Basically I couldn't find another service that did what I wanted. I wanted a powerful, flexible interface. I wanted to use my own domains. I wanted to set the TTL for certain records fairly low. And I didn't want to pay a fortune for the service.
I figured there are others with similar needs, so here's the solution.
I'm very interested in your feedback -- positive or negative. Does it work well for you? Is something broken, confusing, or hard to use? Is something you're looking for missing? I'd like to hear about all of it. Contact us at .
The standard service really is free. If you require priority support or have a very high volume of DNS requests, then there is a service fee. We are also working on some other service offerings. After finding Zerigo: NS useful, we hope you will be willing to consider whether those new services will help you get business done.
If you require priority support, .
Static DNS service is DNS service for static, or consistent, IP addresses. This is by far the most common DNS service -- used for pretty much every service, web, email, etc., accessible across the internet.
Zerigo: NS's DNS servers are geographically distributed between North America and Europe. This ensures maximum odds of having something up and available to the world.
Your domain should point to one or more of Zerigo: NS's domain servers. Which DNS server(s) will depend on what service offering you're using.
Dynamic DNS service is DNS service for dynamic, or changing, IP addresses. Some individuals and small businesses want to run some kind of low-use internet service from their DSL, cable, or other connection. The IP address for these connections changes periodically -- sometimes every few months, sometimes every few hours or even more often.
If an IP address changes infrequently, it's not too bad to just change the DNS entry -- if the TTL (time-to-live) for that address is short (15 minutes or less). Zerigo: NS allows TTLs as low as 5 minutes to accommodate this.
For IP addresses that change more often, and sometimes even for those that change infrequently, some kind of software program is run from the target computer that publishes its current IP address -- so the update is automatic and timely. Zerigo: NS is capable of receiving this notification and updating one or more DNS entries accordingly.
Your account must be enabled for dynamic updates. This is disabled by default for security reasons. Go to Account to enable dynamic updates and create an update token. This token will serve as the password for your updates.
Dynamic DNS updates should be sent to http://update.zerigo.com/dynamic
host - The full domain name to update.ip - IP address to set. If not specified, will use the IP of the incoming request (which is generally correct).user - Your email address you use to login to Zerigo.password - The token from the Account page -- not your actual Zerigo password.Standard HTTP basic authentication may be used instead of the user and password parameters.
Example request:
http://update.zerigo.com/dynamic?host=example.zerigo.com&ip=208.78.96.210&user=login@example.com&password=f7f9c95662ebc538
Most dynamic DNS clients will automatically detect when an IP has changed and only submit a request to change the IP when it has actually changed. A few do not. Also, techniques like cron do not. If you use something that does not, please run updates no more than once per hour. Lastly, for something scheduled like cron, pick a random minute within the hour -- this will help space the requests out.
using cron:15 * * * * wget http://update.zerigo.com/dynamic?host=example.zerigo.com&user=login@example.com&password=f7f9c95662ebc538
using inadyn:inadyn --dyndns_system custom@http_svr_basic_auth -u login@email.com -p f7f9c95662ebc538 --dyndns_server_name update.zerigo.com --dyndns_server_url /dynamic?host= -a example.zerigo.com
In short, yes. In addition to the above mentioned dynamic update process, Domains and Hosts are supported by a full REST API. See the REST API documentation for details.