Topic awaiting preservation: Nameserver problem! H-E-L-P

EDIT:: I'm talking about Domain Name Server (DNS) not name server (if there is any difference)

How does it work?
I have bought a domain name and pointed it to a DNS. How does the DNS now which ip to point to? and how do i change that ip?
Thank you!
/Erik

[This message has been edited by OlssonE (edited 09-09-2002).]

the dns-ip is normally the ip you need!

your host will provide you with 2 or more dns-ips of their nameservers.
all other settings are made by them internally.

so just make sure your registrar (where you have bought that domain) sets the domain to the right dns-servers and everything will be fine.

When you register a domain name, you nominate a DNS server (or several for backup) that will act as directors to the correct web server. Anyone wanting to resolve your domain name to an IP address would use those DNS servers as the most authoritative, and the rest of the internet takes at least a few hours to filter through and find out about any change.

You will need to inform the DNS server admins which IP address you would like the domain to point to (i.e. the IP address of the server where your site is physically located), so you will normally have a contract with a DNS service to host your domain entry. Most times, an ISP or a web hosting company will have its own DNS service to host its client domains as part of their package. In that case they should set it up without you having to ask. This is what Grumble means by pointing the domain to the DNS servers of your host - those DNS servers will know where to find your web server.

If you are hosting the site on e.g. a fixed IP DSL line, I would suggest contacting the people you bought the domain name from, to see if they also offer DNS hosting. You could just as easily rent server space with a fixed IP address from a web host and then find someone else to host your DNS entries. DNS hosting is almost completely seperate from site hosting, but most companies don't make it that obvious.

I would say you could host your own DNS service if you have a permanent connection (point the registration DNS info to your own IP and make sure you have a DNS server to handle the requests), but I've not tried setting up a DNS service myself, and I wouldn't recommend it.

Another thing you could do once you have DNS set up for your domain is set the MX entries to handle email etc, but that's getting more off topic than your original post...

Let me explain!

I have bought a domain and pointed it to the correct dns. How does the nameserver know that that the domain name should be pointed to the webservers ip?

You need to tell the people that own the dns server. It can't find out on it's own, as there is nothing else available that can tell it - only you.

When you purchase a domain name and give the registrar the IP addresses, those IP addresses point to another name server. THAT nameserver needs to be configured for your domain, and its IP address. This is normally done by your provider/host.

Not *completely* off topic... but this DNS server allows you to administer it...
for those DSL/cable users out there... or whoever else... it's plain, but a nice
service for sure...

http://www.zoneedit.com

edit here, edit there... edit every freakin where...

[This message has been edited by AT (edited 09-10-2002).]

Thank you guys!
I'm going to contact my server administrator now!

I have contacted them but no response... What should I do?

Is your webserver and this DNS server managed by the same people? or is the webserver your own machine?

[This message has been edited by cycus (edited 09-27-2002).]

They are both hosted by hostpacket.net