Marilyn Levin has generously decided to give one of her kidneys to Thomas Harris. The transplant is tentatively scheduled for August. But without your help, the life giving transplant will be delayed.

BLOGS & Friends Pages

EINSTEIN@HOME - FreeBSD

Interesting Web Sites

Links Visited Daily

My Content and Media

Wish List

HOWTO: have a custom domain name point to a changing (dynamic) IP address and host your own mail server with an external backup MX handler (in case your PC goes down) for $8.95 per year (depending on the domain suffix). Requirements: An ISP that will allow you to decline port 25 filtering, and a domain registered with GoDaddy.com (or other hosting services providing the same resources).

DynDNS is an excellent custom DNS service that hosts the needs of just about every type of network configuration. I signed up for DynDNS's mailhop and custom DNS services.

Custom DNS is a service which maps your domain name, such as myname.com to a dynamic IP address provided for most residential Internet services. This is a great way to connect to your computer, whether it be the web, remote access, or any other Internet services. At the time of this publication's creation, this service is $24.95 a year. A nominal price for the convenience of not having to remember your ever changing IP address.

Mailhop is a service which allows you to receive incoming e-mail on a non standard port. Unfortunately, a majority of ISP's block incoming mail on port 25, the only known port to route mail from an external source. This in turn not only prevents you from receiving SMTP connections, but it also prevents you from relaying mail to other SMTP servers other than your ISP's. Mailhop acts like a relay, and redirects your port 25 (SMTP) traffic to a non specified port, such as 2525. All outgoing mail can be sent to a non privileged port also, with a separate DynDNS service. However, this is not required if you feel comfortable using your ISP's SMTP services. The total cost for this service, at the time of this publication, is $29.95 a year. This includes a backup mail handler that will hold your mail indefinite, in case your PC were to fail.

The total cost for not feeling like a piece of dust on the net, $54.90 a year. I am able to provide myself a host name that points to a dynamic IP, a personal mail server, and a backup mail server that will forward mail when my system goes down, for $8.95 a year (depending on the domain suffix).

The foremost thing you want to do, is register a domain name with GoDaddy. I have not attempted this with any other hosting provider, so I am in no position to recommend alternatives with the same resources.

The second step is to set up a free account with DynDNS, the Dynamic DNS Service. This will provide you with a generic, predefined domain and host name that will point to your dynamic IP. After doing this, you will need to be able to update your IP information with the DNS service. Most routers, such as Linksys, have the ability built into the router OS. If you do not have a router that supports DynDNS, you can update your IP information with the numerous software applications that are available. Once again, I must point out, you may be able to do this with other dynamic DNS services, but I already had an account with DynDNS, and was successful with my attempts. After you have established a method for these updates, you can proceed to the next step.

Go-Daddy provides you with a service called 'total DNS control'. This service gives you almost total control over your DNS settings, without actually editing the zone file itself. This control panel can be found under domains -> my domain names -> (click on your domain name, for example myname.com) -> on the right most area of the web page you will see a blue box, click + next to 'Total DNS Control'. Next, click on the URL HREF, Total DNS control and MX Records. Launch to total DNS control manager.

The next order of business is to refer a host name to your dynamic DynDNS host and domain name (CNAMES, an alias of sorts). Click on 'add a new CNAME record'. The alias name should be the host name you want pointed to your IP address assigned by your ISP. For example, mypc.myname.com would resolve to your IP address at home, or wherever. In this case, your alias would be mypc. Step two in this form asks you to enter a host name. In this field, enter the host name and domain name provided to you when registering for your dynamic DNS account (DynDNS). I recommend you leave the TTL box as is, especially if you frequently feel the effects of black hole time distortions. The TTL field enables you to control the time in which your dynamic IP information from DynDNS is sequenced with the DNS information at go daddy.

So there! mypc.myname.com points to my dynamic IP address! You just saved $24.95! That is one hell of a deal compared to what you may have been paying.

The next step you must take in order to allow Internet mail to reach your system, is make a few changes to your MX records. There should be two entries already in the DNS record (your MX records are also listed in the DNS control manager). You will need to change the priority of these servers, leaving a higher priority, the lowest number, available to your GoDaddy host and domain name, the one that points to your dynamic IP. For instance, you would change 0 to 10, and the following respectively. Your host name at go daddy, such as mypc.myname.com should be priority 0, the first resource that is contacted when new mail to your domain arrives. You can do this by clicking 'add new MX record'. Be sure to leave the associated backup servers available, as they will be your primary mail server if your home PC were to go down.

OK, great, now you will receive mail on port 25 to your home PC, or whatever. Now I hope you are asking yourself, if my PC goes down, where does the mail go?

On the go daddy site, go to E-Mail -> My E-Mail Accounts -> Manage E-Mail Forwarding. Here you will be able to forward users at your host and domain to an alternative e-mail address (while your SMTP server is down). I do not suggest forwarding to your domain name, or your host name on the domain that points to your home computer. They might get pissed off. 'Might' is a very casual word for it.

OK, so now I can receive e-mail on my own server, why can't my MTA send mail successfully? Most secure MTA's do a reverse DNS lookup. If your IP address doesn't have a definitive entry to your domain name, it most likely will be rejected. What you want to do is set up your MTA to utilize your ISP's SMTP server, or an alternative. This is beyond the scope of this publication, and its setup varies with each unique MTA requirements.

Have Fun!

Add comment

Topic (required)

Text (required)

Your name (required)

Your email address (required & will not be shared)

Your personal page (if any)

(required - enter number for SPAM filtering)

Main Entry: spew
Function: verb
Etymology: Middle English, from Old English spIwan; akin to Old High German spIwan to spit, Latin spuere, Greek ptyein intransitive verb
1 : VOMIT
2 : to come forth in a flood or gush
3 : to ooze out as if under pressure : EXUDE transitive verb
1 : VOMIT
2 : to send or cast forth with vigor or violence or in great quantity -- often used with out - spew-er noun
-- Merriam-Webster