Managing Centralized DNS Servers

This section provides information on how you can create and further manage Centralized DNS servers.

A Centralized DNS server helps to balance the workload between Plesk servers. As it was mentioned above, a user can create one (or several) Centralized DNS servers in Plesk Expand and then assign Plesk servers to them. The role of such DNS server is as follows: all users of all Plesk servers assigned to one particular DNS server can use one IP address for setting their DNS zones. Also, a centralized server makes it easier for a provider to control a number of DNS servers allowing them to upgrade the servers or to create a new server simply knowing the IP address of the centralized server.

For a Centralized DNS server (which functions as Master DNS server) a number of Slave DNS servers can be created. Several Centralized DNS servers can simultaneously serve one Plesk server.

The list of all Centralized DNS servers presently registered in Plesk Expand is shown on the Centralized DNS page.

You can access this page by clicking the Centralized DNS shortcut in the navigation pane.

The list of Centralized DNS servers provides the following information:


Column	Description
S	Indicates the service status of the DNS service:	The DNS service is running on this Plesk server.
		The DNS service is stopped on this Plesk server.
H	Indicates the server status of a DNS server:	The DNS server is active (online).
		The DNS server is offline.
ID	Shows the ID number of the DNS server. The ID number is given to each DNS server automatically upon its registration in Plesk Expand and depends on the order of its registration. It means that the first DNS server registered in Plesk Expand gets ID number 1, the second registered server – ID number 2 and so on.
IP Address	Displays the IP address of the DNS server.
Hostname	Displays the system name of the DNS server.
Plesk Servers	Shows the Plesk servers this DNS server is assigned to.
Slave DNS Servers	Provides the list of the slave (secondary) DNS servers assigned to this Centralized DNS server.

To add a new DNS server to Plesk Expand, click New DNS Server.
To proceed to the administration page of the desired DNS server, click its ID or IP address.
To set SOA parameters of the DNS server or a number of DNS servers, select the corresponding checkboxes and click Set SOA Parameters.
To sort DNS servers by the DNS service status, select the status from the Service drop-down box (All, Started or Stopped) and click Search. To revert to the entire list of DNS servers, click Show All.
To sort DNS servers by server status, select the status from the Server drop-down box (All, Online, or Offline) and click Search. To revert to the entire list of DNS servers, click Show All.
To search for a particular DNS server, specify its IP address, Hostname, assigned Plesk Servers or Domains in the corresponding input fields and click Search.
To jump to the administration page of an assigned Plesk server, click this server name.
To remove a DNS server from Plesk Expand, select the corresponding checkbox and click Remove Selected. A confirmation page appears prior to removal.
Note: A DNS server cannot be removed from Plesk Expand until all Plesk servers assigned to this server are removed from it. You can deassign a Plesk server from the DNS server on the DNS Server administration page.

In This Section

Preparing DNS Server for Registration

Registering New DNS Server in Plesk Expand

Setting SOA Parameters for Several DNS Servers

Administering Centralized DNS Server

Editing SOA Record Parameters

Switching Modes of DNS Servers

Reloading DNS Server

Removing DNS Server from Plesk Expand