Need a replacement DNS solution...

Edwin · Jan 10, 2017

My DNS provider was bought out a while back, and I just received notice that the new owner is giving up on that service soon. So I need a replacement.

What I need: a robust, reliable service that will give me vanity nameservers (ie ns1.domainofmychoice, ns2.domainofmychoice) and for every domain name that I set to those nameservers to resolve to a particular dedicated IP address.

In other words, if the IP address that I specify is 127.0.0.1 (yes, I know... it's just an example!) then if I set the nameservers on 1, 100 or 1,000 domains to my vanity nameservers, then ALL the domains in question should automatically resolve to 127.0.0.1 (and wildcard subdomains too).

At the moment it's is as simple as that: I change a domain's nameservers to my vanity ones, and the domain immediately starts pointing at my IP. Nothing to add to a database or control panel or anything...

(My sales site will be hosted at the dedicated IP in question.)

Currently I'm paying about £40 to £45 a month for this (billing's in $, and the £'s not what it used to be). I could stretch a little higher, but not very much.

NOTE: I expect to use the above setup for around 5,000 domains, or maybe a few more than that. So a "per domain" deal simply won't fly - I need a flat rate for any number of names (none of which get huge traffic)

If you've got what I need, or a suitable, similar alternative, or have an idea where I should be looking, PLEASE get in touch!

Either drop me a PM, or email me at ehayward(at)memorabledomains.co.uk

Thanks for taking an interest...

davedevelopment · Jan 10, 2017

I'm not aware of any service like that, you may struggle to find something.

I run this setup myself on a couple of Digital Ocean VPS', can be a bit of a pain when things go wrong, so might be interested if anyone else has any ideas.

Skinner · Jan 10, 2017

Isn't this the kinda thing no-ip and dyndns do ?

ian · Jan 11, 2017

I assume you don't mean dnsmadesimple? I haven't received such notices?

seemly · Jan 11, 2017

I was going to mention DigitalOcean, just as @davedevelopment did.
Because it's self managed, it could prove a ball-ache if/when things go wrong.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/create-own-dns-server-on-do

Edwin · Jan 11, 2017

ian said:
I assume you don't mean dnsmadesimple? I haven't received such notices?

No, it's a company called Zerigo.

Edwin · Jan 11, 2017

Skinner said:
Isn't this the kinda thing no-ip and dyndns do ?

dyndns is $35/month for 10 domains, so that would unfortunately be prohibitively expensive. And no-ip offers DNS services (i.e. you use their nameservers) but that's not nearly enough for what I'm after. Thanks for the suggestions, though.

Edwin · Jan 11, 2017

seemly said:
I was going to mention DigitalOcean, just as @davedevelopment did.
Because it's self managed, it could prove a ball-ache if/when things go wrong.

https://www.digitalocean.com/community/questions/create-own-dns-server-on-do

I am coming around to the conclusion I may have to go down that route. But I'd rather find an expert and pay them. I've dropped an email to one particular company (cloudns.net) that seems to have a lot of the buzzwords I'm looking for and non-prohibitive pricing... we'll see if they can match the setup I've currently got.

alex · Jan 11, 2017

I use http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/ and find their service, interface and tutorials very helpful. The cost will add up quickly given how many domains you're talking about though, but they have everything I think you could need and maybe a call to their sales may get you a good discount if you tell them you're looking elsewhere.

ian · Jan 11, 2017

He uses them already, which is why I got confused.

Edwin · Jan 11, 2017

Yes, I use DNSMadeEasy for robustness and redundancy, but eyeballing their prices it's impossible to mentally bridge the gap with what I'm after.

It looks like the CloudNS route may pan out - I got a response to my enquiry within the hour. I will report back in more detail if it ends up doing what I need.

Thanks, everybody! Appreciate all the suggestions.

martin-s · Jan 11, 2017

Rackspace Cloud DNS (yes, I'm recommending them again) have an api you can use to automate changes if you have the technical ability. And their service is free.

mreeves · Jan 11, 2017

Found myself in the same scenario a couple of year back. Just run dnsmasq on the same VPS as your web site and save yourself £500 a year. From what I recall it was actually very easy and quick to do - haven't had to touch it since.

Edwin · Jan 11, 2017

I'm kind of leery of DIY solutions, but your advice may help others.

Skinner · Jan 12, 2017

One of the few times I think a kick David's way maybe of use. @invincible I'm sure, he's used pre-cooked methods as well as DIY, or at least point the right direction.

Edwin · Jan 12, 2017

Got what I needed from CloudNS... Two independent "vanity" nameservers (one hosted in the UK, one in the US) with all my domains resolving to my sales site.

My domains are all switched over to the new system. There were a couple of glitches to iron out, but their team went back and forth (v quickly) and it's all good now. Pretty amazing actually given the timeframe.

I expect within 24 hours or so the new DNS will have fully propagated, and I can then cancel my contract at the old provider.

In the meantime, I've done a bit of testing and it looks like I may have shaved 80-100ms off the page load time thanks to the changeover. Now I know that's microscopic, but it's a very small page so it's actually a useful % gain (and a bonus - I wasn't doing this for the speed-up)

Thanks again to everyone who jumped in with feedback, both on this thread and by PM.