Too new to even know the right phrases to ask ....

[Ryan Faricy]

> Q#1: is there something I want to do in my bind files to handle both
domains? or do I only want to address just one of them? I'm very confused
about this.
>

If you still want your previous domain name to be valid, you'll need to have
active zone files for both gold-cousins.org and digging4roots.com.

> Q#2: is there someway I can broadcast (or is it resolve?) to the outside
world these new subdomains (aliases)? or do I have to always depend on my
ISP?
>

If your ISP is your primary nameserver, I'm afraid you will have to have
them update their information. You could be your own primary nameserver.
That's what I'm doing.

> Q#3: do I really want to include my workstations (pc's and mac) in the DNS
info? what do I gain? what do I lose?

You don't need to, but I do it anyway just to stay consistent. It kinda
helps me organize my network anyway! I guess my brain just thinks the way
DNS does, oddly enough. :-)

> Q#4: i do not own the entire 256 IP's for 216.32.151 (only .33 to .39),
and yet all the directions assume I do ... so I know I've done something
wrong in following the directions in this regard. What should I be doing?
(Note: 33=router, 38=server, remaining=workstations).
>

You only need to reference those IP addresses that you'll be using (33 to
39, as well as 1 and any others that are your ISP's name server and such).
You don't need to include any others.

> As a note: the reason the email is sent to my regular account is that my
email on the server sends mail, but doesn't receive: so sending mail to
root at gold-cousins.org bounces. I don't have it configured right ... another
problem yet to solve!
>

Have you edited your aliases file, uncommented "root", and entered your
address? That's what I did. root at mydomain goes straight to my real inbox.

> ===> /var/named/zone/127.0.0   <===
>
> @       IN      SOA     ns.gold-cousins.org.
>                         jeannegold.flashcom.net. (
>                                 200006254       ; Serial
>                                 8H              ; Refresh
>                                 2H              ; Retry
>                                 1W              ; Expire
>                                 1D)             ; Minimum TTL
>                 NS      ns.gold-cousins.org.
> 1               PTR     localhost.

Looks fine.

> ===> /var/named/zone/216.32.151   <===
>
> @       IN      SOA     ns.gold-cousins.org.
>                         jeannegold.flashcom.net. (
>                         200006254 ; Serial
>                         8H      ; Refresh
>                         2H      ; Retry
>                         1W      ; Expire
>                         1D)     ; Minimum TTL
>                 NS      ns.gold-cousins.org.
>
> 1               PTR     router.gold-cousins.org.
> 2               PTR     gold-cousins.org.
> 2               PTR     digging4roots.com.
> 2               PTR     mail.gold-cousins.org.
> 2               PTR     ftp.gold-cousins.org.
>
> 34              PTR     ws-34.gold-cousins.org. ; gold (jeanne)
> 35              PTR     ws-35.gold-cousins.org. ; thief (stan)
> 36              PTR     ws-36.gold-cousins.org. ; cradle (kids)
> 37              PTR     ws-37.gold-cousins.org. ; nugget (laptop)
> 39              PTR     ws-39.gold-cousins.org. ; dross (patio)
>

Also looks fine.

> ===> /var/named/zone/gold-cousins.org   <===
>
> @       IN      SOA     ns.gold-cousins.org.
>                         jeannegold.flashcom.net. (
>                         200006253       ; serial
>                         8H              ; refresh
>                         2H              ; retry
>                         1W              ; expire
>                         1D )            ; minimum TTL
>                 NS      ns.gold-cousins.org.
>                 NS      ns1.flashcom.net.
>                 NS      ns2.flashcom.net.
>                 NS      ns3.flashcom.net.
>                 MX      10 jeannegold.flashcom.net.
>                 MX      20 scrook.cts.com.
>                 TXT     "Home Server"
>
> localhost       A       127.0.0.1
> router          A       216.32.151.33
> gold-cousins.org.       A       216.32.151.38
> digging4roots.com.      A       216.32.151.38
> ns              A       216.32.151.38
> www             A       216.32.151.38
>
> ftp             CNAME   gold-cousins.org.
> mail            CNAME   gold-cousins.org.
> news            CNAME   gold-cousins.org.
>
> ; workstations
> ws-34           A       216.32.151.34           ; gold (jeanne)
>                 MX      10 gold-cousins.org.
> ws-35           A       216.32.151.35           ; thief (stan)
>                 MX      10 gold-cousins.org.
> ws-36           A       216.32.151.36           ; cradle (kids)
>                 MX      10 gold-cousins.org.
> ws-37           A       216.32.151.37           ; nugget (laptop)
>                 MX      10 gold-cousins.org.
> ws-39           A       216.32.151.39           ; dross (patio)
>                 MX      10 gold-cousins.org.

I'm not sure on whether its absolutely required or not (I could be wrong),
but I think you need to use "IN" before "A", "CNAME", "MX" for zone files.

Example:

You have (just a couple excerpts):
localhost       A       127.0.0.1
....
ftp             CNAME   gold-cousins.org.
....
ws-36           A       216.32.151.36           ; cradle (kids)

Whereas I would write:
localhost       IN            A       127.0.0.1
....
ftp             IN           CNAME   gold-cousins.org.
....
ws-36           IN           A       216.32.151.36           ; cradle (kids)

subdomain    IN    A    ipaddress
subdomin    IN    CNAME    domainname
subdomain    IN    MX    mailserver

etc, etc...

> PS If you're wondering about the strange names ... well, it started out as
a personal genealogy site (my last name is Gold). To this was added my
companion whose surname is Crook ... so we named our domain, goldrush. So,
my computer is "gold", his is "thief" and the kids, "cradle". When the
laptop arrived, it became "nugget" and the leftover parts used to build the
computer in the patio room, became the "dross". My feeble attempt at humour.
>

Ahh, I get it. Cool! I hope I was of some help to you.

-Ryan