{"id":94,"date":"2017-11-12T11:12:12","date_gmt":"2017-11-12T11:12:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.cheapdomainregistration.com\/cheap-domain\/?p=94"},"modified":"2017-11-12T11:12:12","modified_gmt":"2017-11-12T11:12:12","slug":"what-is-dns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cheapdomainregistration.com\/cheap-domain\/what-is-dns\/","title":{"rendered":"What is DNS?"},"content":{"rendered":"

DNS, which stands for domain name<\/a> system, controls your domain name’s website and email settings. When visitors go to your domain name, its DNS settings control which company’s server it reaches out to.<\/p>\n

For example, if you use IFindHost – CheapDomainRegistration.com’s DNS settings, visitors will reach IFindHost – CheapDomainRegistration.com’s servers when using your domain name. If you change those settings to user another company’s servers, visitors will reach them instead of us when visiting your domain.<\/p>\n

What I’m seeing is more complicated than that…<\/h3>\n

DNS can be confusing. It’s made up of many different elements that control different aspects of your domain name. Here’s a quick explanation of each one:<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
DNS Element<\/th>\nDescription<\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
Nameserver<\/td>\nNameservers “point” your domain name<\/a> to the company that controls its DNS settings. Usually, this will be the company where you registered the domain name.<\/p>\n

However, if your website is hosted by another company, sometimes they will provide nameservers you need to point to instead.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

Zone File<\/td>\nZone Files are simply the files that store all of your domain’s DNS settings.<\/p>\n

Your domain name’s Zone File is stored on the company’s nameserver.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

A Record<\/td>\nA Records point your domain name to an individual server using an IP address. An example IP address is 123.4.67.5.<\/p>\n

Every domain name has a primary A Record called “@,” which controls what your domain name does when some visits it directly.<\/p>\n

You can also use A Records to point subdomains (for example\u00a0subdomain.coolexample.com<\/em>) to a server’s IP address.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

CNAME<\/td>\nCNAMEs point your subdomains to another server using a server name, like\u00a0server1.secureserver.net<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Most domain names have many CNAMEs.<\/p>\n

Unlike A Records, CNAMEs cannot use IP addresses.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n

MX Records<\/td>\nMX Records point your domain name’s email to its email provider.<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

If your domain name uses our nameservers, you can view or change your domain name’s DNS through us.<\/p>\n

Next step<\/h2>\n