What is DNS?
11 January 2022DNS stands for Domain Name System; a domain name system. DNS is essentially a translation system that converts a domain name into numbers (IP addresses). DNS ensures traffic on the internet by linking domain names to web servers.
DNS makes it easy for us, you can type infracom.nl to reach our website and you don't have to remember a complicated string of numbers.
Every website has a number
A website is hosted, meaning it runs on a web server connected to the internet. Infracom customers are hosted on a web server in our data center in Amsterdam. Every website has an IP address. DNS ensures that the web browser ultimately knows which number belongs to which website.
Why must a DNS record sometimes be changed?
If your website moves to another web server, it often gets a new IP address and an update must be made in the DNS records of the domain. The new IP address must be changed at the DNS servers.
The DNS server contains different types of DNS records per domain, such as:
- A-records; With this you can point a (sub)domain to an IP address.
- CNAME-records; With a CNAME record you can make a reference to an A record. CNAME stands for Canonical Name record.
- MX-records; The Mail eXchange Record, these point to the location of the server where the mail traffic for the domain is handled.
When changing DNS records it may take some time before it works everywhere. Therefore, the Time To Live (TTL) can also be set per record. This is the time that indicates how quickly/often the DNS records are updated.
Did you know you can manage your DNS yourself at Infracom?
Make changes to the DNS yourself at any time? You can! And it also saves you money, because managing your own DNS is free of charge. Are you an Infracom customer and don't have an account yet? Request one from Elise, elise.reitsma@infracom.nl