Hosting Complexities

This gets a bit confusing, so just read through the entire thing before throwing in your $.02. I have a domain that is currently parked with Go Daddy (Host 1). I would like to actually use this domain now. I was thinking about going with DreamHost (Host 2) for the web site and FastMail.FM (Host 3) for the email. I would like to keep Host 1 as the domain host because of their extensive DNS controls and don’t trust Host 2 with this. I will get a static IP with Host 2 and just change the MX record to Host 3 for email. Now, here’s my question: Can I just change the A record with Host 1 to reflect the IP of my site with Host 2 without running into problems? Go Daddy seems to think I can do this by changing the IP address in the A record to the static IP I get from Host 2.

I realize I could solve all of this by just sticking with one host, but I would prefer to do it this way unless it’s going to cause problems. Maybe I’m just crazy (or don’t fully understand how networks function).

UPDATE: I went ahead and did everything this afternoon and it all works just fine.

3 comments.

  1. Brad, I’m doing this right now with my sites. All of them are registered with goDaddy as the registrar, all of them are hosted with Dreamhost. Maybe I just don’t get the problem? Email me if you need more info.

  2. That should work just fine.

  3. Caryn – It was just a little complex when I was thinking about it and didn’t know if something with regards to DNS would get screwed up if I went the route I explained above. I went ahead and did everything and it’s all working just fine.