Jim,
I have an interesting story for you. About 2 years ago I presented a
software package to TUCOWS that had the following features:
URL Forwarding
Email Forwarding
Full Service DNS (a cname and mx record control)
and Webmail
all controlled via a web based control panel
It was not graphically attractive but quite functional. Tucows response was
that it was not something that was in their strategic plan, and they did not
see any value in offering it to the resellers since many of their larger
resellers already had DNS services in place for their customers.
The system that was written had entry points for:
end users to control their domains
Resellers to manage the end users
Admin to manage resellers
Perl Subroutines were written that could be inserted into reg_system to
automatically insert domain names into the Forwarding System with the same
username / password combination that was used for managing their domain
names.
The system was called namedirectors and used the nameservers
nsX.namedirectors.com so that it could not be associated with any particular
reseller but was generic in nature.
The system was set up so that you could register a nameserver such as
ns1.mediaodyssey.com and ns2.mediaodyssey.com point it at our IP's and then
have your customers use nameservers with your names and their DNS services
would work.
About a year after demonstrating our system to members of the Tucows Staff.
Tucows introduced their own system, a year after they told me a project such
as that was not in their stragegic plan... lets just say I was somewhat
suprised. Ok enough kvetching...
Well about the same time one of my OpenSRS Reseller customers became ICANN
accredited and I became very involved in working with that company so I
sorta dropped off the radar on this list.
Guess What I am back and I am dusting off the version of the software that
supported a reseller system. Over the next few weeks I will be improving
the graphics of the system and making it more user friendly. I would like
to offer the service FREE to all OpenSRS resellers and if there are any
resellers out there who are good with php / postgres and would like to
assist with the development of this system I welcome your assistance.
Software / hardware structure
Dedicated database server has all DNS and forwarding data
Nameservers (2 small Dell 1U servers) running slackware are db driven, read
names from the db server and reload a few times an hour. (kill -HUP named).
Due to this structure adding additional nameservers to the system and
keeping them up to date is simple.
Webserver (dell 2450 with dual P3 and Raid 5)running linux has phpscripts
that read forwarding data from db server when a request for a domain or
email hits the server. I have not yet made the Webserver solution scalable
to accomodate large volume traffic.
The Webserver is also running the Email forwarding and due to large volume
of email is sometimes slows down, but I am moving one of my other high
throughput servers overt to split this task into two machines one for URL
forwarding and one for Email Services. (a COMPAQ Proliant Server with quad
Pentium Pro Processors and a wide backplane for high volume throughput)
The database server is a dell 6450 with quad P-4 a gig of ram and Raid 5
The entire database is backed up daily to a dual P3 machine with Raid 5 and
a 1/2 gig of ram which is held in reserve should any of the other servers
fail.
Any reseller who would like a free account on the system to offer their
customers these services contact me, any reseller who has programming
expertise and wishes to help make this a kick A system also please contact
me.
Or just visit www.namedirectors.com and see how it works.
Michael Brody
mbrody@tldsystems.com
Jim McAtee writes:
> I've gotten quite a few responses off-list. What I see being offered at both
> the wholesale and retail levels from other registrars has convinced me that
> managed DNS, email forwarding, domain redirection and parking should
> automatically be included with all domains that Tucows sells. Especially in
> light of the premium pricing that Tucows steadfastly adheres to. While I
> believe there's a good case for the argument that the pricing is justified by
> the level of support, I also believe there could be more value added by
> Tucows to the basic product. With the DNS system now a reality and likely to
> generate little revenue for either resellers or Tucows I think it would be a
> good move to add the service to all domain registrations.
>
> Just my opinion.
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Jim McAtee" <jmcatee@mediaodyssey.com>
> To: <discuss-list@opensrs.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, March 17, 2004 1:49 PM
> Subject: Including DNS with registration
>
>
>> Do any registrars (not resellers of those registrars) besides Network
>> Solutions include free managed DNS as part of a domain's registration?
> I've
>> seen other registrars that do this if the domain is either parked at or
>> hosted by the registrar itself (or if the registrar is doing some type of
>> domain redirection).
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