[BNM] BNMlist Digest, Vol 26, Issue 3

[Andy Triggs]

Hi James,

This is exactly what we do at Homeflow.  We get clients to point their
www.<domain> record to us with a CNAME to agent.homeflow.co.uk.  This
allows us to move our app servers around easily without DNS-related
trauma.

However, we also like to allow clients to serve their sites on their
domain (i.e. without www).  We do this by getting them to change their
A record to point to an IP address that we'll always hang on to.  That
server just performs redirection to www.<domain>.

Changing the A record is not without complications -- we need to keep
an eye on MX record(s) for example, and check they aren't affected.
I'd avoid this side of things if you can.

Bear in mind that walking non-technical clients through DNS changes is
not fun, especially given that a large number of host/registrar
control panels are ugly, unusable, broken or non-existent, and clients
often don't even know who they bought their domain through.  It sounds
as if your audience might be a bit more techie though.

If you'd like any more tips or gotchas, get in touch off-list.


      Andy


--
Andy Triggs
http://www.homeflow.co.uk/
Simple, powerful systems for Estate Agents






> Hi Guys,
>
> Ive been toying round with a new idea for a simple web app to develop in my
> spare time.  One of the features would enable users to point their domain
> to
> my servers so that they could access their account through
> http://customdomain.co.uk or
> http://www.customdomain.co.uk<http://www.users-own-custom-domain.co.uk
> >instead
> of
> http://username.webapp.com. Pretty straight forward so far.
>
> Users would obviously have to log into their domain control panel and point
> their www A records towards the IP address of my server.
>
> However the bit im wondering about - What if I change server IP 6 months
> down the line to upgrade to a faster/bigger/cheaper host?  Will I need to
> get all my users to point their A records to a new IP address? Can I get
> them to point their A records to a hostname (under my control, pointing at
> my server) instead of an IP address so that if I move my server to a new IP
> address I would just have to change that one hostname instead?
>
> Is there another easier way of doing this which im missing?
>
> --
> James Moss | Developer
> Solv.IT | 01273 25 20 24
> --
>
> BNM Subscribe/Unsubscribe:
> http://www.brightonnewmedia.org/options/bnmlist
>
> BNM powered by Wessex Networks:
> http://www.wessexnetworks.com
>