Guides

DNS (Domain Name System) configuration and management

Customized editing of all domain DNS records

In all services that include a domain, Hosting Solutions includes a free web control panel to fully manage DNS records.

The web panel for the DNS configuration allows you to:

  • create new DNS records from scratch
  • edit all DNS records
  • modify the TTL (DNS propagation time) associated with each record
  • modify the authoritative DNS servers of the domain
  • edit the DNS zone file (advanced mode)

Basic DNS configuration panel

Once connected to the ServerMate control panel, the Gestione DNS (DNS Management) function is available for each active domain to allow editing of records. Base (Basic) DNS configuration allows controlled editing of the following DNS parameters: A, MX, CNAME, TXT, SRV.

Below is the basic configuration screen for the example domain pianohostinglinux.com

basic DNS configuration

Once a domain has been registered or transferred, the user will find some records already set. These can be edited directly from the control panel: in each case ServerMate makes sure that the syntax of the values entered for the DNS setting is correct.

TTL (Time to Live) is the parameter that indicates how long (in seconds) it will take for the computer to update its DNS information.

The Tipo Record (Record Type) field shows the different types of DNS records available for editing and, finally, the IP o Nome Dominio (Domain Name) field indicates the destination to which the record should point, which can also be a previously created DNS record.

With the Aggiungi Record (Add record) button you can create a new DNS record within its DNS setting: the most common cases are the creation of TXT records for SPF (email) or for parameters related to antispam configuration. Hosting Solutions allows you to create and manage all the main DNS records without any limitation. The records that can be managed are: A, CNAME, TXT, MX, SRV.

On the right side of the page, the Storico (History) item allows you to see the list of all the changes made over time: if you pause on each item, you will see a summary of the settings for that date. Below is an example image for the domain:

modify dns parameters

DNS configuration, advanced version

For customers who need to configure all aspects of their DNS, there is an advanced mode (Avanzate) available that allows them to directly edit the DNS zone file.

In this mode, the customer can write DNS zone records directly and edit them. In any case, NS and SOA records cannot be edited from here (except for the Minimum TTL parameter, which can be modified in this section). As seen for the Basic version, the history of the operations is also available in this case, so that a previous DNS zone can also be restored in case of configuration problems.

Below is an image of how editing is displayed in Advanced mode:

advanced DNS configuration

All changes are taken over by the system instantly.

Edit Authoritative Name Servers

You can change authoritative Name Servers from the DNS Server section.

This allows you to use your own DNS servers instead of the default ones provided by Hosting Solutions

From this section you can enter a minimum of 2 up to a maximum of 6 Name Servers.

For .it domains, this interface also displays any errors resulting from the DNS validation check made by the NIC ccTLD .it (Registry of .it domains).

change authoritative name servers

Infrastructure, redundancy of Hosting Solutions' DNS servers

The DNS infrastructure of Hosting Solutions is designed to guarantee customers 100% Uptime on the service and delivery of their websites and domains. DNS zones are replicated on 3 different locations: Florence (Hosting Solutions headquarters, two owned data centers), Rome (IT.Net data center), Siziano (SuperNap data center).