[6346] in RedHat Linux List
Re: How can I pick a domain name?
daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (Allen Francom)
Tue Nov 26 21:05:50 1996
Date: Wed, 27 Nov 1996 10:10:36 -0800 (PST)
From: Allen Francom <redhat_list@numedics.com>
To: redhat-list@redhat.com
cc: redhat-list@redhat.com
In-Reply-To: <9611270042.AA22335@VALIS.CS.NYU.EDU>
Resent-From: redhat-list@redhat.com
Reply-To: redhat-list@redhat.com
Ooo !
I want to give it a try answering this one even though I might not
do so good, and (warning) I might be wrong ! DNS isn't my big thing yet.
So here goes:
I believe that if your ISP assigns dynamic IP addresses for you when you
call in, you will not be able to "serve" hardly any of the goodies like
sendmail, telnet, http, etc.,
Without a static IP address machines trying to connect to your host will
not be able to unless YOU tell them what YOUR CURRENT IP Address is for
the next few minutes.
In other words, you're going to end up as a client system, capable
perhaps of surfing and telnetting to other systems.
The fully qualified domain name I guess is okay for you to set up
since it won't really matter to anyone but you on that machine.
( It's not like even you are going to use it for anything without
real IP addresses... )
So there's really two ways to exist on the Internet, as a client,
as a server, or perhaps a combination of the two.
Servers, always, as far as I know, have statically assigned IP addresses.
YOU CAN GET A STATIC IP ADDRESS WITHOUT REGISTERING A DOMAIN NAME.
Your ISP *MAY* be capable of peeling off an IP address just for you,
and when you're connected you're connected, when you're not you're not.
( Not good for SMTP - Or your client users - )
The other thing about servers is that they are usually permanently connected.
( You can cheat if you want to but it will not work very good )
In the case where the ISP gives you a specific IP address just for your
machine, your fully qualified domain name will end up looking like
mymachine.myisp.com.
Your machine's domain will be myisp.com, and your hostname will be mymachine.
HAVING YOUR OWN DOMAIN NAME is almost exactly the same as getting a
permanent IP address. The difference is really registering your domain
name and IP address with the InterNIC. I'm not sure how much it costs,
something like $120 for two years ?
So, in all likelyhood, the best two answers to your question are probably
your domain name is your ISP's domain name, or <blank>.
THX
-AEF
On Tue, 26 Nov 1996, Ed Osinski wrote:
> I have managed to install RedHat 4.0 and install PPP networking. I've
> read all the networking related HOWTOs, and the Network Administrator's
> Guide, but I can't find the answer to a simple question:
>
> What can I use as a valid FQDN?
>
> I have a standalone machine; the only connection to the Internet is via
> the PPP link; my ISP uses dynamic IP addressing. The unqualified
> hostname is entirely up to me, but what is my DNS domain name? Can I
> pick anything I like? (I assume not.) How many dots need to be in the
> name? The docs seem to be no help; for example, the NAG says:
>
> "Your domain name is your fully qualified hostname (if you're a
> registered machine on the Internet, for example), with the
> hostname chopped off."
>
> That's nice, but my machine *isn't* a registered machine on the
> Internet (unless someone registered it while I wasn't looking). I
> assume that many, if not most, Linux machines are in a similar
> predicament. Did I miss something in the docs?
>
> Hoping someone knows...
>
> - Ed Osinski
>
>
> --
> PLEASE read the Red Hat FAQ, Tips, Errata and the MAILING LIST ARCHIVES!
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