01Why your own name servers: TTL, independence, responsibility
The first block briefly explains what you sign up for when you move to your own name servers. TTL 60 instead of 3600: at a provider the TTL is usually an hour, so a sending address can only be changed once every two hours, while on your own NS you lower the zone's TTL to a minute — and a change spreads almost at once. The second argument is independence from someone else's panel and its API. The third is responsibility: a name server that goes down takes the whole domain with it, so this is a decision to make with your eyes open. Above the block you see when delegation was last checked, and the “Add a set” button. If the arguments convince you, the next step is to create a name server set on one of your servers.
02Name server sets: PowerDNS, addresses and glue
A set is a pair of name servers, ns1 and ns2, on one of your servers, and here you see its state. The “Own name servers” set is running: PowerDNS 4.9.3, and the service answered the last check. The mode is a separate carrier, zonecarrier.net: the names ns1 and ns2 on addresses 192.0.2.11 and 192.0.2.101 of one server, with 24 of 26 domains moved to the set. Below the cells is what to set once at the carrier domain's registrar: the name servers and the “name → address” glue; the carrier's own zone with these addresses is kept by the service. “Reinstall” asks for confirmation first: the zones and their records are kept, but they don't answer while the installation runs.
03Domains: what to set at the registrar, and whether delegation matches
This is the delegation working screen: for each domain on your name servers, two halves side by side. On the left is what to set at the registrar: the server names, the addresses and whether glue is needed. On the right is what public DNS servers see. For box.fernmarket.co the delegation matches: they return exactly ns1 and ns2.zonecarrier.net. offers.lumaclub.net has just been added: public servers see no name servers for it, and none of the domain's records has been exported yet — 15 of 15 are waiting. The Hub changes nothing at the registrar; after making changes there, click “Check delegation” instead of waiting for the hourly check.
04Not moved yet: domains with their zone at a provider
This block lists the domains whose zone is still kept at a provider — in the example, a bank's two domains in DNSmanager, each with its own node. To move a domain to your own name server, choose a set in its row: the Hub asks for confirmation, then creates a zone on the name server and unlinks the domain from the provider. After that the order matters: export the records into the new zone, then change the name servers at the registrar, then check the delegation. The records go to your server with the next export, and the name servers at the registrar are changed by the domain owner. Once moved, the domain appears in the “Domains” block above, where you can see whether delegation matches.
05New set: server, naming mode and the ns1 and ns2 addresses
This form creates a new name server set: the name, the server, the naming mode and the ns1 and ns2 addresses. The “Names from the domain” mode gives each domain its own ns1, while “Separate carrier” gives all domains shared names with the glue set once. When you choose a server, its address fills in by itself. Here the second address is taken from another server, and the form warns you right away: the service won't be able to use it, and the installation would stop with the same explanation. The form itself installs nothing: the service is installed on the server with the button on the set's card. You can leave the second address empty — then both names point to the first one.
