1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to know how >>

2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the Order Details view.

3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.

4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows, go to Manage Website -> Database Manager -> Add Database.

5. On this page, specify

• the Database Name, i.e. the name by which your database would be referred to.
• the amount of space you wish to allot for this database, in Megabytes (MB).

6. Additionally, you would also have to add a user to access this database. Specify the username and password for this user. You can add further users to access this database as well. Click here to know how to add users to an existing MS SQL database >>

7. Once you have specified these details, click on Submit.

At the time of configuring a hosting package, the System automatically assigns a Temporary URL (TEMP URL) which can be used to access the website once you have uploaded the content onto our Server. The TEMP URL is assigned in the format of:

<domain name>.yourhostingplan+os.onlyfordemo.com, where

yourhostingplan indicates the Hosting Plan you have purchased (Standard / Premium),
os indicates the Operating System you have purchased the package on.

How to locate your Temporary URL?

1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to know how >>
    
2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the Order Details view.
    
3. The Temporary URL will be listed in the Website Temp URL field under Order Information.

You can test the functionality of the website on our Server using this Temporary URL. Once you are satisfied with the performance, you can Modify the Name Servers for the domain name to our Name Servers so that the website can be resolved using the domain name itself. Click here to determine our Name Servers that you need to modify your domain name to, to access your website >>

In order to activate SSL to secure your website, you need to have

• an SSL certificate, and
• a dedicated IP address.

SSL Certificate: An SSL certificate is provided by a reputed third party provider (Certifying Authority, or CA). To activate SSL, you need to

1. Generate a CSR, or a Certificate Signing Request from your Control Panel.

2. Submit the CSR to the Certifying Authority (CA) from whom you wish to purchase the certificate.

3. Get the certificate issued by your CA, and submit the same for your website from your Control Panel.

Dedicated IP address: An IP address specifically for your website. This IP address is not shared with other web hosting packages on a shared server, and is used only by your website. Dedicated ip address is required to provide a separate dedicated channel for the encrypted data to flow between the client (browser) and the server.

NOTE: If you have opted for SSL when you purchased your hosting package, a dedicated IP address will be allotted to your site. However, if you have not opted for SSL and choose upgrade to do so later, a dedicated IP address will be allotted to your site only when SSL is activated. Until then, your site will continue to function using a shared IP address. 

Most Web Hosting companies do not provide you with an interface to manage your own DNS Records and/or the ability to select multiple providers for various Services like Web Hosting, Mail Hosting, etc..

Gossimer gives you complete control over the following Resource Records by using our Managed DNS Service:

I. Address Record [A Record]

The A Record is the most basic and the most important DNS record type. They are used to translate human friendly domain names such as “www.domain.com” into IP-addresses such as 1.2.3.4 (machine friendly numbers).

When you wish to host your domain name, you will be provided with an IP address that needs to be set as an A Record for that particular domain name.

II. Mail Exchanger [MX] Record

A MX Record identifies the mail server(s) responsible for a domain name. When sending an e-mail to user@xyz.com, your mail server must first look up the MX Record for xyz.com to see which mail server actually handles mail for xyz.com (this could be mail.xyz.com – or someone else’s mail server like mail.isp.com). Then it looks up the A Record for the mail server to connect to its IP-address.

A MX Record has a Preference number indicating the order in which the mail server should be used (only relevant when multiple MX Records are defined for the same domain name). Mail servers will attempt to deliver mail to the server with the lowest preference number first, and if unsuccessful continue with the next lowest and so on.

III. Canonical Name [Alias / CNAME] Record

CNAME Records are domain name aliases. Often computers on the Internet have multiple functions such as Web Server, FTP Server, Chat Server, etc. To mask this, CNAME Records can be used, to give a single computer multiple names (aliases).

Sometimes companies register their multiple domain names for their brand-names but still wish to maintain a single website. In such cases, a  CNAME Record maybe used to forward traffic to their actual website. For example, www.abc.in could be CNAMEd to www.abc.com.

The most popular use of the CNAME Record type, is to provide access to a Web Server using both the standard www.domain.com and domain.com (without the www). This is usually done by adding a CNAME-record for the www name pointing to the short name [while creating an A Record for the short name (without www)].

