The Domain Name System, or DNS, makes it possible for your website to be accessible through domain names, like coursevector.com. Computers interact through IP addresses, which are a series of numbers and are much harder to remember. DNS translates domain names (what you type into your browser) to IP addresses (what the computer sees the website as) so browsers can load Internet resources.
Another way to look at it is this. The DNS is like an address book; it puts an address to a name. That address book lives on what is called a nameserver. The address book is separate from the domain, so while you can have your Domain with one vendor, the address book can be with another. It’s easy to mess up the address book, and in turn mess up your site, which is why we often try to manage the address book (nameserver) for clients when possible. The address book is what connects the domain to the website. The website as well can be with a different vendor than both the domain and the DNS. Your website host will assign your website an IP address that needs to be coordinated with the DNS to make the website visible when someone types the URL into their browser.
Terms you may hear when a technician references DNS
There are different types of records that make up what DNS is:
- A
- AAAA
- CNAME
- PTR
- NS
- MX
- SOA
- TXT
Pointing a Domain
When pointing your website, you will most often hear “A records” or “CNAME” referenced. When talking about email, “MX” is often referenced. For CourseVector clients, there is a difference if we manage your domain versus if you manage your domain.
- Client Manages/Owns Their Domains: The client will be responsible for domain renewals via their registrar. The changes to be completed to the domains will be completed by the client. When ready, CourseVector will provide the necessary information so that domains can be pointed to our servers via either A Record or Nameserver. Pointing via A Record will keep the DNS with the client. Pointing via Nameserver (recommended) will put the DNS to us (no additional charge for DNS). DNS includes email records, TXT verification records, A records, CNAME records etc. This is probably Greek to most clients, which is why pointing to us via Nameserver is recommended.
- Client Transfers Their Domains: CourseVector will manage renewals of domains with the registrar, and we will take care of all Domain/DNS management.
Tools to view DNS
If you need to view your DNS for any reason, https://viewdns.info & https://dnsrecords.io/ are great, free resources.
