209 – Analyzing DNS; How Domains Work

Announcements

I’m in Austin Texas this week, for an Automattic team meetup. Since this show was recorded last week, there is no news to share.

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Analyzing DNS; How Domains Work

A domain name is a structured label which is connected to a specific IP address of a server where the website files are stored.

Each domain has two parts; the domain and TLD (Top Level Domain). Some common TLDs are .com, .net. .org, .me, etc.

One misconception is that once you register a domain, you own it. Technically, the domain is owned by ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) and you hold the registration of the domain thru your domain registrar.

What is DNS
Servers around the world are not recognized by domain names, but rather IP address. A domain name is something like 192.12.42.134.

DNS stands for Domain Name System and is a set of specialized servers that have one purpose to connect the domain to an IP address. Think of it like a phone book, connecting names with with numbers.

These servers are called nameservers.

Each domain has to have the nameservers set. Where ever the nameservers point, then that is where your other DNS settings are stored.

A record – stands for address and it indicated the actual IP address of the domain

CNAME – stands for canonical name and it serves to make one domain an alias of another domain. CNAMEs are often used to associate new subdomains with an existing domain’s DNS records.

MX record – stands for mail exchange and it’s a list of mail servers to be used for the domain to all email accounts work.

TXT record – allow the administrator insert text into a DNS record, often used to denote facts about the domain or prove you own the registration of the domain.

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