Domain Parking?

[rixride00]

Ok, I am still new to domains, but I have a dedicated server I do my hosting on.

Its a Linux Box with Cpanel, I just purchased a couple of domains and I want to set up 1 site with 2 or 3 domains pointed to it.

In Cpanel there is a setting for "parked domains" but it asks for the name servers.

I have general understanding of nameservers but I was told I shouldn't use my hosting box to be a nameserver it should be seperate, so that is what I think I am doing, does that mean I can't park domains on my box?

Thanks.
PS I use Zone Edit right now to point domains to my current box.

Is there any kinda of crash course that will help me understand the relationship of nameservers, to parking to forwarding to whatever.


Thanks.

 

[Nameable]

I'll take a whack... anyone else can probably add more.

This stuff can get VERY technical, but basically nameservers map hostnames (e.g. www.domain.com) to IP addresses (e.g. 10.12.32.34). In order to get to a website, your browser automatically looks up the sites IP address using the hostname you typed in (or clicked).

When you 'park' a domain, it just means that you aren't putting up an active website... instead you have an 'under construction' or 'for sale' type of page.

There are PPC parking engines that help you make money from your parked domains. Instead of pointing the domain at your own server, you point it at the service's server.

To answer your question more directly - generally speaking, one server should perform one function. A computer that runs a nameserver should be doing just that and not running your website, database, and email all at once. Now, many people get away with doing these functions all on one box because they get a low volume of traffic. If you don't get a ton of traffic or are just starting out, go ahead and run a nameserver on your dedicated box so you can learn about how all these things work.

Sooner or later you'll outgrow your single-box configuration and will need to move things around, but by then you'll have a better understanding of how it all works.