The Sheer Magic of DynDNS.org

If you aren't yet familiar with DynDNS.org, you should be.

For several years now, DynDNS has offered a free (yes, ma, free) DNS service for people with dynamic IP addresses.  This allowed people with a highspeed always-on internet connection to get a domain name.

See, if you have cable modem or DSL, you really have enough bandwidth to run a light-volume internet host from your home.  The problem is, you can't register a domain name, because your IP address changes from time to time.  Enter DynDNS.  They have software that detects when your IP changes, and it updates their routing table.

Unfortunately, the only domain names you can use are extensions to their preset names (names like myserver.dynalias.net).  For many uses this is enough.  I've been using webculture.dynalias.net for years as a domain name for my company's backoffice server.  It really works, and it's free.

Free.  The word seductively rolls from my tongue.  MMMmmmmm freeeeeee.

But now, DynDNS offers another service that may change everything for me.

For about $25 per year, they'll run a dynamic DNS service for any domain name.  You register the name with the registrar of your choice (say, GoDaddy) and point the domain to DynDNS' nameservers.  That's it.

What you'll find is that if you have a reasonably reliable high speed internet service, you can easily run a web site on your personal machine (or, if you're like me, on your own server at home).  In case you're wondering, Dell sells servers perfect for this sort of light-duty use starting around $350.

If this works well enough, I may even decide to host ProRec.com at home.