Domain name and DNS settings --> What you should know

To most online folks, the term domain name is quite familiar. What about you? Maybe you've heard that before.

 

As a matter of fact, a domain name is a website address. One of the examples is hubpages.com and the like.

 

If you're a newbie looking to start your own blog or website, you have to get your own domain name.

 

If you just starting out, let me tell you that domain name alone is not enough for your purpose. It needs to be combined with web hosting account so then you have a complete site to put your webpages or blog.

 

For those with tight or on shoestring budget, you can find the affordable hosting that suits your need simply by using Google and search for "affordable hosting"(without quotes).

 

The domain name need to be registered with domain name registrar. Once registered, you get the username and password to configure your domain name account.

 

When you log in to your domain name account, locate a section named DNS settings. Usually it has 2 name servers that looks something like below:

 

ns1.domainname.com

ns2.domainname.com

 

This information is very important especially when you use different companies to register domain name and your affordable hosting account. If so, you have to change this default settings to the ones given by web hosting company.

 

When you type the website address in your internet explorer etc(in the address or location bar) and hit the Enter key, what happens?

 

The web browser then looks for the DNS settings of that domain name. By doing this the web browser will be able to locate the server that hosts your website.

 

Once that server has been found, the web browser sends a request to the server. The server replies by sending html codes of your webpage to the web browser. The web browser turns these codes into a viewable page like you normally see when you surf the internet.

 

All of this happens in the very short amount of time, less than a second.

 

Make sure you use the right DNS settings provided by your web host to avoid error.

 

Here is a bit of advice from me. Although it is easier, you are not recommended to use the same company to register your domain name and web hosting account.

 

If you do, make sure you yourself can manage your own domain name account especially when it comes to change the DNS settings. You may end up with a company that disallow this or you need to request them to do it for you.

 

So, to prevent any problem use a different company for either your domain name or web hosting account. By doing this, you can easily move to another web hosting company if you don't like your current host.

 I hope you got the useful tips and info after reading this hub. Thanks for reading