CNAME Records can also be used when a computer or service needs to be renamed, to temporarily allow access through both the old and new name.

IV. Authoritative Name Server [NS] Record

NS Records identify DNS servers responsible (authoritative) for a Zone. A Zone should contain one NS Record for each of its own DNS servers (primary and secondaries). This mostly is used for Zone Transfer purposes (notify). These NS Records have the same name as the Zone in which they are located.

But the most important function of the NS Record is Delegation. Delegation means that part of a domain is delegated to other DNS servers.

You can also delegate sub-domains of your own domain name (such as subdomain.yourname.com) to other DNS servers. An NS Record identifies the name of a DNS server, not the IP Address. Because of this, it is important that an A Record for the referenced DNS server exists, otherwise there may not be any way to find that DNS server and communicate with it.

If a NS Record delegates a sub-domain (subdomain.yourname.com) to a DNS Server with a name in that sub-domain (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com), an A Record for that server (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com) must exist in the Parent Zone (yourname.com). This A Record is referred to as a Glue Record, because it doesn’t really belong in the Parent Zone, but is necessary to locate the DNS Server for the delegated sub-domain.

V. Text [TXT] Record

A Text Record provides the ability to associate some text with a domain or a subdomain. This text is meant to strictly provide information and has no functionality as such. A TXT Record can store upto 255 characters of free form text. This record is generally used to convey information about the zone. Multiple TXT records are permitted but their order is not necessarily retained.

For example, you may add a TXT Record for yourname.com with the value as “This is my mail server”. Here if anybody was checking ALL or TXT records of yourname.com, they would notice the above text appearing in the TXT record.

TXT Record is also used to implement the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys specifications.
 

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

Sender Policy Framework is an extension to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SPF allows software to identify and reject forged addresses in the SMTP MAIL FROM (Return-Path), a typical nuisance in e-mail spam.

SPF allows the owner of a domain to specify their mail sending policy, e.g. which mail servers they use to send mail from their domain. The technology requires two sides to work in tandem -

i. the domain owner publishes this information in an TXT Record in the domain’s DNS zone, and when someone else’s mail server receives a message claiming to come from that domain, then

ii. the receiving server can check whether the message complies with the domain’s stated policy. If, for example, the message comes from an unknown server, it can be considered a fake.

Click here to find more information on SPF and how you may use it to authenticate mails being sent from your domain name >>

DomainKeys

DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system (developed at Yahoo!) designed to verify the authenticity of the E-mail sender and the message integrity (i.e,. the message was not altered during transit). The DomainKeys specification has adopted aspects of Identified Internet Mail to create an enhanced protocol called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).

Click here to find more information about DomainKeys and how you can prove and protect an Email Sender’s identity >>
 

VI. Start of Authority [SOA] Parameters

Each Zone contains one SOA Record, which holds the following parameters for the Zone -

Name of Primary DNS Server - The domain name of the Primary DNS Server for the Zone. The Zone should contain a matching NS Record.

Mailbox of the Responsible Person – The email address of the person responsible for maintenance of the Zone.

Serial Number - Used by Secondary DNS Servers to check if the Zone has changed. If the Serial Number is higher than what the Secondary Server has, a Zone Transfer will be initiated. This number is automatically increased by our Servers when changes to the Zone or its Records are made.

Refresh Interval - How often Secondary DNS Servers should check if changes are made to the zone.

Retry Interval - How often Secondary DNS Server should retry checking, if changes are made – if the first refresh fails.

Expire Interval - How long the Zone will be valid after a refresh. Secondary Servers will discard the Zone if no refresh could be made within this interval.

Minimum (Default) TTL - Used as the default TTL for new records created within the zone. Also used by other DNS Server to cache negative responses (such as record does not exist, etc.).

Once you have started using the Domain forwarding service, you need to take the following steps to start using it:

A. Change the Name servers of your Domain name to our Name servers.

For your Domain forwarding service to work, it is essential that all queries for your domain name should reach our Domain Forwarding server, which would further redirect it to the destination you have specified.

