Domain Nameservers: A Simple Introduction

When you purchase a domain name through a registrar such as 123reg or 1and1 it may take up to 24 hours for the domain name to work on a web browser and for email to work. This period - called the propagation period - happens because all of the Domain Name Servers (DNS) around the world need to be updated with your new domain name.

These DNS systems tells web browsers and email clients on which physical server your website and email resides. Once this is known, everyone can find your website and people can email you.

You can view the record held on a domain that you own (and any other domain, actually!) via the WHOIS system. There are a number of websites that allow you to do this be we often use www.who.is (because it's easy to remember!).

Note that somewhere on the page you'll see Primary Nameserver and Secondary Nameserver. This is the address of the server that is in charge of telling the DNS system where your website and email is held.

So we actually have three levels of control for a domain name; viz.

1. The registrar itself (where you purchased the domain name). This is the company that will be billing you for the domain renewal and should be contacted with any queries or changes to the domain;

2. The nameservers tell the DNS where the records for the location of the domain are held. This may be the same as the registrar but it may not be. You can change the nameservers by contacting your registrar but - and this is important - the domain name is still owned by you and is still registered through your domain name registrar.

3. Finally, there is the DNS settings which are managed on the server that is pointed to by the nameservers. Often these are only changed by administrators as putting in the wrong settings can cause quite a few problems!

Web designers may ask you to change the nameservers on any domain names that you are using when your new website is going live. Importantly, rest assured that doing so means that you retain control of the domain BUT both email and website traffic would in normal circumstances be redirected. Your web designer should already have informed you of this.

We hope this short article helps to clarify Nameservers as part of the DNS system but if you'd like any further help and support please contact us and we'll see what we can do to help!