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I'm almost finished my classifieds website, made using php-mysql and I've been considering a hosting provider, who is giving a good configuration at a fair price. The only drawback is that they do not provide their own nameservers. So, i might need to connect with a cname.

I have previously used DigitalOcean and Linode - both of them i love, but i wondered what are the major drawbacks of a hosting service in not having their own nameservers? Thanks!

codemode
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  • "I hosted my content on a site with no name / it felt great to not get all the blame / on a website, you can't post without shame / for there's always someone who trolls as a game" – womble Nov 06 '15 at 04:18
  • `I've been considering a hosting provider` - That statement couldn't be any more vague and nebulous. Are we to presume the type of service they're hosting for you is a website? – joeqwerty Nov 06 '15 at 04:31
  • I don't know why is there so much sarcasm for a simple question... – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 13:58
  • ..there i've edited my post... if it gave an impression of someone asking about hosting a wordpress website on godaddy. – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 14:05
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    `I don't know why is there so much sarcasm for a simple question` - Because this is a site for professionals who expect other professionals to post fully formed questions with specific details about their problem, not to post vague and nebulous statements that leave us guessing as to what's being asked. Your question in it's original form didn't give us enough information to know what type of hosting you were referring to. The term `hosting` could mean anything. – joeqwerty Nov 06 '15 at 14:09
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    Personally I don't see any drawbacks to a web hosting company not hosting your DNS. Why would you want them to? Are they DNS experts or web hosting experts? My opinion is that you probably shouldn't put your DNS eggs in a web hosting basket. – joeqwerty Nov 06 '15 at 14:11
  • First of all - you don't have to get all worked out for a simple question. There is no mention on the terms and condition of this website that "this is ONLY for professionals". Anyone has the right to ask questions in this forum. My question was just to know about nameserves, which is quite standard and common. I don't know if you're having a bad day or what.. Relax, and go get a beer. – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 14:15
  • @codemode joeqwerty is correct, this *is* indeed a site for professionals. This is one major difference between SF and most other SE sites. – EEAA Nov 06 '15 at 19:27
  • Who is deleting all my comments? I repeat - This was bullying. And You can't deny that correcting someone with respect is different than correcting someone with sarcasm and disrespect. My question WAS about hosting and DNS - which does fall into serverfault. – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 20:01
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    I am, they are not useful for this question. If you want to have discussion about topicality on SF or the way you feel you were treated, meta.serverfault.com is the place for that. – EEAA Nov 06 '15 at 20:03

2 Answers2

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It is typical a hosting provider doesn't provide DNS, most users use the Nameservers provided to them by their registrar, others will use CloudFlare (which is free)

You would not use a CNAME, you would use an A Record (and/or aaaa for ipv6), the IP Address you have with those VPS Providers does not change unless you choose to do so.

Jacob Evans
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  • Thank you for the input, Jacob. So do you say there is no harm in taking up their services? And btw, why an A RECORD and not a CNAME? Thanks – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 14:34
  • A record, you are pointing to an IP, not another domain. Other shared services that provide you a domain change their IP addresses regularly and want the ability o change it without your permission, also you open a huge security risk of you CNAME your root domain as CNAME includes A, MX, NS, SPF, SRV and any other RR type. – Jacob Evans Nov 06 '15 at 15:13
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I wouldn't do it, but I hate not having total control of my servers. Not being able to edit my SOA record at DynDNS even makes me a bit twitchy. But I digress; I'm assuming you're talking about hosting a website only?

Someone will have a nameserver for your domain - your registrar? If so, you may be stuck with their email services unless you can change your MX records. Also, SSL certificates could pose a problem with CNAMEs depending on how you handle the CNAME and cert creation.

If this was just a landing page or a splash page, I'd say go for it. But if you're trying to build something around website, you're going to want more control sooner rather than later. If they have a no-contract option, that may be worth it.

Edit 02: Please remember, just because a condition may be obvious or common-sense to you, does not mean it is so for everyone:

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/9935229/cname-ssl-certificates

https://stackoverflow.com/questions/10406626/secure-a-url-that-has-a-cname-record

SSL Certificate on CNAME

Does an SSL certificate work on CNAME'd urls?

https://www.reddit.com/r/sysadmin/comments/32szez/question_ssl_certificate_and_cname_dns_record/

https://www.howtoforge.com/community/threads/ssl-certificate-hostname-cname.57802/

https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/msonline/en-US/0e668a4d-7e6f-4855-8ead-d51101b2f704/ssl-certificate-error-on-cname-dns-record-pointing-to-outlook-web-access?forum=onlineservicesexchange

Community
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Neil
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    "SSL certificates pose a problem with CNAMEs" [citation needed] – womble Nov 06 '15 at 05:44
  • @womble - As in you'd have to generate the certificate for the CNAME rather than the desired domain. – Neil Nov 06 '15 at 06:04
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    ...and why is that a problem? – EEAA Nov 06 '15 at 06:09
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    The WHAAAAAAT??? – womble Nov 06 '15 at 06:12
  • Well if he needs to switch away from the CNAME record halfway through the certificate period, it would be a waste of money if it's a paid-for cert. It's important to point out all possibilities when we're presented with such a dearth of information. – Neil Nov 06 '15 at 06:23
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    That's true for *anything* a cert validates, nothing to do with the DNS record type! – Wesley Nov 06 '15 at 06:24
  • Certificates care not what type of DNS record is used. – EEAA Nov 06 '15 at 06:25
  • You are correct. If he CNAMEs some other domain he has control over and gets a cert for it, then he has a cert with the wrong name on it if he has to switch. – Neil Nov 06 '15 at 06:34
  • OP has given us zero information on what he's actually going to do. Assuming anything is silly. If this exact scenario had not happened to me, I wouldn't have even thought of mentioning it. But it did happen when I was young and dumb, and it cost me money, so now I warn others of the possibility. I edited the original post to emphasize the likelihood (or lack thereof). – Neil Nov 06 '15 at 06:47
  • Thank you for the input Neil, but could you explain why the cname can be a problem with the SSL cert. As far as a i know, a cname would just be used to point my domain to the server, – codemode Nov 06 '15 at 14:11
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    @codemode he cannot as it is not a valid statement. – Jacob Evans Nov 06 '15 at 14:22
  • https://social.technet.microsoft.com/Forums/msonline/en-US/0e668a4d-7e6f-4855-8ead-d51101b2f704/ssl-certificate-error-on-cname-dns-record-pointing-to-outlook-web-access?forum=onlineservicesexchange The "problem" is that you must purchase the SSL cert for whatever domain has a CNAME, and not whatever domain has the A record for the server. If you don't see that being a problem within the next 12-39 months, then there is absolutely no problem. It's more of a 'gotcha'. – Neil Nov 07 '15 at 07:05