Domain Name Terms
Domain Name Terms
When registering a new domain name, there are specific terms that your web hosting provider may refer to during the order process that you may not necessarily be aware of. It is important to be well versed in the various terms that come with different web hosting services and their related products so that you can make sure to purchase the right service for your needs. Some terms are also related to the configuration of domain names and these are perhaps the most important terms to remember as if you mis-configure your domain name then it will be inaccessible meaning that no-one will be able to access your website and any emails sent to addresses created under the domain in question will bounce.
Name Servers
Name servers are the authoritative servers of your domain name and will hold the DNS records that are the key to the use of your domain. DNS records are used by other servers to make sure that requests are sent to the correct servers; good examples of DNS records include A records for web-related services and MX records for email servers. In order for your DNS records to be retrieved, other servers will contact your domain name’s name servers requesting the necessary records. All domains require at least two name servers – one primary server and a secondary back up server; without two name servers, a domain will be unable to function properly. Any web hosting company or domain registrar should allow you to change your domain name’s name servers with ease, allowing you to transfer the hosting of your website to another company without having to physically move your domain.
TLD
TLD stands for “Top Level Domain” and is the extension at the end of your domain name. For example, with the web address “domain.com”, the TLD here would be “.com”; there are many different TLDs to choose from, with some being region specific and others being usable globally. An example of a region specific TLD would be “.co.uk” which can only be used by those who are based in the UK and whilst “.com” is a good example of a gTLD (Global TLD), “.net” is another popular one that is used by many websites.
DNS Records
All domain names have a set of DNS records hosted by their relevant name servers that handle how traffic sent to them is dealt with and how it is routed. Other servers will contact your name servers requesting specific DNS records; for example, if you were going to visit a website in your web browser then your computer would use its DNS servers to contact the domain name’s name servers to request the specific A record required to then send you to the correct server that is hosting the website that you want to visit. Other examples of DNS records include MX records for email servers and SPF records that are used to verify the source of emails to help combat spam.
Email Forwarding
This is a service that is offered by some web hosting companies and domain registrars that allows you to setup email addresses under your domain to which email can be sent, but instead of the address being a mailbox it simply forwards any emails sent to it onto another address specified by yourself. Although this feature is normally available with most web hosting packages, some web hosting companies and domain registrars choose to offer a small selection of services to owners of domain names.
Web Forwarding
Like email forwarding, this is an optional service offered by some web hosting companies and domain registrars as part of a feature-set that can be used to allow you to utilize your domain name without the need for a web hosting package. With web forwarding, when someone visits your domain name they will then be forwarded to another website that you can determine in your configuration. There are usually two different types of web forwarding offered; framed forwarding allows you to display another website under your domain whilst keeping retaining your web address in the address bar, or direct forwarding will forward your visitors to another website outright.
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