Changeip hostname to name.local rendered server inaccessible most of the time

Question

I followed the instructions here:
http://maymay.net/blog/2007/09/19/changing-the-hostname-on-mac-os-x-server/
According to Apple, I also have to change the hostname somewhere else.
http://support.apple.com/kb/TA24015
"Before running changeip, be sure you have updated the server's hostname in DNS to match the hostname provided to changeip; otherwise errors will be logged in system.log, and services may not function properly".
I am not if you have followed my plight before currently running DNS so I changed it as described in the blog post above to be the bonjour name. Sometimes I can access it at [email protected] On some computers 100% of the time, and on some computers not at all. This may very well have to do with whether or not they are on the same subnet.
What I'm wondering is did I use the changeip command correctly, or should the unix name be separate from the bonjour name? When I first set it up, it seemed to function once I enabled DHCP. I was trying to solve a daylite problem originally. c'est la vie.
I am primarily trying to use it as a local file server/daylite server. Daylite mostly functions, while the file server does not. I hope this isn't extraneous information. Probably I need to access it via IP?
I'll post the original Daylite KB article if that would be useful to you.
--Sam

Answer 1

You can use both Bonjour (multicast DNS) and traditional DNS (unicast DNS) together.  Your clients can use your own DNS server to access LAN-local services, and Bonjour where that's appropriate (eg: client to client, server to client, etc).
To do the internal and external demarcation, register two domain names.  I usually use different TLDs on the same domain, and registering and holding a few extra of these domains means you won't have "fun" later, as the DNS namespace continues to fill up.
You can then use the external domain name for hosted mail services and stuff that's accessible outside your LAN, and that'll be the domain name that's listed in the hosting service's or your ISP's public-facing DNS.
Your internal network uses your own DNS server, and your DNS server then provides translations for your static-addressed devices on your network (eg: network printers, your external gateway-router-firewall device, any NAS devices, your Mac OS X Server box, etc), are referenced in your local DNS using your internal domain name.  Your internal domain name and your local host translations are all used within your private DNS server configuration, and the translations are not accessible outside your LAN; you need to be connected to your LAN directly, or via VPN.
Using the two domain names means you don't have to manage the same domain name for both internal and external sites, and the external DNS services.  You're managing two separate and non-overlapping domains this way, rather than one domain name that has two seperate and authoritative servers active.
There's a whole lot more detail in that DNS article you're probably reading by now, too.