shadowayex Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 I finally got my DNS server running properly, but I have one question:I've got one record so far, and it works. On any computer, I can type in the domain name and it goes where it's supposed to.But if I go to something like whois.net or something and type it in, it says it's available.Do I have to pay to have it registered so no one can take it? And if so, if I registered, can I continue running my own DNS server or would they take over? Or if I have a choice between that, should I just let then do it or should I keep running mine?And if I choose not to pay to have it registered, is that legal? Can I just use the domain name unregistered and hope no one takes it?Sorry there's so many questions. I just want to make sure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justsomeguy Posted May 6, 2009 Share Posted May 6, 2009 If you haven't registered the domain name, then you don't own it. You can set up a DNS server to hold records for any domains you want, and you can set up any computer to use that DNS server to look up domains. If you want to set up a record for google.com to point to a certain IP, then if you go to google.com on a computer that uses that DNS server then you'll be redirected to whatever IP you want. But you don't own the domain, and anyone on any computer using a DNS server other than yours will go somewhere else when they type the domain in. When you register a domain and set the nameservers to point to your DNS, then it registers the name servers with that domain record, and when you type the domain name in from any computer in the world it will go to the same place. The root DNS servers will update each other to keep the domain records up to date worldwide, but if you're running your own DNS server that isn't registered as the nameserver for a particular domain then none of the root servers will find it.So, you can set up a DNS server to hold whatever records you want, and you can set up whatever computers you want to specifically use that DNS server to look up records. But for everyone else, it goes by the nameservers registered with the domain record. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowayex Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 Oh ok, I see. So In the end I will have to pay to register. No big deal. $10 a year per domain name on whois.net.Is that the recommended registrar or is there someone else I should use? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justsomeguy Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 $10/year is about what you can expect to pay, don't pay much more than that. I would say use anyone except GoDaddy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shadowayex Posted May 7, 2009 Author Share Posted May 7, 2009 I'll probably use whois .net then, since there's where I go to look up domains all the time anyways. Thanks for the answers and clarification on how this all works.By the way, you don't have to answer, but I'm just curious. What did you go to school for? Majors and minors and whatnot. I want to do software engineering as a major, but I kind of want to know what other things would be good under my belt. I was thinking of doing liberal arts so that when I go into the workforce if I can't get a programming job right away, I can get something. But I'm just wondering what other people have done to see what would be a good mix. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justsomeguy Posted May 7, 2009 Share Posted May 7, 2009 This was my degree program:http://sci.asu.edu/undergraduate/cse.phpThe program has changed a little since I was there, but here's the course map for the current year for the CSE program:http://catalog.asu.edu/files/majormap09/ESCSEBSE.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vytas Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I don't get how DNS servers work at all. My idea of what the DNS does is keeping a hold on which ip belongs to which domain am i right? I should lookup some articles about how DNS servers work. Because there are so many DNS servers and each with their own extension dot org and dot com etc. How does a browser keep track of such a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jesh Posted May 8, 2009 Share Posted May 8, 2009 I don't get how DNS servers work at all. My idea of what the DNS does is keeping a hold on which ip belongs to which domain am i right? I should lookup some articles about how DNS servers work. Because there are so many DNS servers and each with their own extension dot org and dot com etc. How does a browser keep track of such a thing.It typically isn't your browser's job to keep track of that. It's your ISP's job. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Synook Posted May 9, 2009 Share Posted May 9, 2009 It typically isn't your browser's job to keep track of that. It's your ISP's job.To elaborate, when presented with a URL (such as google.com), your browser first queries the DNS to figure out the IP address, then goes to the server with that IP address.The DNS is basically just a big database with lots of entries, filled out by domain registrars and propagated from the root DNS servers (of which there are 13) to your machine. Typically relevant DNS entries are cached at several levels, for example after finding out the IP address of google.com your browser will remember that IP for a while. So will your ISP, etc. That is why if you change the nameserver a URL points to it takes a little while for everywhere to be notified of that update. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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