Thus, it is vital that after you have bought the Service for a particular Domain Name, you need to change the Name Servers for this Domain Name to our Name Servers.

Follow the process outlined below to know what Name servers you need to use:

1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the Domain name for which you have purchased the Domain Forwarding service.
    
2. In the Order List View that appears, click on that particular Domain Name.
    
3. In the details view, click on View Name Server Details.
    
4. Here, you would find the list of Name servers you need to set for your Domain name.

If the Domain name for which you have purchased this service is registered with Gossimer, refer to the article on Modifying Name servers to learn how to go about changing your Name servers.

OR

Create an A record for your Domain name pointing to the IP address of the Domain forwarding server

B. Add a destination URL for your Domain name. Click here to find out how.

Once you have done so, your Domain name would start redirecting to its destination URL within 24-72 hours of Name server modification.

In addition to this, you might also want to make some additional settings for your domain name, such as

Enabling Sub-domain forwarding

URL Masking

Adding Meta-tags

Most Web Hosting companies do not provide you with an interface to manage your own DNS Records and/or the ability to select multiple providers for various Services like Web Hosting, Mail Hosting, etc..

Gossimer, LLC gives you complete control over the following Resource Records by using our Free DNS Service:

I. Address Record [A Record]

The A Record is the most basic and the most important DNS record type. They are used to translate human friendly domain names such as “www.domain.com” into IP-addresses such as 1.2.3.4 (machine friendly numbers).

When you wish to host your domain name, you will be provided with an IP address that needs to be set as an A Record for that particular domain name.

II. Mail Exchanger [MX] Record

A MX Record identifies the mail server(s) responsible for a domain name. When sending an e-mail to user@xyz.com, your mail server must first look up the MX Record for xyz.com to see which mail server actually handles mail for xyz.com (this could be mail.xyz.com – or someone else’s mail server like mail.isp.com). Then it looks up the A Record for the mail server to connect to its IP-address.

A MX Record has a Preference number indicating the order in which the mail server should be used (only relevant when multiple MX Records are defined for the same domain name). Mail servers will attempt to deliver mail to the server with the lowest preference number first, and if unsuccessful continue with the next lowest and so on.

III. Canonical Name [Alias / CNAME] Record

CNAME Records are domain name aliases. Often computers on the Internet have multiple functions such as Web Server, FTP Server, Chat Server, etc. To mask this, CNAME Records can be used, to give a single computer multiple names (aliases).

Sometimes companies register their multiple domain names for their brand-names but still wish to maintain a single website. In such cases, a  CNAME Record maybe used to forward traffic to their actual website. For example, www.abc.in could be CNAMEd to www.abc.com.

The most popular use of the CNAME Record type, is to provide access to a Web Server using both the standard www.domain.com and domain.com (without the www). This is usually done by adding a CNAME-record for the www name pointing to the short name [while creating an A Record for the short name (without www)].

CNAME Records can also be used when a computer or service needs to be renamed, to temporarily allow access through both the old and new name.

IV. Authoritative Name Server [NS] Record

NS Records identify DNS servers responsible (authoritative) for a Zone. A Zone should contain one NS Record for each of its own DNS servers (primary and secondaries). This mostly is used for Zone Transfer purposes (notify). These NS Records have the same name as the Zone in which they are located.

But the most important function of the NS Record is Delegation. Delegation means that part of a domain is delegated to other DNS servers.

You can also delegate sub-domains of your own domain name (such as subdomain.yourname.com) to other DNS servers. An NS Record identifies the name of a DNS server, not the IP Address. Because of this, it is important that an A Record for the referenced DNS server exists, otherwise there may not be any way to find that DNS server and communicate with it.

If a NS Record delegates a sub-domain (subdomain.yourname.com) to a DNS Server with a name in that sub-domain (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com), an A Record for that server (ns1.subdomain.yourname.com) must exist in the Parent Zone (yourname.com). This A Record is referred to as a Glue Record, because it doesn’t really belong in the Parent Zone, but is necessary to locate the DNS Server for the delegated sub-domain.

