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Dynamic DNS - The Good, The Bad and The Cheap?
flyman asks: "I recently was 'downsized' from a company, and have had to really cut back on expenses. One of those cut-backs was to cancel my business class DSL with static IPs. I have since signed up for standard Cable Internet, which only has dynamic IPs. I know there are several DDNS providers out there, but which ones are good? Easy to use? Free or cheap? I still want to host some dev sites from home, if possible. Any advice would be appreciated."
I would try dyndns.org. Your first five hostnames are free. :)
US businesses that currently accept chip and PIN/signature
http://www.dyndns.org/
It's free, the interface is easy to use, lots of routers have clients built in. Gives you a hostname like yourname.dyndns.org. That's probably your best bet.
Although I'm not running anything exceptional, I've been using these guys for years and have never had any problems. They offer a wide range of host names and you can get your address in a mynamehere.dyndnsnamehere.com format. They also provide links to 3rd party software which will automatically update your dynamic ip address to the hostname in their database every time you log on to the net, turn your computer on, or if you're always online (probably) they can simply check the hostname every so often and update when necessary with no intervention on your part aside from the setup process. First rate service, no question.
Most cable internet providers provide a more or less static IP address. Technically they aren't, but my IP address hasn't changed in at least seven months. With DNS updates occuring every five minutes now (rather than every twelve hours), you should be able to easily keep things up to date. With that in mind, I would probably not worry to much about which service you go with, as long as they aren't likely to shut down any time soon. Or, better, find a friend who has their own DNS server and won't mind updating your entry a couple times a year.
:)
I was recently laid off and had to change some of my spending habits, too. I ditched my telephone service for VoIP. $20 beats $100 hands-down. I still have my $10/mo Safari subscription, though. Helps to keep up to date on technologies, even when you're unemployed.
Go with DynDNS.org. Most popular, and best supported among various clients. LinkSys routers even come with support to update DynDNS.org right in the official firmware.
They have a variety of domains you can choose from; I chose ath.cx simply because it's very short.
dnsart if you dont mind paying $40 a year..
Some dynamic DNS providers don't allow CNAME records, which is what you'll be using if you want your own domains to point to your dynamic DNS domain name. ie, your users type http://www.example.com, and www.example.com is a CNAME pointing to example-dyndns.example.net or whatever.
Just an issue to be aware of.
I use it, it rocks
http://zoneedit.com/
I had a dynamic ip on a cable modem but for some reason my freebsd box that firewalled my lan never changed ip's. I was never brave enough to run apache, postfix and bind 9 on it so I let zoneedit do the dns for me. If your ip stays the same over a long period of time, that might be an option for you. Of course your mileage may vary your head my explode or the feds may bust down your door for breaking the acceptable use policy. Then again you probably already breaking the aup by running apache.
By google.
Not a Twitter sockpuppet... but I wish I was.
Given, most providers don't do anything to actively find these things, but a thought anyway -
Most ISPs prohibit servers in their AUP/TOS/whatever.
You could face disconnection if you're caught running one (or more). Unlikely, but possible.
When I was laid off, my first priorities were making sure I could pay for food and rent. But to each his own, I guess.
where the comment ends and sig begins
go with Freedns.afraid.org. They support dynamic domains and also give you a great deal more control than dyndns.org. I use them to host a couple of domains on my cable connection and have had nothing but good luck. Best part is, it's free (but donations are graciously accepted of course).
I just recently got ddns service from http://www.no-ip.com/. They've got a number of different levels of service starting with free. They appear to be a stable company with a good business model. They've got Linux, Windows, and Mac clients for download. I run FreeBSD which has a port of their linux client in /usr/ports/dns/noip.
Well EveryDNS is a DNS hosting service which also offers dynamic addresses... It's really been great, I've been with them for the last three years without problems...
"Go to CNN [for a] spell-checked, fact-checked summary" -- CmdrTaco
I use http://www.no-ip.com/. They have an open source client that I use for a few FreeBSD servers.
afraid.org
fast, stable, free, powered by bsd, change your dns records from a script with a call to wget.
A few years back, I went with them to get an email domain. IIRC, DynDNS didn't offer those services at the time, or they were more expensive than Nikhilino. My mistake.
I kept having billing problems with them. On the last billing, I had a pile of trouble with them over cashier's checks. They actually *didn't* want a check in their business name, but in a person's name.
Something stunk about that one.
I went to DynDNS, and never looked back.
