Creating a DNS server.

[BlackThorn]

I have brought a domain name and I would like to host my own DNS. I am using my own PC for hosting as well, it is on windows 7 ultimate x64 at the moment so I am probably going to have to use windows server now? It is also on a dynamic IP address so I would need it to update its self if the IP changes and the domain is going to be used for a website and a teamspeak server. I do not want to pay for someone to host it at, as that computer has to be on anyway for the teamspeak to be running so I might as well host it myself if it is even possible.

[lutzee]

Who did you purchase the domain with? Chances are you'd have to wait to move the domain away from them, unless you are lucky enough to be able to set your own name servers without theirs being active. You'd also probably have to fork out a stack of money for your name servers to be recognised and authorised by ICANN (though im not sure exactly on that). Lastly for other servers to point at your name server your name server will have to have a static IP.. name servers dont tend to update name servers.

Overall I would be easier for you to move your domain to a company that allows for Dynamic DNS updating such as DynDNS.

[BlackThorn]

Well I say brought, I'm literally about to buy it, so there is no feasible way to host your own basically? It's like 3 times the price of buying the domain name if I have to buy there DNS service.

[azeotrope]

Why don't you just use dynDNS if you have a dynamic IP? There's no point in buying a domain for a dynamic IP. What do you mean by buy a DNS service? why do you need to run your own? you can easily set up a DNS with BIND which is what most DNS servers use. There are plenty of guides out there to do it, but there's little benefit or reason to do so for personal use.

[BlackThorn]

Because it is a waste of money why would I want to pay 30 bucks when I could host it my self on a pc that is always on anyway. Basically I want it so I can have 'www.mysite.com' and have it point to my ip address and have it automatically change to my ip when it changes once every 6 months or so. I've tried setting up bind there is not one single decent tutorial that I have found hence why I am asking here.

[azeotrope]

I think you're going about this the wrong way. There's no point in buying a domain if you want to run your own DNS since you can just set a manual rule on the DNS to point to your server. If on a LAN, you can do this by adding entries in your hosts file. if you really want a domain, find an ISP that'll give you a static IP, otherwise just use dynDNS

[BlackThorn]

Only business class lines give out static ip addresses that's my problem and 100mb business class costs way to much. My ip address will only change if there is a power cut of some sort and my router disconnects. It will then be assigned a new up address so if I use my current ip could I just manually update it at some point? (don't know how to go about that) I will probably be buying it through name.com. The only reason I want to host it is because it's pointless for me to pay for something I can do myself. Even if I have to manually update it I think even that would suffice.

[azeotrope]

You don't seem to understand how DNS and ip adresses work. If you use your own DNS just to have access to your server through a domain name, there is zero point in buying a domain name since you have overall control of that DNS and you can FORCE the DNS to map your server to a certain domain. When you connect to that server over the net using that domain, you will have to use your DNS. In this case you do not need to buy a domain. Obviously no-one else will be able to see your server using that domain name unless they are using your DNS. Buying a domain does not change this. Runnning your own DNS does not magically make your domain viewable for other people remotely unless they are explicitly using your DNS. Which comes back to my point again, why not just use a service like dynDNS or a free equivalent like no-ip? Buying a domain for your IP will cause it to be mapped on the root DNS servers and subsequently every other major DNS server. It has nothing to do with having your own DNS server.

[BlackThorn]

I am just finding it hard to explain what I am trying to achieve. Basically I want for now, people to be able to connect to my Teamspeak server using 'blahblah.com' so say I brought the domain from name.com how would I go about achieving that, being as my ip address is dynamic and could change. (so far had the same one for 4 months) I think I might have just got confused somewhere along the lines, as this stuff is kinda shady and not ceystal clear to understand from what I've been researching.

[azeotrope]

you can do this with a service like dynDNS or no-ip. You don't need a DNS server or buy an IP address to do that.

[BlackThorn]

I am currently using no ip but it uses a no-ip.org as the end of the site. Can I buy the domain and set it to point to the no ip to then point to my dynamic ip address I just want a .com lol

[azeotrope]

no-ip's paid service does this which I guess you are aware of, but this isn't the same as running your own DNS. I'm not aware of any free way of doing this, sorry :(.

[lutzee]

You can have your domain route through a no-ip domain, i use a no-ip dynamic address updater to update my own no-ip site that my main domain then points too (as my domain host doesn't provide a dynamic address updating service)

Basically "my domain -> no-ip domain -> my dynamic IP" where my server updates the no-ip domain which in turn gets pointed at by my premium domain

[BlackThorn]

It's ok lol. Thanks for trying anyway. I just struggled to explain it as clearly as I could because I was on my phone and I am really lazy on my phone when it comes to explaining.

I'm just going to clarify because if anyone else reads above this they will probably be confused as I am right now. Basically I am about to buy a domain name from name.com. The domain will not point to a IP address until it is in a DNS server which is essentially like a phone book you have the name and the phone number linked to it. (URL & IP address in my case.)

I THINK (Even I'm not entirely sure at this point lol.) I need to set up my own DNS server which I can then add the entry of my domain and my IP address so when people type in my URL they will connect to my DNS server and it would resolve the IP address even though it is the same as the DNS servers.

I would rather not pay for the service, as it is going to cost money (Obviously) when I'm almost certain there is a way for people to do this. Using free services change the end of the URL (I think) so instead of having a .com it will be something like .no-ip.org which is a waste of time.

I would much rather host it being as my server PC Is always on anyway, so it would make minimal difference. It is currently running on windows 7 x64 Ultimate I do not mind reformatting it and putting it on a windows server version if this really matters.

The second part of this would be to update the IP address automatically (As my IP address is dynamic, but it very rarely changes) So I don't have to manually do it. (Not that important at the moment.)

I have heard of bind and have had a brief look at the program and I think that is the program I need to use to set this up. (I've used many tutorials on setting bind up and they never seem to work one way or another.)

For now, It will only be used to access my teamspeak server, later on after I have designed the website and given it to a friend to code for me there will also be a website linked to this domain/IP address.

Sorry about the long post, but I have searched a lot and never found anything that is perfectly clear, as servers and coding are not my strongest points I have a huge amount of knowledge in this topic.

Thanks in advanced for anyone who contributes.

[lutzee]

When you purchase a domain with a domain registry service they will have the facilities to point your domain at an IP, you don't need to pay extra for that. It comes as standard.

You are wasting your time trying to set up your own name servers.. not to mention Name.com will have a cool down period where you can only use them to assign IPs using their name servers and after that it will cost you to transfer your domain away from their service.

Lastly you do not want windows server, Its nasty and horrible for web hosting, You should install a decent linux distro such as Ubuntu server or CentOS.

[BlackThorn]

My friend will sort the web hosting out for me anyway when the time comes and he using linux on all his servers so that's not to much of a problem. I just want to make sure I can update my IP as it is dynamic so I can at least get my Teamspeak running for the time being. The reason it is using Windows at the moment is it also hosts game servers which only 'really' support windows OS. I don't mind using name.com for the name servers as long as I can somehow update it for my dynamic IP and if possible automatically update it. Like I said not exactly a expert in this field lol.

[lutzee]

I suggest you research whether name.com provides dyndns or not, if not i suggest you use DynDNS to purchase the domain