V. Text [TXT] RecordA Text Record provides the ability to associate some text with a domain or a subdomain. This text is meant to strictly provide information and has no functionality as such. A TXT Record can store upto 255 characters of free form text. This record is generally used to convey information about the zone. Multiple TXT records are permitted but their order is not necessarily retained.

For example, you may add a TXT Record for yourname.com with the value as “This is my mail server”. Here if anybody was checking ALL or TXT records of yourname.com, they would notice the above text appearing in the TXT record.

TXT Record is also used to implement the Sender Policy Framework (SPF) and DomainKeys specifications.
 

Sender Policy Framework (SPF)

Sender Policy Framework is an extension to the Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP). SPF allows software to identify and reject forged addresses in the SMTP MAIL FROM (Return-Path), a typical nuisance in e-mail spam.

SPF allows the owner of a domain to specify their mail sending policy, e.g. which mail servers they use to send mail from their domain. The technology requires two sides to work in tandem -

i. the domain owner publishes this information in an TXT Record in the domain’s DNS zone, and when someone else’s mail server receives a message claiming to come from that domain, then

ii. the receiving server can check whether the message complies with the domain’s stated policy. If, for example, the message comes from an unknown server, it can be considered a fake.

Click here to find more information on SPF and how you may use it to authenticate mails being sent from your domain name >>

DomainKeys

DomainKeys is an e-mail authentication system (developed at Yahoo!) designed to verify the authenticity of the E-mail sender and the message integrity (i.e,. the message was not altered during transit). The DomainKeys specification has adopted aspects of Identified Internet Mail to create an enhanced protocol called DomainKeys Identified Mail (DKIM).

Click here to find more information about DomainKeys and how you can prove and protect an Email Sender’s identity >>
 

VI. Start of Authority [SOA] Parameters Each Zone contains one SOA Record, which holds the following parameters for the Zone -

Name of Primary DNS Server - The domain name of the Primary DNS Server for the Zone. The Zone should contain a matching NS Record.

Mailbox of the Responsible Person – The email address of the person responsible for maintenance of the Zone.

Serial Number - Used by Secondary DNS Servers to check if the Zone has changed. If the Serial Number is higher than what the Secondary Server has, a Zone Transfer will be initiated. This number is automatically increased by our Servers when changes to the Zone or its Records are made.

Refresh Interval - How often Secondary DNS Servers should check if changes are made to the zone.

Retry Interval - How often Secondary DNS Server should retry checking, if changes are made – if the first refresh fails.

Expire Interval - How long the Zone will be valid after a refresh. Secondary Servers will discard the Zone if no refresh could be made within this interval.

Minimum (Default) TTL - Used as the default TTL for new records created within the zone. Also used by other DNS Server to cache negative responses (such as record does not exist, etc.).

We provide you with a FREE set of Partially Branded Name Servers for all the web services that you sell. These Name Servers are hosted on Servers provided by us. These will be used by your Customers if they choose to buy any of your other services for their domain names, through Gossimer. As such, you can customize these Name Servers only if you’ve signed up for the additional services viz., Domain Forwarding, Email Forwarding and Managed DNS.

You can alternatively choose to have your own Fully Branded Name Servers pointed to ours and use them instead. This can be accomplished by following this process:-

1. Login into your Reseller Control panel from http://manage.gossimer.biz/reseller.

2. Go to Settings -> Name servers and select one of the following options

I. Partially Branded Name Servers

You will be given 4 Partially Branded Name Servers, of the form

<prefix>.mercury.orderbox-dns.com
<prefix>.venus.orderbox-dns.com
<prefix>.earth.orderbox-dns.com
<prefix>.mars.orderbox-dns.com

This <prefix> is the same as the one used for your Partially Branded Storefront URL i.e., <prefix>.myorderbox.com. Click here to know how to modify your Partially Branded Storefront URL >>
 

II. Fully Branded Name Servers

If you want Fully Branded Name Servers, then you would have to create A records pointing to the IP addresses mentioned below.

Thus, if you wish your Fully Branded Name Servers in the form

ns1.mydomainname.com.
ns2.mydomainname.com.
ns3.mydomainname.com.
ns4.mydomainname.com.

