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David Overton's Blog » How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?

Hi,

 

My site is hosted by me on the end of a dynamically changing IP address (well, it could change, but has not for about 18 months).  To get round this I have bought a number of domains, but they are all changed and updated by a magical piece of software that sits on my server that updates the DNS records for my domains whenever they change.  This would be great, except for the fact that having had network/ISP trouble I now have Dynamic DNS trouble:

image

When it works it is great, when not, it is very poor. In this case my provider is http://www.deerfield.com and I use their DNS2Go service – I’ve not found anyone better, so if you have a recommendation, let me know.  One nice feature for these guys is that the 1 tool updates 5 domains (http://davidoverton.com, http://uksbsguy.com, http://ukvistaguy.com are the main 3).

 

If this all sounds a bit wondrous, here, in pictures are the steps:

My basic architecture consists of my server, the Dynamic DNS provider, my Domain Registrar, you and the software provided:

image

To set things up I had to register my domain and point the nameservers to the Dynamic DNS service providers servers:

image  image

I then had to load the Dynamic DNS service providers software onto my server.  Some routers also have this built into them, but then the service providers are limited:

image

 

Then, in terms of how it works – my IP address will be changed by my ISP – at this point no-one will be able to connect to my server:

image

 

The software will then update the Dynamic DNS provider with the new IP address – this is typically almost immediate which for me is just fine:

image 

 

Then when you come along with your browser, you can still get the correct IP address to find my site:

image

 

Job done – this can be applied to almost any server!!

 

ttfn

David

Posted Tue, Apr 8 2008 12:39 AM by David Overton
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Comments

Richard Tubb wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 7:10 AM

Hi Dave - I've used www.no-ip.com at a number of sites with Dynamic IP addresses for many years without issue. As well as the fact most Routers support their Dynamic DNS service directly, they offer a small executable that runs on just about any O/S if you need it.

Mike Gibbs wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 7:31 AM

I don't see a great deal of point messing around with dyndns these days. Most (decent) ISP's these days will give you a block of 8 IPs and low cost routers that can handle VLAN like the Draytek range are plentiful. If you want to stick with dyndns take a look at Gradwell.

Steve Wright wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 8:51 AM

Hi Dave, we either use www.no-ip.com or www.dyndns.com if we find a new client has a dynamic IP. As Richard pointed out a lot of routers support updating www.no-ip.com automatically (no software on your systems reqd.)

Obviously the best route would be to swap to an ISP that provides a static IP or maybe multiple statics if you have a need for no-nat connections.

David Overton wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 9:00 AM

Ahh, I see my financials needs to also be explained.

At the moment I make £0 (or for my US colleagues $0) from this site, so running it is a cost.  I also need a huge download capability to enable me to pull down betas from the US without it taking hours and finally I need an uncapped service.

I don't need static IP or No-NAT ... and my dynamic IP with 20mbs, unlimited network etc for les than £40 per month is very nice.  Of course, if you know of something similar with fixed IPs, let me know.

ttfn

David - and yes, it is a non-business service, but this is not a business .. yet!!

Michael Sivers wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 9:43 AM

20mbs in the UK? What ISP do you use? ADSL or SDSL? £40pm? More details please?!

David Overton wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 9:46 AM

I am almost ashamed to say that it is my virgin home broadband - XL size - and yes, I do get 20mb.

thanks

David

Chris Naylor wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Tue, Apr 8 2008 12:12 PM

I agree with the Draytek post using it's builtin DYNDNS settings to update no-ip for DYNDNS use without the need for software being installed on a server/workstation.  My only comment about all this is the email PTR records.

We used DYNDNS at all our clients until recently when a lot of mail servers refused connection stateing that there was no PTR record attached to the dynamic ip address the Exchange Server was using.  

Softhosts are an option but the 4MB limit is a problem to some clients so now we recommend paying the £300 GBP per year for a fixed IP.

Chris

Ben Cheetham wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Thu, Apr 10 2008 12:46 AM

I did use EasyDNS for a number of years, but changed to Nettica.com a few months ago as it worked out cheaper because of the quantity of domains I have.

Ben

Colin Walker wrote re: How UKSBSGUY.com and DavidOverton.com use Dynamic DNS and why it broke the site … anyone have a better provider?
on Thu, Apr 10 2008 5:58 PM

I'm in the same position as you David - hosting my own site at cost. I used to be with Demon Internet and had a static IP but changed to a combined Sky package to save money.

I'm using DynDns.org and haven't had any problems yet. The updates are pretty quick and the client can be set to mail you when an update has been completed - U can keep an eye on it remotely then.

I'm considering adding one of their mail services as well as Sky's IPs are in Spamhaus's PBL so some domains refuse your mails if you're running your own server - the only way round it is to remove each IP you are assigned from the PBL.

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