I have used hn.org in the past, and it works very well. For $5/hostname/year, DHS.org will do the same, and they are also reliable.
My cable provider actually does have a domain name for each customer -- it's a really long string of letters and numbers appended to the ISP's domain. Their DNS servers won't reverse-resolve your IP to its name, but external DNS's will.
If your cable ISP is doing the same, just do what I did -- I setup an alias of the name I wanted to this static customer host and domain name the ISP assigns (and tries to hide).
The benefit of this is that if anyone tries to do a reverse-resolve against your IP, they'll get the ISP's domain name, and not anything assigned elsewhere. I used to have one of those dyndns.org domains, but my ISP actually caught on to it via a reverse-lookup done by an automated test system, and sent me a warning (which was great, because it contained the hostname of the automated test system in it, so I just added a hosts.deny entry for it and switched from dyndns.org to a DNS provider that allowed me to setup A records. Three years hence, my ISP has never said anything about this setup again).
Yaz.
ZoneEdit has free dynamic DNS (for up to 5 domains).
s t=www.mydomain.com'
Great thing is, it doesn't need a client. A simple wget works:
wget -O - --http-user=username --http-passwd=password 'http://dynamic.zoneedit.com/auth/dynamic.html?ho
More details: http://www.zoneedit.com/doc/dynamic.html
Static IP's are only an extra $5 a month and there is always more honor in going with the underdog.
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They're pretty cool. The dynamic DNS is free and doesn't have any ads, they've also got url redirection, but that has ads and isn't as good.
Also free webmail.
There might be popups but I've never seen them I use firefox.
He who knows not and knows he knows not is a wise man. He who knows not and knows not he knows not is a fool.
I have used CJB.net for years and haven't had a problem. It's free and has DNS entry update software for a variety of platforms in a variety of languages. http://www.cjb.net
If you've still got a bit of budget left, then you might want to look into one of the companies providing v-server or user-mode linux hosting (some are as low as $5 - $10 a month). This gives you a full virtual linux box with static ip, that you can set up your own dns / web redirector, etc. That plus cable modem is still cheaper than a business class dsl.
A lot of cable providers do things like say 'no servers' in their terms of service and also block port 80 which makes running your own server really annoying. There are some very nice low cost hosting services that make the hassle of dynamic dns not worth it even if your are on a very tight budget.
I use phpwebhosting.com which is $10/mo. I'm very satisfied with it.
I'd have to recommend DHS. Very reliable, they've mentioned outages on their site a few times but I never notice them. And they've been around forever... way back when Monolith (remember ml.org anybody?) went under, a few of the guys who worked for/supported ML created their own, and DHS was born.
ZoneEdit is great if you own your own domain. If it offers the full gambit of DNS services, from setting up a round-robim, editing your A, MX and CNAMES to setting up web and mail forwarding. Best part it's free - up to 5 domains if I remember correctly.
And if you ever find your own DNS, you can also let ZoneEdit act as a slave zone as well - I highly recommend it.
Looking for hardware (Currently need: Large Etch-a-Sketch) Have one? See my journal!
I wanted an actual domain and have been a happy camper with zoneedit for over a year (notwithstanding their revolting choice of OS).
This is...
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I recommend zoneedit to all my clients, since it offers full DNS functionality, as well as mail forwarding etc. You can easily turn any domain or sub domain into a dynamic domain, and their control panel is easy-as-pants to use.
Well, atleast we can all keep things in perspective when really cutting back means suffering with cable internet! I feel for you!
Fast and free. I've never seen an outage in the years I've been using it. At only 921 users, it's pretty small, but that's nice. You can update via a URL so you can just call wget from a script. They allow you to either have them host the DNS (yourname.fdns.net has an A record that points to the address you specify) or you can host the DNS yourself and do subdomains. (yourname.fdns.net delegates to your DNS server)
at the risk of getting flamed, there are alot of hosting solutions that are like a few dollars a month, and will give you php/mysql/cgi, etc. i have cable, comcast to be exact, and the download speeds are feakin unvbelievable. i get 350-400K. but, uploads are for shit. which kinda renders serious hosting useless. and if you're just usign it for yourself for remote X, vpn shit, and ftp'ing, etc., just ipconfig the ip address, and if you don't reboot, it ain't gonna change, so use the ip address rather than domain name. also, some cable isp's limit your uploads, and even if they don't, you'll get 128k at best unless you pay for better upload speed, which kinda defeats the purpose anyways. if you really need a good web server, just get a hosting service. it is cheap enough now anyways.
