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DNS Assurance Services |
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DNS Assurance Services FAQ
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DNS Assurance Services FAQ
DNS Assurance Secondary Service
DNS Assurance Plus
IP Address (A Record)
Mail Server (MX Record)
SOA Record
Alias (CNAME Record)
Reverse Lookup (PTR Record)
Web Forwarding
Web Parking
How do I determine which service
is right for me?
The features and platform of DNS Assurance
Services (DNS Assurance Plus and DNS Assurance Secondary services) are
designed for medium and large enterprises whose DNS infrastructure is
critical to their business--in other words their online applications
are used to generate revenue, reduce costs and/or improve operational
efficiencies. These "enterprise-class" solutions include 24x7
phone and email support and a 100% uptime Service Level Agreement on
DNS resolution. Also, the more domains an organization has, the more
it typically requires the robust features of DNS Assurance Services
to manage them effectively. Specifically, organizations with 25 or more
domains should consider DNS Assurance Services.
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DNS Assurance Secondary Service
How do I get started with DNS
Assurance Secondary Service?
- You must register
or already have registered a domain name.
- Once you have registered
a domain name and configured the DNS on a primary name server, you may
manage the secondary DNS through the DNS Manager by adding the domain
name and the IP address for your primary name server to the tool.
- Next, you must configure
your primary name server to allow zone transfers to VeriSign's servers.
- Then, you must contact
your registrar and ask them to add VeriSign's name servers for your
domain (VeriSign name servers identified in the DNS Manager Tool). It
may take up to 72 hours for the name server to be added and begin resolving
your secondary DNS.
- To begin adding/managing
your domain(s), log into the DNS Manager and navigate through the tool.
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How do I associate my domain's
primary name servers with the VeriSign DNS Assurance backup name servers?
When adding a new name server to associate
to your domain name, the IP address is required, while the Name Server
name is optional. You also need to designate for each domain name whether
the associated name server is a Primary or Backup. The Primary and Backup
name server IP addresses need to be different. A domain name can only
have one Primary name server. The domain can also have a single Backup
name server, but it cannot have a Backup name server if it does not
have a Primary name server.
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DNS Assurance Plus
How do I get started with the
DNS Assurance Plus?
- You must register
or already have registered a domain name.
- Once you have registered
a domain name and purchased the DNS Assurance Plus service for that
domain name, you may manage it through the DNS Manager.
- You must contact
your registrar and ask them to change the name servers for your domain
name to the VeriSign name servers identified in the DNS Manager. It
may take up to 72 hours for the name server change to take place for
your site to be live. This could be longer for specific TLDs. Thereafter,
any changes you make through the DNS Manager will take effect almost
immediately.
- To begin adding/managing
your domain(s), log into the DNS Manager and navigate through the tool.
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When do my changes take effect?
When you add a domain into the DNS Manager,
in order for your site to be live, you must first contact your registrar
(the company you purchased your domain from) to update the name servers
for your domain to the VeriSign name servers identified in the DNS Manager.
It may take up to 72 hours for the change to take place for your site
to be live. This could be longer for specific TLDs. Thereafter, any
changes you make through the DNS Manager will take effect almost immediately.
Note that ISPs may store your DNS records in
order to improve the efficiency of their network. The ISP should not
store records for more than about an hour, so that when you try to resolve
soon after, you can see the effects of that change. The good news is
that other Internet users who have a different ISP will probably have
the DNS entries on file with their ISP. Therefore, they will see the
change in about a minute, even though you may not
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What are the Multi-user access
levels?
Access levels can be designated for the following
user types: master, regular, read-only. Regular users can also be associated
with specific domains.
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How do I upload zone files
for my domains?
For DNS Assurance Plus domains, you can "Upload
Zone Files" to import data for a domain from an existing zone file
vs. manually adding individual resource records for a domain. There
are two methods to upload your existing zone file information into the
DNS Manager. You may either Browse for Zone Files in your system, which
must be in standard BIND format, or you can paste the zone file text
into the space provided. You can only upload zone file information for
one domain at a time, and only if the resource records have not already
been added for the domain.
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What Resource
Records are supported in the DNS Manager?
The DNS Manager supports A, MX, SOA, and CNAME
records, which can be configured in the Manage Domains tab. See the
individual FAQ sections below for more specific information on these
four types of Resource Records. In addition, the following Advanced
Resource Records may be also be configured in the DNS Manager: TXT,
PTR, NS, SRV, and AAAA records.
What is DNS Failover Service?
DNS Failover Service is an automatic monitoring
and back-up service to ensure your domain names are always available.
DNS Failover Service allows you to preset back-up A-Records in the event
of an outage at your Web site. In the event of an outage, the
service initiates a back-up failover A-record and an email alert is
sent to a list of predetermined contacts. When the primary A-Record
has been restored to service, DNS Failover Service automatically recognizes
the DNS A-record’s online status and restores it to service by replacing
the DNS A-record. DNS Assurance Plus Service offers DNS Failover
service as an optional add-on feature.
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IP Address (A Record)
What is an example of an IP
Address (A Record)?
For example, the IP address "209.81.71.236"
could be assigned to the domain name "companydomainname.com"
and to "www.companydomainname.com". The A record includes
the host name, for which the zone name is always appended to the end,
in the format <host>.zonename.tld.
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I am using my domain name for
a Web site. Should I configure the A Record or use Web Forwarding?
