TheDomainManager : a DNS service for clients
This service allows clients, who are domain hosting with Web Secure, to stipulate unlimited changes to a Domain Name Zone File , including the ability to modify MX records, A records, sub domains, etc. It is of value to companies hosting their own dedicated Mail and Web servers.
The zone file is a text file stored on a name server, that contains all the information that is relevant to a domain. It allows clients to specify the following zone file changes and additions:
 A (Address) records - CNAME (CanonicalNAME) records
- MX (Mail eXchange) records
- Sub domains
Zone management is available through an admin panel, that gives you instantaneous control of zone configuration.
To redirect your Domain Name to another website
- 1. Log in to The Console
- 2. Click on the icon called "Redirection"
- 3. Complete the field "Pointing URL" with the location of the destination webpage
- 4. Click "Change redirector"
Anyone looking for www.yourdomain.com will now be instantly redirected to the destination webpage. PLEASE NOTE: If you do not see this change occur in your web browser, it is likely that you, or your ISP, has cached the previous destination webpage. Try holding down your Shift key, whilst simultaneously Refreshing your web browser. If you have continued problems, try asking a friend to check out if the change has occurred.
* If the "Redirection" icon does not appear within the Console, you will need to purchase Web Secure's redirection service, called the Domain Manager.
A records
These records are the basis of the zone. They are used to set an IP address to correspond with a web host.
The purpose of this is to set where the host will be "redirected", such as setting the your-domain.com host to point to the IP of the web server where the files are stored. They are also used with MX records to set up a host, mail.your-domain.com, that points to the IP address of the mail server that will be accepting e-mail to do with this domain.
Creating a records using the Console
To point your website records to an existing IP, please follow these step-by-step instructions.
- 1. Login to The Console
- 2. Click on "ZoneManager" icon
- 3. Click on "A" to create an A record
- 4. In the "Name" field, type in "www"
- 5. In the "Host" field, type in the IP address of your webserver.
- 6. Click "Create".
Repeat the creation steps also for your blank record (i.e. for visitors, who do not type in "www" in front of the domain name). In this procedure, leave the "Name" field bank and only type in the IP in the "Host" field.
Subdomains can be created in this same way. In the "Name" field, type in what ever it is you would like the subdomain host to be. e.g. mail. This will create a hostname mail.your-domain.com.
NOTE: TTL is "Time To Live". Leave the default value, changing it will not have much effect on your DNS record resolution.
CNAME records
These are essentially the same as A records, but are used to define an alias for a host name.
They set a host to resolve to another host name, instead of an IP. These are not be used all that often, usually only when a change is being made to a host, and a temporary host needs to be made to point to a new host.
Creating CNAME records using the Console
You can alias your www.domain.com host to the blank record by creating a CNAME for it. i.e. In the The Console
- 1. Click on "CNAME"
- 2. Leave the "Name" field blank
- 3. In the "Host" field, type in the host of your website, i.e. www.domain.com
- 4. Click "Create".
Subdomains can be created in this same way. In the "Name" field, type in what ever it is you would like the subdomain host to be. e.g. mail. This will create a hostname mail.your-domain.com.
NOTE: TTL is "Time To Live". Leave the default value, changing it will not have much effect on your DNS record resolution.
MX records
These set the location of the server that all electronic mail will be sent to.
There can be as many backup servers as you like, each one with its own entry, and each given a priority. The lower the number, the higher the priority. If one fails, it goes to the next in the list.
MX records can only be pointed to a host, never an IP. This is why a mail.your-domain.com host needs to be set up to point to the IP of the mail server, then the MX record points to that host.
Creating MX records using the Console
To point your domain name to your own email exchange server, which has a Static IP address, follow these steps
First create an A record for your IP.
- 1. Login to The Console
- 2. Click on "ZoneManager" icon
- 3. Click on "A" to create an A record
- 4. In the "Name" field, type in "mail"
- 5. In the "Host" field, type in the IP address of your mail server
- 6. Click "Create".
Now create a MX record for your host.
- 1. Click on "MX" to create a MX record
- 2. Leave the "Name" field blank, because you want the whole domain name to be administered by this mailserver
- 3. In the "Mail Exchange" field, type in the host "mail.your-domain.com" which you have just created with the A record.
- 4. Tick the box that says "Is the host fully qualified?"
- 5. Set preference as default "10"
- 6. Click "Create".
NOTE: TTL is "Time To Live". Leave the default value, changing it will not have much effect on your DNS record resolution.
All DNS changes via TheDomainManager take up to 2 hours to resolve across the global networks.
Sub domains
These are things like "whatever.your-domain.com" and are set to an IP, using an A record, or a host, using a CNAME record.
Two examples that almost all domains have set up are www.your-domain.com (more often than not you will find that this is set up, and the your-domain.com record isn't) and mail.your-domain.com.
Other features
There is some other information stored within the zone file, but it only relates to the name server/s that are authoritative for the name, and also the SOA (Start Of Authority) record which just contains some settings such as how long the zone remains authoritative for when a fresh copy can't be obtained.
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