Running own servers

[Louis LeBlanc]

On 12/21/04 07:56 PM, Joshua Tinnin sat at the `puter and typed:
> On Tue, Dec 21, 2004 at 10:24:17PM -0500, RL wrote:
> > Hi. I currently have a cable modem, but I want to (if it's not too
> > pricey) run my own servers including DNS server.  My cable
> > provider currently doesn't offer static IPs so I have a dynamic.
> > How would I go about setting up my own DNS? Would I do it through
> > the cable modem? Wouldn't I have to buy an IP block and be the
> > authority for it? I'm a little lost. :)
> 
> You will have problems doing this unless you have a static IP. I
> don't think any cable service offers that. You can run a DNS server
> on an internal network in your case. It's also possible to run a
> dynamic IP resolver service, like No-IP's (dns/noip), but that is
> far from perfect, unless you're just doing this for testing. For any
> real-world purpose, you really have to have a static IP and a
> fully-qualified hostname. I have read of people running their own
> servers for everyday use using something like No-IP, but if you're
> running a mail server, you will most likely have to deal with mail
> being rejected because of blacklisting (many ISPs block all major
> ISPs' dynamic blocks from sending to their mail servers to prevent
> spam), as well as reverse dns problems. It can work alright for a
> small website server setup for fun or testing, or something that
> won't require complicated network protocols.

All true, but there are easy ways around all of this.  I don't know
about the other dynamic dns services, but ZoneEdit
(http://www.zoneedit.com/) is free up to a very reasonable traffic
level - never cost me a nickel until I wanted backup mail service, and
I've even cranked the TTL down a little on my zone records.  I can't
remember offhand what a traffic unit cost, probably because I found it
minimal at best.

They also have a web based interface you can have your dhcp hooks call
through lynx to automagically reset your IP on their end anytime you
get renumbered.  Since I've cranked my zone TTL down a bit, it's usually
a matter of minutes until the records get out to the farthest reaches.

Granted, if I were renumbered every week, I'd probably hit the
threshold on free service more often.

As for rejected email, I just have zoneedit act as the lowest priority
MX for my domains and anytime something can't get sent to my system
because I've been renumbered, zoneedit will spend up to 10 days trying
to relay it in - which usually turns into a matter of a couple hours
at most, since they find out where I am pretty quick.

I've been using zoneedit for longer than I can remember - since my 4.3
install at least, with both cable/DHCP and DSL/PPP, and the only time
I ever know I've been renumbered is when I check my logs.  I don't get
reports of email that I never received either.

Lou
-- 
Louis LeBlanc               FreeBSD at keyslapper.org
Fully Funded Hobbyist, KeySlapper Extrordinaire :)
http://www.keyslapper.org                     Ô¿Ô¬

The clash of ideas is the sound of freedom.