Hello all!

I just became a proud owner (leaser?) of one of the AMD/Plesk boxes. I'm cranking through everything to get it set up but I wanted to ask for some advice. I have about 15-20 small websites that I host with another reseller. I want to transfer them all to this new box but I want to do it with the minimal amount of disruption.

Here's the catch: I have all the domains on the other box set to point to my own custom nameservers: ns.sharphosting.net and ns2.sharphosting.net, which actually just map to my reseller's nameservers (I think).

I registered my new box here at RS as sharphosting.net but I haven't transferred the name yet (of course).

My plan, I think, is to get DNS working with local nameservers on the RS box, get two IPs and set up "ns.sharphosting.net" and "ns2.sharphosting.net" (same as is currently set on my other reseller hosting). But I won't actually transfer the registered name... it'll still point to the old reseller.

Then, I'll set up all the web accounts on the RS machine and get the DNS settings all set. I should be able to check this locally (within the RS network), right?

Finally, I'll have all the settings right, except everything will be IP-based because all the domain names will still be pointing at the old reseller. Then, all I have to do is update the DNS for sharphosting.net (and ns/ns2.sharphosting.net) and voila! Since all my client's domains refer to my own nameservers, as soon as those switch to the RS box all the client's domains will be switched as well.

I've never done much with DNS so I'm not sure if this is the best plan. Can I set up and test DNS settings based upon IPs for nameservers, or does it need the name mapping for the nameservers as well?

Is there a better way to do this? I imagine a lot of you came to RackShack for the same reason as me: started reselling virtual hosting for a while but got tired of not being able to control the box and/or got too big for virtual hosting on someone else's box... so decided to get a dedicated box and do-it-yerself!

Or, if there's a thread that already covers this, I'd appreciate being pointed in that direction.

Thanks so much!

-Danimal

Well,

I guess I should have dug a little more before I posted. Looks like the Plesk DNS forum has some answers about DNS.

I'd still be interested in hearing strategies employed for seamlessly (or near-seamlessly) switching a handful of hosted accounts to a RS Plesk box.

Thanks!

-Danimal