Advanced Web Services

What is a Domain Name Server (DNS)?

Your Domain Name Server (DNS) is the "phone book" for the Internet that matches IP (Internet Protocol) addresses with domain names. The IP address is the physical location of a server where the networking equipment delivers information, such as a request to display one of your web pages. The DNS facilitates web page ( http://), file transfer (ftp://), e-mail, and other requests to be routed to the appropriate computer server. This is such a critical function that it is advised that you have at least two DNSs associated with your domain name (one as a backup for the other).

The Domain Name Server processes zone files containing records which hold the DNS information that links a domain or sub-domain name to an IP address. Every domain and sub-domain has a zone file which usually contains several different records.

The zone records of most interest contained in a zone file are:

• Host (A) - An A record, also called a host record, connects your domain name to your IP address. The A record allows users to type in your domain name and access your web files on the Internet. These are the most common type of zone record.
• Canonical Name (CNAME) - A CNAME is an alias for a host. CNAMEs allow you to have more than one name for a host record. CNAME records point back to the A record. CNAMEs are an efficient method to allow multiple names for one IP address. The most common CNAMEs are www, mail, and ftp.
• Mail Exchanger (MX) - The MX record provides the mail server information allowing e-mail messages to be delivered to the correct location. Your domain' s MX or Mail Record controls where e-mail that is sent to your domain will go. You may have multiple MX records to prevent loss of e-mail if your main mail server is down. The alternate mail server(s) will store your e-mail messages until your default server is back online. The lowest number MX record is the first one attempted for delivery.

How do I set my domain name to point to my new website?

Only the A record in the DNS zone file (see discussion above) needs to be changed. Be careful not to change the references in the MX record(s) which can affect the routing of your e-mail, if you receive your e-mail through this domain.

You will receive the web server IP address via e-mail from our web administrator. It will be an IPv4 32-bit (four-byte) number specified as four decimal numbers separated by periods (dotted-decimal notation). An example of a commonly used PropertyBoss IP address is: 72.52.215.46

We recommend that you change the Technical Contact info associated with this domain name with your registrar to:

Who is a domain name registrar?

A domain name registrar is a company accredited by the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) and/or by a national authority to register Internet domain names. Each registrar sets the price it charges for registering names, and prices vary significantly among different registrars. A list of registrars accredited by ICANN is available at: Accredited List.

After identifying a registrar, you will need to provide them your contact information. This registration information is published on a "Whois" site, which is used to resolve technical problems and to permit enforcement of consumer protection, trademark, and other laws. The contact information includes:

• Registrant - the owner of the domain; if someone registers your domain name for you, make sure that they put your name and e-mail address here; there are many sad stories of people who lost their domain name because their "techie" put their name here and disappeared
• Administrative - the administrator of the account (billing, manage users)
• Technical - the person to contact regarding technical questions (edit DNS entries)

Can I have more than one domain name associated with my website?

You can register multiple domain names to help create a dynamic online identity:

• Keep your competition from registering a domain name that draws customers to them instead of you.
• Promote the different products and services you offer.
• Provide customers more ways to find you when searching the Internet.
• Acquire common misspellings of your domain name to capture more visitors.