Subdomain Configuration
Published: Monday, August 16, 2004
Subdomain Configuration
A subdomain configuration is very similar to a domain name configuration. The only difference is that the subdomain entry is tied to the corresponding domain name lookup. A request for the subdomain (e.g. http://content.websitegear.com) will be routed to a DNS server containing the DNS information for the parent domain (websitegear.com). Once the DNS record for the subdomain is resolved to a particular IP address, the request is sent to the web server listening on that IP address. The web server can now delegate the request to the particular website based on the subdomain name in the host header of the request object. Various combinations of subdomain configurations are possible by using DNS server entries and web server application setup for load distribution, application isolation or security purposes.
Subdomain Setup on DNS server
The forward lookup zone of the parent domain in the DNS server should contain a pointer to the sub domain using either an alias (CNAME), a hostname (A) or a mail enchanger (MX) entry. The alias (CNAME) record is used for a subdomain if the subdomain points to a website running on the same web server at the same IP address as the parent domain website. A new hostname (A) record is used if the subdomain points to a different web server, or to the same web server listening on a different IP address (as in the case of load distribution).
Alias (CNAME) Setup: An alias points the subdomain to the same web server, which hosts the website for the parent domain. The canonical names (CNAMES) are added for each of the subdomains as shown below. Once the subdomain is resolved to the IP address of the web server, the web server can route the request to a different website (see section on web server setup below). Note that an alias for www is setup as a subdomain by default by most hosting companies, so that requests to www.domain.com is sent to the same website that handles the requests for domain.com.
www IN CNAME domain.com.
subdomain1 IN CNAME domain.com.
subdomain2 IN CNAME domain.com.
Address (A) Record Setup: A hostname DNS entry is required if the subdomain is pointing to a different IP address than that set for the domain name. Add the address (A) records to the forward lookup zone of the parent domain and associate the address records with the IP addresses of the web servers, which will handle the requests for the subdomain.
subdomain1 IN A 123.2.33.45.
subdomain2 IN A 123.2.33.46.
Mail Exchanger (MX) Setup: The mail exchanger subdomain configuration is required if an email server is setup to handle the subdomain mail accounts. For example, an email address like [email protected] will require a subdomain setup for resolving the mail server for arts.myschool.edu. The setup is similar to the CNAME setup but with MX records.
subdomain1 IN MX 10 subdomain1.domain.com.
subdomain2 IN MX 10 subdomain2.domain.com.
Note: If the subdomain is configured on another DNS name server, a Nameserver (NS) record has to be created for the subdomain on the corresponding domain name DNS server, so that it can delegate the subdomain lookup to the other name servers. Using different name servers can eliminate security issues in cases where the subdomains are maintained by separate administrators. However, the lookup carries an additional overhead.
Configuring the web server for subdomains
Once the DNS server is setup to send the request for the subdomain to the corresponding IP address, the work of the web server begins. The web server needs to be configured appropriately to handle the request for the subdomain based on either the IP address or the host header entry. Host headers are commonly used by web servers to host multiple domains or subdomains on one IP address.
Microsoft Windows IIS : In case of Internet Information Server (IIS), create a new web site for the subdomain using the IIS Manager, and add the subdomain (e.g. subdomain.domain.com) as a new host header value listening to the same IP address as specified in the DNS entry. The port is set to 80 (the default for http requests). The host header can be added by clicking on the advanced tab next to the IP address configuration for that web site application. If the subdomain points to a subdirectory of the web site for the domain, then set the home directory for the subdomain web site to the subdirectory. For example, if the domain.com points to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\ and the subdomain needs to be setup for C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\subdomain, then the directory for the subdomain website should be set to C:\Inetpub\wwwroot\subdomain.
Apache Web Server : In case of Apache web server, the subdomain is configured by virtual host entries in httpd.conf as shown below.
Listen 80
NameVirtualHost *
<VirtualHost *>
ServerName www.domain.com
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/htdocs/
</VirtualHost>
<VirtualHost *>
ServerName subdomain.domain.com
DocumentRoot /home/httpd/htdocs/subdomain/
</VirtualHost>
Conclusion
Subdomain configuration starts with an entry in the DNS server of the parent domain and the lookup resolves the subdomain to an IP address of the web server. The web server in turn delegates the requests based on its configuration for the subdomain. Various subdomain configurations can be used effectively to distribute the load evenly among available web applications or web servers listening to different IP addresses. The load distribution is achieved by the DNS round robin feature of the BIND. Other uses include application isolation, simpler and professional looking URL, content categorization etc.