Hi, I've started a thread here:
http://www.linuxquestions.org/questi...threadid=62978
That explains my desire:
I want to buy a domain and have it associated with my IP for use as an http server ultimately. Now...

Where do /etc/hostname /etc/domainname /etc/hosts and entries in Postfix/Apache come into play here?
What I mean is, from my confusion I don't understand what a domainname is versus what a hostname is; also I seem to be missing the point of having those things defined since (from my assumption in the other thread) my IP should be associated with that domain name off in la-la land where all IP's are associated at (the DNS backbones I guess).

And what is a DNS versus a domain name? I was under the impression DNS = Domain Name Service. If so, why do some websites (I'm assuming they are called registrars) offer DNS service and domain name purchase as 2 seperate things?

Thanks for any clarification.

Cool

domain name is the mydomain.net, mydomain.org, mydomain.com etc part - just a name. The bit before it is the host name mybigcar.mydomain.com which could identify a unique machine but not necessarily.

DNS is a protocol or method that links an IP to a domain name



Putting entries into /etc/hosts maps IP names to computer names without having to run your own DNS server or anything - its a convenience thing - you can refer to coputers via their name rather than IP address.

If your using Dynamic DNS to make your servers public you don't have to bother changing the names of your computers at all really - just make sure say the correct traffic makes it to the correct computer ie. for Apache make sure port 80 traffic is directed to the correct machine. You can safely just leave everything as it is aslong as whoever is doing DNS for you has your proper IP address.

You can tell Postfix and Apache explicitly what your domain name is without having to change anything on your computers - although with apache at the basic level you don't even have to bother telling it that either

Thank you! I'm learning this stuff slowly but surely, and was grasping more and more, but couldn't fathom the need for a hostname and a domainname or what /etc/hosts was used for.

Thank you for the info you've provided!

Cool