Free DNS

I tried centrolinfo.net as free DNS , but they only offer 20 subdomains.

Is there any free DNS providers offering more subdomains?

How many sub-domains do you need?

no limit

If you are pointing all the subdomains to one (or less then 20 IPs) centralinfo accepts wildcards. Thus, you can do something like:

*.yourdomain.com IN CNAME yourdomain.com

and that will work for an infinite number of subdomains. If you need to point to different IPs, there are two other services that I know of. One is so bad that I wont mention it, the other is found at http://soa.granitecanyon.com. There system is bit more involved, meaning you really have to know what you are doing. I've used them before and they seem ok, but centralinfo.net is way better if you can figure out how to use less than 20 calls...

Earlier this year, it was mentioned that Granite Canyon was experiencing a lot of downtime. I haven't heard anything lately, but it might be wise to investigate before becoming dependent on their services.

Yeah they were...and thats why I switched to centralinfo.net. In general, their service is really crappy and really complicated. They also delete accounts with some random algorithm scheme that I dont know of...very wierd. They are usually down 2 to 3 times a month for perhaps a day or so...

But they are the 'only' alternative to centralinfo.net. So, take this advice as you will....

Oh, I just thought of another one:
http://www.mydomain.com

I haven't used them so I dont know if they are good or not, but they are on my bookmark list so they cant be all that bad :)

I cannot setup sutdomain at mydomain.com
They are good that offering catch-all-email.

Originally posted by Ray
I cannot setup sutdomain at mydomain.com
They are good that offering catch-all-email.

They seem to offer CNAME entries...can you describe the problem you are getting?

Check out http://www.mydomain.com/services/mydns/cnames

Thank you. I find it.

However how many sub-domains can I setup ? They said "maximum use"
http://www.mydomain.com/services/mydns/features

and are they reliable ? seems like their server slow down and up from time to time.

I really dont know if they have a max, or what it is if they do. I have never used them so I dont know what their history is on uptimes and so forth. Although from the looks of things, if you cant work with centralinfo...this is the next best thing. GraniteCanyon 'will' fail on you so I think this is it.

Again, what do you need all those subdomains for. If you are starting a subdomain forwarding service, then you will only need about 1 or 2 entries (with wildcards). The only reason that you would need that many subdomains if they are all pointing to different IPs...are you a network admin with a lot of machines?

Anyway, hope this info helps :)

I have been testing the mydomain.com domain servers for the last 2 days and i never could find them reachable :(

If you cant find a free one to use, and you have to go through a paid one, the best one is definately easydns.com. Maybe you should give them a once over just to see what they offer...

easydns.com:
"DNS Service is priced at $24.95 USD per domain, per year"

Yuk... Per domain? :(

Originally posted by cds
Oh, I just thought of another one:
http://www.mydomain.com

I haven't used them so I dont know if they are good or not, but they are on my bookmark list so they cant be all that bad :)

Sorry to jump up topics a little... Regarding reliability:

I have been using mydomain for subdomains and they work fine but are down now and then.... (6-7 hours a few days ago). Because of this, I'm moving some stuff to Central Info.

You also might check out Bn3.com. I don't know about any limits on subdomains with them.

Originally posted by Semiel
easydns.com:
"DNS Service is priced at $24.95 USD per domain, per year"

Yuk... Per domain? :(

You get what you pay for...its definately not for the casual web developer...

I merely brought it up since Ray cant use centralinfo, and I would personally not use any service that is unreliable, such as mydomain.

BN3 has a history of jipping its customers by changing their services, who knows how they will treat the subdomains...

Bn3 offer unlimited sub-domains today, I think. I don't use bn3 because of limited 20 emails.

I just tried mydomain and see they offer more interesting options (e.g subdomain redirect) than centralinfo but not sure how often their server went down.

Originally posted by cds
BN3 has a history of jipping its customers by changing their services, who knows how they will treat the subdomains...

