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DNS Setup

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by bkelley

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We are running NT 4.0 Server with Windows 98 and 1 Unix clients. We use Windows messaging for internal email and use dialup accounts for external email. The Unix system does not have internal email. We are getting a AT&T T1 line installed in a few weeks. I think I want to use Imail server instead of Exchange.
My Isp says that if I give them the hostname and IP of our mail server that they will re-route all mail going to our domain to our new mail server. We do not want to host our own website.3 have 3 registered domains. When I try to install a demo version of Imail It says that I need to tell it the DNS name. "The Host Name and Domain on the DNS tab must be registered in the DNS (Domain Name System) if you want remote hosts to be able to communicate with your system. Your DNS must contain the proper
entries for the host name you see here". Can you tell me how I aquire a DNS name ? Currently I have 48 systems on our network and do not have a DNS server in place. Do I need a DNS server to connect to a T1 and get external email ? Is there a certain name that I need to use ?
Any help would be greatly appreaciated

5 replies

by fgarber

You do not need a dns server. That is why your isp wanted the host name and ip address of your mail server. They will add an MX record to their dns server that shows your mail server as hostname.domainname so your external mail host name will looklike
mail.hansonpipe.com
where mail is the name of the host running the mail service(host name). The domain imail wants is your registered internet domain name. IE hansonpipe.com.

by mckaytech

You just need to use one of your registered domain names and add a name for your server (the hostname) to it. The hostname is often "mail" but it can be anything you want.
Once you have chosen the hostname, you just give that information to your ISP and they will create the proper DNS records on their DNS server (assuming they have the authoritative name server for your domain). There is no need for you to have a DNS server.

One thing to keep in mind is that DNS changes on the Internet are not immediate. Once your ISP updates their DNS records, it can take a couple days for cached records to expire and be replaced with the new information. So it may take awhile before the mail starts rolling it even after you have it properly configured.

paul

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