5 ms·

Responding to several comments in this thread RE: what is the point of doing this ... The point of running your own email and dns server is so that you are a p

by rsync 9y ago

Responding to several comments in this thread RE: what is the point of doing this ... The point of running your own email and dns server is so that you are a peer on the network.[1] This is important and is becoming lost in the current era of Internet adoption. By many measures the Internet is the largest cultural and commercial force in the world today and by an accident of history, the researchers at (D)ARPA gave us a network that allowed normal citizens to be peers on the network. Don't lose this. [1] As opposed to, for instance, the telephone network. You can own your own domain and perform the first level of network interaction on your Internet systems, but the analogy on the phone network (owning your own phone number and controlling the first touch from other networks) by creating a CLEC is administratively and financially ($100k +) impossible.

Santosh83 9y ago
I get where you're coming from but wouldn't being a proper peer on the Internet imply that you would need some kind of backbone access and be an ISP yourself?
- adreamingsoul 9y ago
  No.
- kevindqc 9y ago
  Maybe once net neutrality goes down the drain
- zrm 9y ago
  Comcast has a huge network but none of their customers are only talking to each other, they're talking to Verizon's customers and Google and Facebook and Amazon. Everyone has to interconnect with everyone else regardless of how big they are. All it takes to be a proper peer on the internet is a public IP address.
  - bpicolo 9y ago
    My ISP rotates through ipv6 addresses now (and frequently, at least several times a day). Makes that tough
    - toomuchtodo 9y ago
      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DDNS_-_How_to_setup_Custom_DDNS_settings_using_embedded_inadyn_-_HOWTO https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DDNS_-_How_to_setup_Cu...
      - zrm 9y ago
        That isn't much help for running your own DNS server though, since it's is a bit of a chicken and egg problem then. It's also hard to run a mail server on a residential connection because most of them block SMTP. Fortunately there is another alternative, which is to get your public address from somewhere other than your local ISP. Some VPN providers offer a static IP or you can set up your own VPN to a VM on any cloud host and forward incoming traffic back over the tunnel.
    - takeda 9y ago
      That feels like assholish thing to do. The great thing about IPv6 was that there's enough of them that everyone and everything could get one. If it changes it defeats that purpose.
      - robocat 9y ago
        Browsing using a static IPv6 (or IPv4) that is unique to you is terrible for your privacy. Randomly reusing the same limited set of IPv6 addresses would help privacy a little.
      - tir 9y ago
        I'm sure for a mere $25 more a month they'll provide a static address.
- Spivak 9y ago
  Nope, all you need is a public address, some technical know-how, and the will.
siegecraft 9y ago
I think calling it peer is misleading/imprecise, since in the context of the internet peer/peering refers to the interconnection of two networks, having your own AS, running BGP, etc.
- rsync 9y ago
  "I think calling it peer is misleading/imprecise, since in the context of the internet peer/peering refers to the interconnection of two networks" That is what peering agreements are but I believe in the broader context of the Internet, any routable IP address can, and should be, considered a peer: "Each layer has one or more protocols for communicating with its peer at the same layer."[1] [1] TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1, p.3
digitalsin 9y ago
You hit the nail straight across the head. It's staggering the number of people relegating so many things like mail and DNS to a handful of companies becoming too large to fight against, or force to be wholly transparent, and everything else that goes along with that. It's truly scary and it doesn't have to be this way.
danjoc 9y ago
You're not running your own mail server without rDNS and that requires your ISP. This guy is talking about running a dynamic IP, he's not getting rDNS for that. Without rDNS, your mail is assumed spam and does not reach destination. Also, not available without business class, at least on my ISP, is port 80. You won't be hosting many web properties if Joe user types in yourdomain.com into a browser without the leading https:// https://, which nobody does anywhere. If browser makers defaulted to https, I'm sure the ISP would fix this glaring hole in their non-business class plans promptly.

by rsync 9y ago

Santosh83 9y ago

I get where you're coming from but wouldn't being a proper peer on the Internet imply that you would need some kind of backbone access and be an ISP yourself?

adreamingsoul 9y ago
No.
kevindqc 9y ago
Maybe once net neutrality goes down the drain
zrm 9y ago
Comcast has a huge network but none of their customers are only talking to each other, they're talking to Verizon's customers and Google and Facebook and Amazon. Everyone has to interconnect with everyone else regardless of how big they are. All it takes to be a proper peer on the internet is a public IP address.
- bpicolo 9y ago
  My ISP rotates through ipv6 addresses now (and frequently, at least several times a day). Makes that tough
  - toomuchtodo 9y ago
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dynamic_DNS https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DDNS_-_How_to_setup_Custom_DDNS_settings_using_embedded_inadyn_-_HOWTO https://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/DDNS_-_How_to_setup_Cu...
    - zrm 9y ago
      That isn't much help for running your own DNS server though, since it's is a bit of a chicken and egg problem then. It's also hard to run a mail server on a residential connection because most of them block SMTP. Fortunately there is another alternative, which is to get your public address from somewhere other than your local ISP. Some VPN providers offer a static IP or you can set up your own VPN to a VM on any cloud host and forward incoming traffic back over the tunnel.
  - takeda 9y ago
    That feels like assholish thing to do. The great thing about IPv6 was that there's enough of them that everyone and everything could get one. If it changes it defeats that purpose.
    - robocat 9y ago
      Browsing using a static IPv6 (or IPv4) that is unique to you is terrible for your privacy. Randomly reusing the same limited set of IPv6 addresses would help privacy a little.
    - tir 9y ago
      I'm sure for a mere $25 more a month they'll provide a static address.
Spivak 9y ago
Nope, all you need is a public address, some technical know-how, and the will.

siegecraft 9y ago

I think calling it peer is misleading/imprecise, since in the context of the internet peer/peering refers to the interconnection of two networks, having your own AS, running BGP, etc.

rsync 9y ago
"I think calling it peer is misleading/imprecise, since in the context of the internet peer/peering refers to the interconnection of two networks" That is what peering agreements are but I believe in the broader context of the Internet, any routable IP address can, and should be, considered a peer: "Each layer has one or more protocols for communicating with its peer at the same layer."[1] [1] TCP/IP Illustrated, Volume 1, p.3

digitalsin 9y ago

You hit the nail straight across the head. It's staggering the number of people relegating so many things like mail and DNS to a handful of companies becoming too large to fight against, or force to be wholly transparent, and everything else that goes along with that. It's truly scary and it doesn't have to be this way.

danjoc 9y ago

You're not running your own mail server without rDNS and that requires your ISP. This guy is talking about running a dynamic IP, he's not getting rDNS for that. Without rDNS, your mail is assumed spam and does not reach destination. Also, not available without business class, at least on my ISP, is port 80. You won't be hosting many web properties if Joe user types in yourdomain.com into a browser without the leading https:// https://, which nobody does anywhere. If browser makers defaulted to https, I'm sure the ISP would fix this glaring hole in their non-business class plans promptly.