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We are currently setting ourselves up as an ISP and need to setup our own DNS servers for hosting multiple domains. Once we have setup our DNS servers does anyone know if we need to register these anywhere to allow us to host our clients domains or is this just a question of transferring the domain to our servers?

Thanks in advance.

aHunter
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    You're becoming a literal ISP? – Dan Aug 21 '15 at 11:37
  • We already have our own AS, peer points and hostlinks – aHunter Aug 21 '15 at 11:40
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    If you really want to be an ISP and host domains it might be a good idea to either train someone in the basics of DNS or hire someone who already has the required knowledge. Otherwise this question will only be the first of an endless series of problems. – Tilman Schmidt Aug 21 '15 at 11:46
  • I need to understand what is involved really. – aHunter Aug 21 '15 at 11:49
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    `I need to understand what is involved really. `: Please tell your customers you really have no clue what you are doing so they can run away before they get burned. – Sven Aug 21 '15 at 12:36
  • *"We're going to stand up a service for customers without hiring an expert in that area."* is one of the most classic mistakes there is. If you can't (or won't) support the product, don't stand it up. It's irresponsible to do otherwise. – Andrew B Aug 21 '15 at 13:42
  • In line with what Andrew B stated in his comment, I'd add that you should have acquired the requisite technical know-how **before** you undertook this venture. Would you open a barbershop without first learning how to cut hair? Additionally, you seem to have the impression that being an ISP is synonymous with being a DNS hoster, it isn't. – joeqwerty Aug 21 '15 at 16:12

3 Answers3

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Good starting points for understanding DNS are DNS and BIND and WP: Domain Name System.

mschuett
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  • I understand how the DNS works but I was not sure if we need to register the server anywhere or use other providers as our upstream? – aHunter Aug 21 '15 at 11:43
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No you don't have to register anywhere.

All you need to do is to have the owner of the domain to set your DNS servers as the responsible servers for the DNS zone.

For reverse resource records, that's another story.

For your IP blocks you have to set the delegations to the zones in your Internet Registry database. (the exact process depends on who is your Internet Registry).

JFL
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  • We would only need to add reverse records for our IP range though wouldn't we. – aHunter Aug 21 '15 at 12:15
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    RIght, you can manage reverse records only for IP blocks you own (or that have been delegated to you). – JFL Aug 21 '15 at 12:41
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You do not need to register your name servers anywhere, at least not in the regard that there is a master list of name servers or a club you must join.

When your name servers are authoritative it is simply a question of using your own name servers when you register/update the domain names for your clients. The registrar will include the required relevant glue record for your nameservers in the relevant TLD root-zone as part of the registration.

It was considered good practice to register all your clients domains using your own name server records, i.e. always use ns1.ispname and ns2.ispname, rather than unique name servers for each client domain you register (i.e. don't use ns1.client-domain & ns2.client-domain for each unique client-domain you register).
Ensure that your authoritative name server does not allow recursion.

If you want to provide name servers as part of your infrastructure, in the form of caching name servers that do allow recursion, you simply provide their ip-addresses to your customers and that's it. It is considered good practice that your caching servers are restricted to your own ip-ranges so only your own customers can use them.

Community
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HBruijn
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