D. Strout
Resident IPv6 Proponent
Me again! As y'all know by now, I'm working on an integrated server/domain/DNS management system. For the DNS part, I am setting up integration with popular DNS APIs, and I'm trying to figure out the best way to sync DNS from the provider via the API. As I see it, there are three ways to handle syncing.
Automatic: All domains that use a DNS API are updated on a cron job. Once a day doesn't seem unreasonable. Pros: Doesn't hit the API servers too hard, (mostly) seamless to the user. Cons: Records could be outdated.
Manual: When a user wants to modify the DNS, they have to manually "click a button" that will load the DNS records. Pros: Unlikely to ever be out of date. Cons: Annoying for the user.
Just-in-time: When the user opens the DNS management page for their domain, the records load behind the scenes. Pros: Unlikely to be out of date. Doesn't hit API servers too hard. If everything works well, it is seamless. Cons: If the records take a while to load, the DNS management page will take that amount of time, plus (could be alleviated with a timeout). Loads records even if the user only wishes to view info about the domain.
The JIT option seems to make the most sense, but the drawbacks aren't insignificant. Perhaps I should give the users the option of how to sync? I feel like that's a bad idea - you know, KISS and all.
Automatic: All domains that use a DNS API are updated on a cron job. Once a day doesn't seem unreasonable. Pros: Doesn't hit the API servers too hard, (mostly) seamless to the user. Cons: Records could be outdated.
Manual: When a user wants to modify the DNS, they have to manually "click a button" that will load the DNS records. Pros: Unlikely to ever be out of date. Cons: Annoying for the user.
Just-in-time: When the user opens the DNS management page for their domain, the records load behind the scenes. Pros: Unlikely to be out of date. Doesn't hit API servers too hard. If everything works well, it is seamless. Cons: If the records take a while to load, the DNS management page will take that amount of time, plus (could be alleviated with a timeout). Loads records even if the user only wishes to view info about the domain.
The JIT option seems to make the most sense, but the drawbacks aren't insignificant. Perhaps I should give the users the option of how to sync? I feel like that's a bad idea - you know, KISS and all.
