Serious Problem with Moniker

Cant have a name server and seperate hosting account

[SEMIntl]

I am not sure if anybody else experienced this, however I have my email server with Rackspace and my hosting with another hosting provider (not rackspace). I recently transferred my domain to moniker and when I set the IP default with MX records for Rackspace my DNS reverts to Monikers DNS. When I reset my DNS to my hosting company, it drops my Rackspace MX records. I sent four cases to Moniker support but they keep closing it out, saying its fixed (Obviously doing the same thing I am doing). I can not get anyone to help over there. I lost Monte's contact info (I hung out with him at least 6 times over the last several years at search conferences). Their support telephone line doesnt work...stuck on hold for 45 minutes, so I assume they just dont have it activated. Before I drop moniker alltogether...has anybody experienced this and know of a work around?

[HuskyPup]

Ok, 2 cents worth of my naivety here! You are saying you have:

[e-mail] on host server 1

and

www.example.com on host server 2

Is that even possible?

How can it resolve without some kind of massive workaround that I have no idea about...however out of pure interest I'd like to know.

[robho]

Having mail on one or more servers (pointed to by MX records) and other services (such as www) on another server is quite normal, especially when you use a third-party company for the mail.

Semintl, are you trying to use Moniker's DNS servers, or the hosting company's servers? You have to choose between them, not try to use both at the same time.

I would use your hosting company's DNS servers (since the Moniker ones are very inflexible, I don't use them). Set the Moniker DNS addresses to custom, and point them to the hosting company dns servers.

In your web hosting company's DNS control panel, add an MX record for the email at Rackspace. If they don't accept it, use a third party DNS service (or use a better host).

[HuskyPup]

on another server is quite normal

To be honest I've never heard of this.

Is this normal/standard practice in medium+ sized companies for e-mail users with large up/downloads so as not to possibly affect website performance?

What other reasons would it be for?

[robho]

Is this normal/standard practice in medium+ sized companies for e-mail users with large up/downloads so as not to possibly affect website performance?

What other reasons would it be for?

Another reason is security (one less service running on the webserver). Plus if you have trouble with the webserver box you still get your email. Performance isn't really an issue.

Not just large companies, a lot of small (and tiny) companies use hosted email away from their servers (including for example those using Google Apps for their mail).

I use a different third-party email provider but the idea is the same, one less thing to deal with on the webservers (so makes moving between webservers easier), one less thing to maintain and secure.

Anyway, to get back on topic, it's normally done by setting your MX record to point to a specific address (such as mail.example.com) then creating an A record for mail. The IP for that can be the same as the A record for www if you have everything on a single box, but can equally be the IP of a different box anywhere.

[lammert]

Hi SEMIntl, first of all Welcome to WebmasterWorld!

Having email and webserving split over different servers is a common situation. It was the reason the MX record was invented in the first place. Many hosting setups (often shared) use servers dedicated for webserving and other servers dedicated for processing mail, filtering spam messages etc. It allows for better tuning then when both webserving and email serving are executed by the same server.

The fixed connection you describe at Moniker between A and MX records is not normal and should be removed from their side. Not allowing flexible MX records in the DNS setup would make it impossible for their customers to route mail to dedicated mail serving companies, use backup mail servers, mail firewall services etc.

[SEMIntl]

First of all, thank you everybody for your response. I appreciate it and you are correct, a lot of us smaller businesses host our emails separately from our web hosting providers. We do it for security, service and reliability with Rackspace, however their prices for hosting is way too high to justify for a fairly static tiny website.

Finally, Moniker raised it up the support chain with this response:
"At moniker, you can only point your domain to customer nameservers or MX records, but you cannot do both. That is why when you look in the IP manager, it shows that the domain is pointing to Moniker nameservers or dns instead of your custom dns. If your web hosting provider is supplying you with both email and web hosting, then all you need to do is point your domain to the 3 nameserver settings you describe below, and out system will auto detect their IP address and your email and website will reappear. But if you insist on using both the custom nameservers and the mx records, you will have to setup the mx records at the dns administrator or source that gave you those mx record settings"

At the beginning of their response, they basically say the can not do it. However, at the end they say that if I insist on it, they can. Am I not reading the response correctly? How come enom, godaddy and everyone else allows this?

[robho]

At the beginning of their response, they basically say the can not do it. However, at the end they say that if I insist on it, they can.

No, what they're saying is if you want to do this, you'll have to do it elsewhere, not on their nameservers, as they offer only a basic stripped-down service that can't do it.

So, in Moniker set the custom nameservers to your web hosts nameservers (avoid Moniker's service completely). At the webhost, set up www etc to point to the IP of the webserver (probably already done). Then, ALSO at the webhost's nameservers, add MX records to point to the external mail service.

If you don't have a DNS control panel at the web host they should be able to add the MX records for you. If they can't, use an external DNS service (paid or free), and point the custom nameservers at Moniker to that instead.

To clarify, there are several things here. One is domain registration (Moniker), which points to nameservers. Those nameservers can be anywhere, from any company, they contain records that point to your web server IP and the probably different MX records for your mail server. Then you have a web host, and a mail host.

Any of these can be combined, but it's quite possible to have each of the parts at a different company (I do). One thing you can't do is combine domain registration and (flexible) nameservers at Moniker, as they don't offer it.

[SEMIntl]

Thank you all again, I think the easiest way is to just transfer it again away from Moniker. I have always loved Moniker and have a lot of respect for Monte, I was hoping this was user error. I let Rackspace know to let all of their customers know about the issue as well, so it doesn't happen to others. Maybe when they realize the loss of business they are facing, they will fix it. Thanks guys!

[HuskyPup]

Maybe when they realize the loss of business they are facing, they will fix it.

Bear in mind I am in the UK, I was discussing this last night with about 20+ webby/geeky people and not one of them had ever come across or even considered this scenario.

For sure many of their clients use Gmail/Hotmail/AOL accounts as their primary e-mail addresses but to a person not one had done this.

Is this an American thing?

[SEMIntl]

I'm not sure what you mean HuskyPup. However, I think when it comes to gmail/hotmail/aol accounts that you have more flexibility when working with your chosen email service provider and your hosting account.
There are plenty of small firms who choose to host their emails separately from their hosting company. Rackspace is the "Ferrari" of email hosting and has excellent support and security. I don't need that kind of support with my website...but my email is critical to operations.

[rocker]

I think the easiest way is to just transfer it again away from Moniker.

SEMIntl, did you try to transfer it yet? I was under the impression that you need to wait 60 days before you can change registrars.

I have been using a seperate server for my hosting and email for several years.

I changed the DNS from my registrar to my web host. Then, in the cpanel from the web host I pointed the MX record to the email server. Does your hosting company allow you to do this?

[creeking]

When I reset my DNS to my hosting company

use the hosting company nameservers, and set the MX records there, in the hosting company's nameservers.

[SEMIntl]

Thanks guys, you really helped me out. You were right, using the hosting company's nameservers worked. Thanks! See you all at pubcon?