I meant, who knows how they will treat them in the future. At one point in time BN3 offered unlimited emails...now they are at 20... Then they went into some paid support business...

Anyway, I would tend to stick with centralinfo as much as possible...and if you obsolutely cannot use them, then mydomain.com is the other way to go...

Another one to try is:
http://dnscenter.turbosport.com/

I have no idea if they work, are fast, or are reliable...Im just throwing the url down for completeness...

I've seen everybody mention turbosport.com for a long time. But I don't use them because they are more on and off than bn3. The site admin once reply my email.

"I wish we could open all accounts, but since I am still a high school student this isn't possible".

I'm not sure whether they only offer 3 sub-domains.
http://dnscenter.turbosport.com/modifydns.htm

Figures, when I was looking at the free webmail hosting offering, everytime I clicked to signup it would take me back to THEIR free webemail offering...

Anyway, ok, I guess you just have to add this to the dumb service host list...hehe :)

easydns is not expensive at all considering the $25 registers the domain also, or if you already have your domain, adds an extra year to its life not to mention their interface (cant speak from experience, but a php friend owns it) and their reliability.

I have no problems vouching for EasyDNS's reliability and speed. They 4 servers (3 in the US and 1 in England) and are redundant. They are extremely fast in updates and their interface is intuitive...I highly recommend EasyDNS to anyone!

25$ sounds logical if customer can use their own domain name as nameserver e.g. ns( ).clientdomain rather than point to ns( ).easyDNS.com

Is this really an issue... Most websites have ns servers that are not associated with their domain...

Yeah, easyDNS sounds a little silly but then again how many visitors to your site check your nameservers?

Considering the excellent level of support at EasyDNS, they may actually be able to put the DNS in your name ...

Maybe I've missed something but I just checked easydns and I think the DNS control is an extra $25 per year beyond the domain registration. That's $49 per year... sounding a little high to me.

And nothing to do if they go sick later because you prepaid

Yeah, I didn't see the previous post clearly, the domain is separate... This service is for people who need reliable DNS, and if thats what you want, these guys are the best. They have been around for a long time and I think will be a around a long time in the future (they have established themeselves)

For most people, your host will provide DNS services, so you wont have to pay extra...

I have used Easydns.com for a number of projects.

Their system is bomb proof and I would highly recommend it.
If it were not for the pricing issue I would use their name servers over mine every time. The updates are so fast and their support is very good.

I phoned them on Victoria day (It was a holiday on Canada and also a local holiday here in the UK). Left a message on their answer machine. Got a call back almost immediately with a complete diagnosis of the problem and a solution.
This was worth every penny of their fee as the site was in the middle of a big ad campaign.

It was our experience (and others) that caused them to put in a London based Name server.

They are about to start offering a service for web hosts /ISP's at a much reduced rate.

Even as a web host does it matter that your clients accounts are not on ns.yourname.com?
As long as the Nameservers don't belong to another web host then there should be no problem.

Gordon

Try http://www.domaincontroller.com

However, let me warn you that they do not offer a newbie interface :)

melz.

[Edited by melz on 11-09-2000 at 12:37 PM]

zonedit.com another free one (I believe). Don't use it, but people who do seem to like it.

zoneedit.com is free for your 5 first domains only...

I have used zoneedit.com. I think it's ok. Checkit out

Khanh

Have I already mentioned http://redirection.net in all of this????? I scanned the pages and don't think I already said this (excuse if I or someone else already did), but this might be another option if anyone is interested...

they offer a great service and at $15 per i think its a great service they offer email forwarding and subdomains. The $15 includes the registration of your domain also.

What about http://www.indian-magic.net free DNS services? Any experience about them?

Redirection.net is a great service but I don't think they offer subdomains.

Well if they offer DNS then they 'offer subdomains', but what you want is more of a subdomain redirect type thing eh? Anyone know if they offer this? I don't.