How do I choose a nameserver?

[theGWS]

I want to host my own low-traffic personal website from home. I have a DSL connection with four static IPs. My domain name (dorianjepsen.com) is registered at DirectNic, but does not display anything because (I'll assume) it doesn't have a nameserver assigned to it. DirectNic will let me create a nameserver ns0.dorianjepsen.com, but they want me to enter an IP address too. Do I use one of the IP addresses my ISP has provided for me?

[nathanAUS]

Yes use the IP's given to you. Provided they are definately static.

You should have 2 name servers.

In all you will need 2 IP's for your site + name servers.

First IP is for your www site and your first name server (ns1)
Second IP is for your second name server (ns2).

The other 2 are spare, and you can also use the ns2 Ip for something else if you like.

Having said all that, you will need to modify the DNS zone file on your computer to establish all this, but if you have already set up your www site then this shouldn't be a problem.

[theGWS]

So, just to clarify, if the static IPs assigned to me were:

255.255.255.1
255.255.255.2
255.255.255.3
255.255.255.4

then my nameserver/IP setup should look like this:

ns1.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.1
ns2.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.2

and if I wanted to host a second name, then the nameserver/IP setup for that could potentially be:

ns1.othername.com - 255.255.255.2
ns2.othername.com - 255.255.255.3

Please confirm if I am correct. Thanks.

[nathanAUS]

Originally posted by theGWS
So, just to clarify, if the static IPs assigned to me were:

255.255.255.1
255.255.255.2
255.255.255.3
255.255.255.4

then my nameserver/IP setup should look like this:

ns1.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.1
ns2.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.2

and if I wanted to host a second name, then the nameserver/IP setup for that could potentially be:

ns1.othername.com - 255.255.255.2
ns2.othername.com - 255.255.255.3

Please confirm if I am correct. Thanks.

You only need one set of name servers. You can host multiple web sites from one set of name servers.

If you do wish to set up a different set of name servers you will need a new set of IP. Name servers can only have one set of name servers to one set of IP's.

What I mean is, using your example above,

ns1.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.1
ns2.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.2

is fine. The other name would need to be:

ns1.othername.com - 255.255.255.3
ns2.othername.com - 255.255.255.4

You can host actual www sites on those IP's though. The only thing you need individual IP's for are SSL certificates - and name servers. So while you can host multiple www sites on an IP, you can only ever have one SSL certificate or one name server per IP. You can have a combo. That is, a www site AND a name server on an IP, or a www site AND an SSL certificate on the same IP. If you want to install an SSL you can only have one wsite on the IP the SSL is isntalled to (but thats not what you are asking about).

With your current situation of 4 IP's you can up to 2 groups (ns1 / ns2) of name servers.

[theGWS]

I can't get this to work. I have taken the dorianjepsen.com domain and assigned like so:

ns0.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.1
ns1.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.2

(of course I used the actual IPs and not 255...)

When I try to view www.dorianjepsen.com, it times out. Why? Shouldn't the domain dorianjepsen.com automatically send visitors to the server with the ns0.dorianjepsen.com - 255.255.255.1 IP address?

I'm confused. :-S

[nathanAUS]

You'll need to register the name servers with your domain registrar. Once registered, other name servers will know about them and they can all communicate with each other.

Do you have DNS and BIND installed on your computer?

[nathanAUS]

Some things for you to look at:

How DNS works

Exploring the Domain name space

Orientation of DNS and reverse DNS

List of google results on DNS

[Kiwiz]

Nice advice there resellerspace.. going the extra mile.. good to see