How to point domain names to a windows server 2008 Web Edition and manage subdomains ect

Question

I really don't know where to go with this as I don't normally have to sort domains out on this level. Hers is what I want and have:

1. I am using Windows Server 2008 Web Edition (so no DNS Role).

What I need:

1. I want to be able to point my domain name at my windows server which I will have running XAMPP - I assume I need to set up some name servers on my server.
2. I will need to be able to add subdomains and I want to be able to manage them on the windows machine.

Could someone point me in the right direction because I am a little lost. I normally use CPanel and have all this done for me..

Please let me know if you need any more information and I will provide it.

Answer 1

It's quite a lot to explain here, but let me give you some basics and a few pointers as to where you should look for more information.

You don't need a DNS role if your domain is hosted somewhere on a DNS service. You only need to create records.

For web, you would probably want to create 2 A records:

domain.tld A 12.12.12.12 www.domain.tld A 12.12.12.12

On your server, XAMPP is running Apache so you can basically check out the official Apache documentation for a lot of information on how to do it.

This guide: http://www.tildemark.com/setting-up-virtual-hosts-with-xampp-running-on-windows-xp/ seems like it explains in short what you need to do with the XAMPP configuration.

Answer 2

To answer the immediate question, you can install a 3rd-party DNS server such as BIND on Windows and use it to manage your DNS records if you like.

Whether or not you should do so is an entirely different question. If you're just managing one domain and don't have any special/specific needs, I highly recommend using the DNS hosting provided with your domain registration (many registrar provide basic DNS management for free). If your registrar doesn't provide DNS management with your domain, then there are a number of options available.

All of the DNS services linked above will provide assistance in setting up your DNS records and provide a friendly interface to configure your records, mail servers, IP addresses, etc.