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title = "Domains, DNS, oh no"
date = 2024-04-03
slides = false
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# Domains, DNS, oh no
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### Hello Class of CS4116
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So we use domains every day, even if ye dont know it
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52.30.181.100
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52.30.181.100 - Brightspace
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209.85.203.94
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209.85.203.94 - Google
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Those numbers arent very human friendly
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So what is teh solution?
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## Getting a domain!
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There are many domain hosts to go for
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And prices range from €1/year to €infinity/year
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* .ie
* .com
* .tk
* .coffee
* .eu
* .me
* .gay
* ...
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There is even .cat, though that is off limits to most of us.....
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I recommend using <> for .ie
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And <> for everything else
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I am going to focus on .ie
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These will set ye back ~€7 for the first year.
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Then €30 for every year afterwards
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Enter your perfect domain name into the big box
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It will then show ye a list of options
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Select one, add it to the cart
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In the config select ``I'm hosting my website somewhere else``
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Then add these two as nameservers:
* ``nadia.ns.cloudflare.com``
* ``neil.ns.cloudflare.com``
Press ``Update`` then ``Checkout`` for payment
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You will verify that ye have a connection to Ireland
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Your Student ID will work for this
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Couldnt find a name that suited you in ASCII text?
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Have no fear!
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## Punycode to the rescue!
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Say you want ``brendán.ie``
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But because of the ``á`` it is not a "normal" domain.
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Go to <> and enter in your special domain
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Boom: ``xn--brendn-tta.ie``
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Or say ye wanted to go wild and have an Ogham domain name?
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``ᚁᚏᚓᚅᚇᚐᚅ.com`` for example (brendan in Ogham)
[0]: https://gitlab.skynet.ie/compsoc1/compsoc/presentations/presentations/-/blob/ceb346fe8e8dfc553fff520de7864e96236e887a/src/slides/compsoc/1_domains-dns-oh-no.md#L163
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``ᚁᚏᚓᚅᚇᚐᚅ.com`` becomes ``xn--7ueiah2bis.com``
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Magic!
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And congrats! You now have a domain.
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As we saw in the earlier slides a domain points to an IP address.
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Ye can point your domain to another domain.
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These go to the same location
* <>
* <>
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So anyone in CS4116 would love to point
<>
To their InfinityFree instance
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## For that we need DNS
InfinityFree has their own [(good) docs][1] for this.
But I prefer to use [CNAME for this][2]
[1]: https://forum.infinityfree.com/docs?topic=49232
[2]: https://forum.infinityfree.com/docs?topic=87420
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Cloudflare is one of teh best DNS providers
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<>
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Signup, you should know how to do this.....
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On teh homepage select ``Add a site``

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Enter in your domain (``hi-conor-ryan-give-me-a1.ie``)
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Will take little while for it to be activated.
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So go make a cuppa.
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If ye are using InfinityFree checkout their [CNAME docs][2]
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Thats kinda the end of this, it is targeted to CS4116.