The main reason to use an IP address (A Record)
instead of Web Forwarding is that you are either running your own Web
server, and can configure it to respond to the domain names "companydomainname.com"
and "www.companydomainname.com," or you have hired an ISP
to host your Web site, and their Web server is configured to respond
to "companydomainname.com" and "www.companydomainname.com."
If you do not have this level of control over
the Web server then you must use Web Forwarding. Adding Web Forwarding
will allow you to specify the exact URL you want your visitors to see
when they visit "companydomainname.com" or "www.companydomainname.com."
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What is round-robin DNS?
Round-robin DNS is a technique that enables
a domain to be hosted on multiple servers, and to have the load balanced
between them. This technique works best with Web servers, but can be
used for any type of server. In the past, only very large companies
could afford to use round-robin DNS to load-balance their web servers.
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I added an IP Address (A Record),
but my Web site still says "Under Construction." Why?
Generally, there are two reasons why this might
occur.
Remember that you want your Web site to respond
to both the "companydomainname.com" domain name and the "www.companydomainname.com"
domain name. So an A record needs to be added for both, with the same
IP address.
If you already have an A record for both "companydomainname.com"
and "www.companydomainname.com", then the most common reason
your Web site says "Under Construction" is that you just made
the change from Web Forwarding to a different IP address within the
last hour. Also refer to the FAQ: "When do my changes take effect?"
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Mail Server (MX Record)
What is an example of a Mail
Server (MX Record)?
For example, a mail server called "m1.dsnix.com"
could have primary responsibility for mail sent to the www.domain.com
domain. The MX record includes the host name, for which the zone name
is always appended to the end, in the format <host>.zonename.tld.
It also includes the mail exchanger, the priority ranking by which this
mail server is to be used for incoming mail relative to other mail servers,
and the Time to Live (TTL) value displayed in seconds with the default
of the SOA value.
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SOA Record
Do I need to change SOA entries?
This is very unlikely.
We have chosen default values for these entries
that are appropriate and consistent with the current practices on the
Internet. It is only necessary to change these values in certain cases.
In addition, inappropriate changes can create problems, such as generating
excessive amounts of traffic on your domain names. Therefore, we recommend
that you leave the SOA values the way we have initially set them up.
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Alias (CNAME Record)
What is an Alias (CNAME Record)?
A CNAME is not the simple "deliver this
A record instead of that one" mechanism that they at first appear
to be when most people are initially introduced to the concept. CNAMEs
are intended to redirect all DNS-based traffic for one domain to another.
For this reason, it is a violation of the DNS protocol to have a CNAME
and any other DNS record for the same domain name.
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Reverse Lookup (PTR Record)
How do I set up a Reverse Lookup
using DNS Manager?
To setup PTR Records for Reverse Lookup:
- You must
first contact your ISP that issued the IP address or IP range and have
the ISP delegate their IN-ADDR.ARPA records to VeriSign's name servers
identified in the DNS Manager.
- You must
then add your new zone into the DNS Manager tool for the IN-ADDR.ARPA
zone that has been delegated to VeriSign's name servers.
- Once
you add your zone into the DNS Manager tool, you need to update the
PTR Record located under the Advanced Resource Records link. Specify
the domain name in which you want the reverse lookup, and enter the
last octet of your IP range.
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Web Forwarding
What is Web Forwarding?
Web Forwarding allows you to create a Web site
at a free Web host which is located at a long URL and display that site
with your short name to visitors.
Just add an entry for "companydomainname.com"
and "www.companydomainname.com" that redirects visitors to
any valid Internet URL, and that's what your visitors will see when
they visit your Web site. If you select Cloaking, then your visitors
will not see the long redirected URL in the frame - they will only see
your short domain name.
Note that a domain name can have either Web
Forwarding or Web Parking from a usage (resource record) standpoint,
but not both.
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What is an example of a Web
Forwarding record?
For example, the Web site "http://www.yahoo.com/"
can be designated to appear when visitors type in the URL "yahoo.companydomainname.com".
There is no limit on the number of sub-domains that can be configured
with Web forwarding for a given zone. Each sub-domain can be mapped
to one URL. The Web forwarding feature also has a cloaking option, which
maintains the originally typed URL in the window.
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I am using my domain name for
a Web site. Should I use an IP Address (A Record) instead?
The decision whether to use an IP Address (A
Record) or Web Forwarding to define your domain name depends upon a
few factors.
The most common scenario in which you would
use an IP Address (A Record) is when you are going to host your own
Web server and you control its configuration. You would configure your
Web server to respond to the names "companydomainname.com"
and "www.companydomainname.com" and set up IP Address (A Record)s
for these two domain names as well.
If you already have a Web site, and you would
like this site to show up when a visitor comes to "companydomainname.com"
or "www.companydomainname.com", then Web Forwarding is what
you need to use. Web Forwarding is sometimes called "URL redirect".
Don't forget to set up Web Forwarding for both
"companydomainname.com" and "www.companydomainname.com."
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Web Parking
What is Web Parking?
Web Parking allows you to designate a "for
sale" or "under construction" page for your domain name.
A Records (not CNAME records) will point to the IP address of one of
the VeriSign Web servers. Note that a domain name can have either Web
Forwarding or Web Parking, but not both.
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How does Web Parking work?
Web Parking automatically creates two A records
(e.g., one for the domain.com and one for www.domain.com) directing
them to the selected parking page. Any additional A records created
(e.g., info.domain.com) will not be sent to the parking page. If you
want to have the sub-domain direct to the parking page you must enter
the sub-domain as another domain
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