My problem? I was perfectly gruntled, until some numbnuts came by and dissed me.
I've been using afraid.org for about a year. Free dynamic DNS under a plethora of different domains - or you can bring your own.
Setup was quick, and I've never had any problems with it.
Supposedly, it's run by some sort of wacko DNS junkie.
Kid-proof tablet..
I have had excellent experiences with http://easydns.com/.
Not only do they offer just about any DNS-related service you can think of (including dynamic DNS, using standard clients for any OS), but also provide fall-back mail spooling, great management tools, convenient and honest domain registration and EXCELLENT customer service.
I have been using their services since 1999, and can honestly say that despite EasyDNS not being priced quite as low as some other services, I prefer the convenience, great service, features and peace of mind to saving a few bucks.
You aren't remembered for doing what is expected of you
I have been using DNSMadeEasy http://www.dnsmadeeasy.com/ for several years. I also use DirectUpdate http://www.directupdate.net/ to modify the dynamic records automatically.
DNSME has a free account using one of their domains, but for $5/yr you can host update to 5 of your own domains. You can update up to every 5 seconds depending on account type. They also have a referral program.
This combination works great and is (almost) free. DNSMadeEasy supports updates via HTTP/SSL for security and there are several perl/sh scripts for *nix, too.
I don't need a stupid quote in my signature.
No-ip.com have clients for various achitectures, and is _very_ reliable (never had a single problem in maybe 3 years). Plus their clients are well thought, for example for windows you have a graphical app you can use to configure things that can go in your traybar, but you can also just run it at a service once it is configured and forget about it. No desktop clutter, nag or whatever.
Does any one there own personal Dynamic DNS servers.
I have DNS server that I control with there own static block. How hard is it to roll your own Dynamic DNS?
It would nice to get running on Windows2000 and Linux.
any suggestions?
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ZoneEdit runs a gamut when it updates DNS records
# A complete range or extent
u reshow/dammitjanet.htm
You ran a gambit when you posted
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http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=gambit
# A maneuver, stratagem, or ploy, especially one used at an initial stage.
# A remark intended to open a conversation.
Subject footnote: http://www.stlyrics.com/lyrics/therockyhorrorpict
I use afraid.org as my free DNS provider.
I don't host a high-volume site, just a vanity domain for the usual email and blog, but I haven't had a problem with them yet.
You can also, if you don't want to register your own domain, "piggy-back" on some of the domains they hold, and if you submit your domain to them, then there's the option to let others use your domain - for instance someone-else.mydomain.com - where you own mydomain.com
Kai
Specialist Mac support for creative pros, Melbourne
If you have your own domain(s), then go with Zoneedit. First 5 domains are free, and they provide a whole lot more services than just dynamic DNS (mail forwarding, web forwarding, ...etc.). Have been using it for years, and they are great.
If you don't have your own domains(s), then DynDNS is your friend. I have used it and recommended it to friends.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
And their servers are very reliable.
I'm a little late on this thread, but zoneedit.com has worked for me for multiple domain names and subnets...
lately their page seems to have a bug where to login you need to edit the Login link to go to zoneEdit.com instead of zoneDit.com
I know some of the hard-core techies like DynDns or no-ip, but try getting technical support from any of them. You get what you pay for.
TZO has an excellent client for Windows which can even use UPNP to open/forward the ports you want on the router.
Their client even has an optional, proprietary webserver and photo sharing client, for those of us who don't need a full blown Apache or IIS install (and all that entails).
Works great.
http://www.tzo.com
You could always ditch your cable modem and use Speakeasy.net's onelink service. Onelink is a DSL service which doesn't need an extra phone line. Various packages come with a static IP which would help you, and their policy allows for servers from what I remember. 2 static ip's for $65.95 more info here: http://www.speakeasy.net/residential/onelink/packa ge?speed=15256&service=plus
I suppose that if you used this, you could save more money by running VoIP through your DSL line. I don't work for them, I have just been researching them for when I move in a month, and I have heard good things from other geeks.
Don't blame me, I voted for Cthulhu.
Another thing, is it possible (or advisable) to mix static & dynamic content by having, say www.myname.com conventionally hosted, but the links to scripts go to my machine, (which has limited uplink speed plus a monthly quota) on a dynamic IP via something like www.myname.dyndns.org?
Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."