Then, you would have to create Address (A) Records for each of your Name Servers, as shown below

• ns1.mydomainname.com: Create 3 A Records for this Name Server, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 67.15.47.189, 67.15.253.220, 67.15.253.251
   

• ns2.mydomainname.com: Create 3 A Records for this Name Server, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 74.54.56.227, 74.54.56.231, 74.54.56.236
   

• ns3.mydomainname.com: Create 3 A Records for this Name Server, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 67.15.47.188, 67.15.253.219, 67.15.253.252
   

• ns4.mydomainname.com: Create 3 A Records for this Name Server, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 66.249.5.25, 66.249.5.105, 66.249.5.122
   

In addition to this, you would also have to create Child Name Servers for your Domain Name i.e., you would have to create Child Name Servers (Register Name Servers) for mydomainname.com, using the IP Addresses mentioned above.

Create/Register all Child Name Servers with the following IP Addresses -

• ns1.mydomainname.com: Create 3 Child Name Servers for this domain name with the same Host Name, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 67.15.47.189, 67.15.253.220, 67.15.253.251
   

• ns2.mydomainname.com: Create 3 Child Name Servers for this domain name with the same Host Name, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 74.54.56.227, 74.54.56.231, 74.54.56.236
   

• ns3.mydomainname.com: Create 3 Child Name Servers for this domain name with the same Host Name, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 67.15.47.188, 67.15.253.219, 67.15.253.252
   

• ns4.mydomainname.com: Create 3 Child Name Servers for this domain name with the same Host Name, each pointing to a unique IP Address from among these – 66.249.5.25, 66.249.5.105, 66.249.5.122
   

Reference:

Click here to know how to create Child Name Servers if you have registered mydomainname.com with Gossimer >>
Click here to know how to set your Name Servers as your Customers Default Name Servers while registering domain names >>

In order to connect from a remote host, you need to use the IP Address of your hosting package to establish the connection. You can find this on the Order Details page in your Control Panel.

By default, your website becomes visible to all people browsing the Internet. Typically, large websites running forums, blogs, ecommerce activities, etc. are prone to abuse from spammers, people posting malicious content, etc., causing disruption of website services. The most effective method of dealing with such nuisance is to deny access to your website from such mischief mongers.

Using Gossimer’s IP Deny Manager tool within your Web Hosting Control Panel, you can easily control access to your website based on the visitor’s IP Address. Moreover, you may deny access from all IP Addresses of a particular block of IP Addresses, if you are receiving constant abuse from the entire range of IP Addresses.

Follow the process listed below to block/allow access to your website based on IP Addresses:

 
1. Login to your Control Panel and search for the domain name for which you have purchased this hosting package. Click here to know how >>
    
2. In the search results view, click on the domain name. This will take you to the Order Details View.
    
3. Click on Manage Web Hosting Service in the lower toolbar.
    
4. In the Website Management interface pop-up that follows,
   

   go to Manage Website -> IP Deny Manager, if you have a Windows web hosting package

   or

   go to Manage Website -> Web Server Manager -> IP Deny Manager, if you have a Linux web hosting package
    

5. From this interface, you may either restrict access to your website or allow previously blocked IP Addresses to access your website. a. Restricting Access to your website – You may mention either one or more individual IP Addresses, or entire Blocks of IP Addresses on  individual lines.

   Examples

   i. If you wish to block a single IP Address, simply input the same in the textbox as

    1.1.1.1

   ii. If you wish to block multiple individual IP Addresses, then you may mention them on separate lines

    2.2.2.2
    3.3.3.3

   iii. If you wish to block an entire range of IP Addresses, then you may mention them as

    4.4.4.*
    5.5.*.*
    6.*.*.*

   IMPORTANT  

   1. Use extreme caution when deciding to deny access to entire range of IP Addresses, as you might end up denying access to your genuine visitors.

   2. IP Address of the type *.*.*.* is not allowed.
    

   b. Allowing Access to your website - If you wish to enable access to a previously blocked IP Address, then you need to simply select that IP Address in the textbox and press the Delete key on your computer’s keyboard.
    

6. Clicking on the Submit button would save all your settings.