Nameservers in VPS - domain in Godaddy - backup - how to setup?

Server Config
1

I just got a VPS plan for the first time where I want to host several new websites. In the past I’ve used individual accounts to host a couple of other websites and haven’t paid much attention to nameserver setup, just configured at my registrar whatever I was given from the hosting service.

So, I got a brand new domain to act as the host of the rest of the domains I’m setting up: www.example.com.

In the VPS I have setup this one as the default domain for nameservers: ns1.example.com
ns2.example.com

Question 1:
- Can I setup ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com as the nameserververs for www.example.com ? i.e. nameserver is used for the same domain in which it is named. Even if this is possible, is it a good idea or would it be better to host it somewhere else? When I try to define those as the nameservers in Godaddy I get the error message Nameserver not registered. What am I missing?

Other DNS questions
Question 2:
- If I host my nameservers in my VPS, I will need a separate IP for each one (ns1, ns2…and so on). Can I still use those IP’s to actually host websites, or do I need additional IP’s to host the actual sites? Any value in keeping each IP dedicated to a nameserver?

For example:
IP#1 = used for ns1
IP#2 = used for ns2
IP#1 = used for website 1
IP#2 = used for website 2

Question 3:
- Are DNS backup services valuable if I host my own nameservers? Any suggestions on good quality providers? Price not an issue.

Question 4:
- If I used DNS backup services for example.com will that apply to ns1.example.com and ns2.example.com which I used for my VPS? and therefore will be applicable to other domains I host? Does this make sense? Or would I need a separate backup for each domain I host? Can I use one backup for multiple domains?

Question 5:
- What are the drawbacks of hosting multiple sites under the same IP? I control all sites under these IPs

Question 6:
- Can somebody recommend a good resource to learn how IP, DNS, nameservers, etc work? Any book, paid website, video… anything ? While there’s a ton of info on the web, all is scattered and none seems to be too detailed enough for somebody starting to learn about this.

Thanks so much for any help.

Juan

2

  1. You can have example.com hosted at the same server where you host the DNS of example.com + name servers ns1 and ns2.example.com

  2. You need separate IP addresses for name server records. 1 for ns1 and 1 for ns2. You can host websites on that IPs(shared IPs)

  3. Plesk full backup facility can backup the DNS zones as well.

  4. I do not understand.

3

Thanks thewebhostingdir.

BTW I figured that the GoDaddy panel has a separate section at bottom left side of the screen where you “add hosts”. You need to get in and create your nameservers there first.

4

Yes, first the name servers should be registered. And then the NS can be used for any DNS registration for domains.

5

JIAM, I suppose you got your issue resolved by now. I think I understand your question more than the other responses because I have the exact same questions…

Basically stated, because I have purchased a Godaddy Virtual Dedicated Server, I know that I need a name server. But do I need to have a completely different host for that domain, the one that I will use as the name server for the VDS? I mean, how could I have example.com hosted on the same server that uses “NS1.example.com” as its own name server? Kinda seems like things would end up in some kind of infinite loop or something.

Anyhow, here’s how I currently have it working: I purchased a single hosting account on GoDaddy in order to host the domain that will act as the name server for my Godaddy VS. So lets say that domain, example.com, is hosted all alone. Then, for example.com, under the domain management section, I entered the (2) IP addresses that were assigned to my VDS into the Host Summary section.

Ah hah, now I think I see the errors of my ways… I never needed to set up a host account for example.com to set it up as a name server! I only needed to go into the domain manager section (that comes with a simple domain registration), and enter the IP numbers of the VDS into the Host Summary" section there.

Now, for any of my domain names that I host on my VDS, I just use NS1.example.com (and NS2 of course, for the 2nd IP address) for their name servers. That means when example.com is called up as the name server for any of my domains, it will simply pass back those (2) IP addresses that I had entered into the “Host Summary” section.

Sorry so confusing, this stuff is so hard to describe properly. But in doing so, I just clarified a few things for myself, including the fact that I never even needed to have a hosting account for the domain that acts as the name server (since the Host Summary setup is under domain management, NOT under hosting management). It also makes sense that I can treat example.com as a regular domain and have it hosted on the VDS as well.

That’s because, BOTTOM LINE, the name server does its job from the REGISTRY level, not the hosting level. In fact, it doesn’t even need to be hosted anywhere if not wanted.

Whew. Hope I didn’t confuse the hell out of anyone too bad. Sorry.

Karl

6

Hey Karl.

Thanks for your reply. I think it answers the questions very well, I hope people will benefit from this. I had figured this out but it still surprises me how this is somewhat simple, but very difficult to figure out on your own.

Thanks!

JIAM