# Setting up a DNS Server on UNIX



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

Is this a task that could be managed by a nix noob? doing it on ubuntu.


----------



## Disparia (Jan 28, 2010)

Sure, since it'll mostly depend on whether you're a DNS noob or not


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

dns noobs as well :|


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

In the Unix/Linux world we have something called HOWTO documents.  Have a gander at the DNS HOWTO.


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 28, 2010)

it isnt terribly hard to get a vanilla dns server up and running. if you are doing it just to try it out and learning then go for it, however if you are doing it on a home network to solve some sort of problem you are having i would say it is the last thing you want to do.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

Easy Rhino said:


> it isnt terribly hard to get a vanilla dns server up and running. if you are doing it just to try it out and learning then go for it, however if you are doing it on a home network to solve some sort of problem you are having i would say it is the last thing you want to do.



This is why


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

More stuff: http://www.webmin.com/

http://linux902.tripod.com/bindconf.html

http://www.amazon.com/dp/0596100574/?tag=tec06d-20


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

i has 1 spliff and a cold guiness for j00


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> i has 1 spliff and a cold guiness for j00





Everyone leave me alone, I'm gonna go sit in the corner and smoke this to the dome


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 28, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> This is why



that is very interesting. i am curious to know how things turn out. you will defin need a dns then! if you sit down for a day or two and read up on it i bet you could get a solid dns server up and running with some decent features. of course, whoever is providing you guys with internet service already has dns setup...


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 28, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> This is why



that is very interesting. i am curious to know how things turn out. you will defin need a dns then! if you sit down for a day or two and read up on it i bet you could get a solid dns server up and running with some decent features.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

hmm, methinks i should set up a nix box in the house to play with


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> hmm, methinks i should set up a nix box in the house to play with



A VM would work too.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

no hdd space ... need to fix dat ...

edit: whats a good VM?


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

Virtual PC is fine.  VirtualBox is sort of better, I like its functionality but it's not as compatible with Windows guest OS, still works though.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

thx


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

Your buddy is trying to start a hosting company and is relying on you to do all this network administration when you don't really have any, much less professional, experience?


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 28, 2010)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Your buddy is trying to start a hosting company and is relying on you to do all this network administration when you don't really have any, much less professional, experience?



which is why i want to know how things turn out


----------



## W1zzard (Jan 28, 2010)

installing a dns server is extremely simple, just install it, create zone files. zone files are a bit harder to understand but still easy


----------



## Easy Rhino (Jan 28, 2010)

yea it is easy but a lot of people have trouble with the zones and don't forget that you will probably want your DNS certified so that you can register domain names...


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

Yeah an actual hosting company might want that ability


----------



## Deleted member 3 (Jan 28, 2010)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Your buddy is trying to start a hosting company and is relying on you to do all this network administration when you don't really have any, much less professional, experience?



Agreed, if you have no clue what you're doing you should not sign documents that promise things to customers. 


Besides, Ubuntu != Unix.


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

Yeah and I would go the Debian route probably anyway.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

Wrigleyvillain said:


> Yeah and I would go the Debian route probably anyway.



Why deb?



DanTheBanjoman said:


> Agreed, if you have no clue what you're doing you should not sign documents that promise things to customers.



i want to learn 




Wrigleyvillain said:


> Your buddy is trying to start a hosting company and is relying on you to do all this network administration when you don't really have any, much less professional, experience?



Biting off more than i can chew? I must admit i feel as if im chest deep in some water but i wanna learn


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

That's great you want to learn but this isn't really the right way to go about it. I really don't know wtf your friend is thinking, tbh. 

I'm no *nix/distro expert but Debian is a general good distro ("distribuition") for servers whereas Ubuntu is more geared towards the desktop. I mean they are all linux and thus can be configured/tweaked/upgraded to do whatever the hell you want provided you know how. But some distros are definitely "better", at least in a general out-of-the-box sense, for certain uses as opposed to others which is one of the reasons there's so many different ones.

Debian has great support/community and package management (the way you find and install software) though others certainly do as well, like Gentoo for example.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

I really want tog et it up, running, test it for a few weeks and then i can decide if yay or nay 

researching debian nao


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

DanTheBanjoman said:


> Agreed, if you have no clue what you're doing you should not sign documents that promise things to customers.
> 
> 
> Besides, Ubuntu != Unix.



Ubuntu is unix like because it is linux based am i correct?


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

Essentially yes all linux is "unix-like" and Ubuntu is a distribution of Linux.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Jan 28, 2010)

hmm i also read that ubuntu is a derivative of debian so i guess using ubuntu cant be that bad?

i has a copy of 2010 mandriva powerpack so ill start using that for now


----------



## DirectorC (Jan 28, 2010)

Don't listen to anyone who mocks your choice in distribution.  Linux is Linux.  Ubuntu can host a web site just as good as Red Hat or any other distro can.


----------



## Wrigleyvillain (Jan 28, 2010)

No it's not a bad choice, that was never claimed by anyone, and as I said it's all linux. Though a general Ubuntu distro is probably gonna come with X Windows GUI software and all kinds of stuff you don't want/need to run on a server. Servers should be be as lean as possible for best performance. You will also save disk space that is better used elsewhere.

And no one has "mocked" anyone or anything in this thread by the way. Despite the details of the reason he is doing this is the first place.


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Feb 1, 2010)

reading dns and bind 5th editon now


----------



## DirectorC (Feb 1, 2010)

[I.R.A]_FBi said:


> reading dns and bind 5th editon now



If this were Facebook it would say:

"DirectorC likes this"


----------



## [I.R.A]_FBi (Feb 1, 2010)

com domain where sites like techpowerup.com and msn.com are subzones? hmmm thats the zoning thing.

i remember before i got my domain and i was setting up my site i had to enter a webaddress to access my site that was of the format "username"."webhostsite".com ... hmmm


----------

