On Sep 22, 2011, at 3:14 PM, Robert Bonomi wrote: >> From owner-freebsd-questi...@freebsd.org Thu Sep 22 14:30:49 2011 >> Date: Thu, 22 Sep 2011 12:30:54 -0700 >> From: Gary Kline <kl...@thought.org> >> To: FreeBSD Mailing List <freebsd-questions@freebsd.org> >> Cc: >> Subject: much to my surprise.... >> >> >> guys, >> >> well, after a forced, unexpected, and emergency 5 days away, i got >> back to my desk and could not ping. while mail seemed to be working, >> and my *local* ping worked---I could ping around from my freebsd server >> to my other computers--i spent 3+ hours trying to ping various >> sites. Zero. i tried everything i could think of. NOTHING worked. >> i tried the -d -f -f to named and on and on and on. nothing. >> >> *Finally*, i saw that my telco router was displaying "INT" in red >> LED's. i didn't know they displayed in any other color but the >> default green, but after power-cycling, voila! back to green. >> and now, yes, i can ping freebsd.org. and i'm pretty sure other >> network things will work too. >> >> from any/all sysadmin types or others:: >> i would like tricks, tips, insights--whatever--about named and >> whatever else. i thought i had collected many. nope. i've got >> bind 9.8 installed and it was working fine until my recent >> 'vacation.' Other than checking one's routers (hub/switch), and other >> hardware (including server, computers, cables, etc) does anybody have a >> checklist of what to do to diagnose this? are there any other >> utilities i can try besides ping and named -d 3 -f -g? other >> network utilities with a debug flag? i'm running 7.3 on a dell 530. >> >> tia for any insights, > > You should _really_ consider hiring a professional to maintain your > systems. > > Diagnosing _this_ problem should have taken no more than about 30 > *seconds*. > > If you can't get somewhere 'by name', you try to get there 'by address'. > > If 'by address' works and 'by name' doesn't, *that* is the indication of > a DNS problem. > > If you can't get there 'by address', it is *NOT* a DNS problem, and you > start looking for a 'connectivity' problem. > > The *BASIC* tools for that start with 'traceroute'. Which would have > *immediately* (well, within abut ten seconds :) indicated exactly _where_ > the problem was. > > Those who don't understand these kind dof things are "too dangerous" > to be trusted with the superuser password. > > Bluntly, not only do you not know the things you need to know to manage > a (even 'personal') network, you "DON'T KNOW _what_ you don't know", and > until you *do* learn the basics, you'll save youself a *LOT* of hair- > tearing if you hire someone to solve the problems for you.
I whole-heartedly agree with Robert's points. I host in my apartment... but I have more than a decade's experience maintaining networks and systems and, while the occasional issue stumps me, I'm pretty good at getting to the root of issues in minutes vs hours. Yes, I was once a... for lack of a better term... moron on these things and I relied heavily on the tech who pushed me (gently) towards ƒBSD from RHL and I am gracious every day for that nudge. Experience is the best way to pick up the "quick list" of things to check on if there's a problem on your connectivity... but there's one thing I *must* stress: NEVER EVER EVER run your own DNS service. It's too much of a PITA. When I quit doing my own DNS my issues revolving around that ended. I use DynDNS to run my primary domain and all the others run through GoDaddy's free DNS manager. This is because I use the primary domain's hostname as my MX record on all the others. While GD's DNS is functional, it's also cumbersome, too cumbersome to update on a semi-regular basis. I highly suggest that you do the same. $20/year for DynDNS' full domain service is worth the price. My two bits (and a nibble). -- Ryan_______________________________________________ freebsd-questions@freebsd.org mailing list http://lists.freebsd.org/mailman/listinfo/freebsd-questions To unsubscribe, send any mail to "freebsd-questions-unsubscr...@freebsd.org"
