I can use whatever I want when installing DA, which I did in the meantime using "server.comdomain.com" as hostname.

The next step, I pressume, is to add a domain at User Panel.

Can I add there the "netdomain.net"? This domain is registered at Enom -I have an Enom reseller account and full control over domains including registering nameservers-
Or should I use the above "comdomain.com"?

The datacenter gave me the server's IP 111.111.111.11 and 2 more free IP's in the form of 123.123.123.44, 123.123.123.45
As nameservers they told me to use theirs
ns1 222.222.223.22
ns2 222.222.224.22

As I see in DA panel, IP Management section I have:
IP: 111.111.111.11
Status: server
Reseller: - -
Users: 1
Nameserver: - -
Netmask: 255.255.255.00

In the DNS Administration I have:
Domain: server.comdomain.com
Local Data: No

At Administrator Settings, I have the following data:
Server's Hostname server.comdomain.com
NS1 ns1.comdomain.com
NS2 ns2.comdomain.com

Are all these correct?

I know I ask too much, but is it possible that you give me a few examples using these IP's and data?
I don't know much about DNS management... It's like explaining to a blonde model how to add php code for dynamic page titles... :confused:

What concerns me the most is which domain I should use for admin's account (the net or the com) and the IP's for the nameservers.

Thanks again for your replies

Regards
Themis
 
You can add any domain to your admin account. Both "netdomain.net" and "comdomain.com", or one of them.


Set ns1.comdomain.com on 123.123.123.44 and ns2.comdomain.com on 123.123.123.45 via Directadmin (See http://server.comdomain.com:2222/CMD_NAME_SERVER).

Register your ns1.comdomain.com and ns2.comdomain.com with your registrar.
When delegating any domain, use them (ns1.comdomain.com and ns2.comdomain.com).
 
Themis said:
The next step, I pressume, is to add a domain at User Panel.

Can I add there the "netdomain.net"? This domain is registered at Enom -I have an Enom reseller account and full control over domains including registering nameservers-
Or should I use the above "comdomain.com"?
Click to expand...
Use either one. Presuming your company is brand new I'd recommend using a catchy domain name which represents your business well. Since you're not telling us your real domain names, I can't offer any other suggestion.

In general, many (most) people seem to prefer .com to .net, but historicallly .net had a specific purpose; to people who know the history, a .net was reserved for companies who actually ran at least a portion of the internet. We use both .com and .net domains in our portfolio.
The datacenter gave me the server's IP 111.111.111.11 and 2 more free IP's in the form of 123.123.123.44, 123.123.123.45
Click to expand...
User zEitEr already gave you one suggestion. I'd do it differently. I'd use the first (111.111.111.11) as NS1, and the second (123.123.123.44) as NS2. If I'm understanding you correctly, they are on different netblocks, and will give your nameservers the illusion of redundancy (however you still won't have redundancy). the illusion of redundancy will mean users who look up your nameservers won't get a warning that they're not redundant (though they still won't be redundant).

I highly recommend you find a way to actually have slave DNS on a different netblock; you can buy slave DNS from another provider (we and others sell it), or exchange slave DNS services with someone else you know or meet here.
As nameservers they told me to use theirs
ns1 222.222.223.22
ns2 222.222.224.22
Click to expand...
They mean you should have these in your /etc/resolv.conf file. You probably already do, if they set up your server on their network.
As I see in DA panel, IP Management section I have:
IP: 111.111.111.11
Status: server
Reseller: - -
Users: 1
Nameserver: - -
Netmask: 255.255.255.00

In the DNS Administration I have:
Domain: server.comdomain.com
Local Data: No

At Administrator Settings, I have the following data:
Server's Hostname server.comdomain.com
NS1 ns1.comdomain.com
NS2 ns2.comdomain.com

Are all these correct?
Click to expand...
They look okay to me.
I know I ask too much, but is it possible that you give me a few examples using these IP's and data?
I don't know much about DNS management... It's like explaining to a blonde model how to add php code for dynamic page titles... :confused:
Click to expand...
Once your nameservers are set up (it appears all you're really lacking is redundant slave DNS), DirectAdmin will handle it all for you.
What concerns me the most is which domain I should use for admin's account (the net or the com) and the IP's for the nameservers.
Click to expand...
I hope I've clarified that for you above.

Jeff
 
Hi Alex, Jeff,

Thank you for replying. You really helped me a lot.

Regarding the nameservers I have decided to use zEitEr's suggestion, because otherwise, since DA is asking to choose 2 IP's, the ns2 is assigned to the server's IP and the ns1 to the free IP. Anyway...

My problem now is the options related to Owned, Shared and Free IPs.
Right now I have the server's IP (111.111.111.11) and the ns1: 123.123.123.44 and ns2: 123.123.123.45 which are set both as FREE and assigned to admin. Is this correct?

It's been more than 48 hours since I have created and registered the nameservers at godaddy (ns1/ns2.comdomain.com) and still I have some issues.
When I type at the browser's address bar http://server's-IP/~admin , I can see my home page, but when I type the domain name (http://comdomain.com) I get an error.
Any idea why this is happening?
Should the IPs for the nameservers be Shared and not assigned to any user?

I have contacted the datacenter, but they gave me a weird answer: "service is running on your server and the DNS is also installed everything correctly. If you registered with us in the Customer all right RDNS have it should work properly." :)confused:)
The datacenter is in Germany...

My nest regards
Themis
 
Can't help you troubleshoot without actual IP#/Domain information.

Jeff
 
It's OK. Thanks anyway for your time and the information you provided me.
I will keep on looking for a solution to this issue.

Best regards
Themis
 
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