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Where do I manage my domain’s DNS zone records?

Frequently Asked Questions about DNS (Domain Name System) Management

The Domain Name System (DNS) can be very confusing for non technical users. Let’s try to understand DNS with few frequently asked questions. DNS is made up of many different elements that control different aspects of your domain name. For e.g. Name Server, Zone File, A Record, CNAME, TXT, MX Records, etc. Let’s find answers to most Frequently Asked Questions about DNS:

What is DNS?

DNS, which stands for domain name system, controls your domain name’s website and email settings. When visitors go to your domain name, its DNS settings control which IP address it reaches out to. For example, if you use Hiya Digital’s DNS settings, visitors will reach Hiya Digital’s servers when using your domain name. If you change those settings to user another company’s servers, visitors will reach their server instead of our servers when visiting your domain.

What is DNS Zone File?

A Domain Name System (DNS) zone file is a text file that describes a DNS zone. A DNS zone is a subset, often a single domain, of the hierarchical domain name structure of the DNS. The zone file contains mappings between domain names and IP addresses and other resources, organized in the form of text representations of resource records (RR). A zone file may be either a DNS master file, authoritatively describing a zone, or it may be used to list the contents of a DNS. Zone Files are simply the files that store all of your domain’s DNS settings. Your domain name’s Zone File is stored on the company’s name server.

What is A Record in DNS?

It connects an IP Address to a host name. A Records point your domain name to an individual server using an IP address. An example IP address is 202.101.202.101. Every domain name has a primary A Record called “@,” which controls what your domain name does when some visits it directly. You can also use A Records to point subdomains (for example sub-domain.maindomain.com) to a different server’s IP address. A Records are the simplest type of DNS records, and one of the primary records used in DNS servers. Whenever you visit a website or send an email or do anything on the Internet, the address you enter is mapped with a domain name. For example, to access Google, you enter www.google.com. At Google name server there’s an A record that points to the IP address say 202.101.202.101. This means that a request from your browser to www.google.com is directed to the server with IP address 202.101.202.101.

What is CNAME Record in DNS?

A CNAME or Canonical Name record is a type of DNS record that maps an alias name to a true or canonical domain name. CNAME records are used to map a subdomain such as www or mail to a main domain hosting that subdomain’s content. For e.g., a CNAME record can map the web address www.example.com to the actual web site for the domain example.com. When using Google Cloud services, you might need to add a CNAME record to your domain’s DNS settings to customize a web address, verify domain ownership, or reset your administrator password. It allows more than one DNS name for a host. CNAMEs point your sub-domains to another server using a server name, like server.anotherdomain.com. Most domain names may have many CNAMEs to point at different services on your domain. Unlike A Record, CNAME records do not use IP address. A CNAME record always points to another domain name and never to an IP address. A CNAME record cannot exist with another record for the same name. It’s not possible to have both a CNAME and TXT record for www.example.com.

What is MX Record in DNS?

A mail exchanger record (MX record) specifies the mail server responsible for accepting email messages on behalf of a domain name. It is a resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS). It is possible to configure multiple MX records, typically pointing to an array of mail servers for load balancing and redundancy. It ensures email is delivered to the right location. MX Records point your domain name’s email to its designated email provider. You may be using email provided by your web hosting provider or 3rd party email service like G Suite By Google Cloud or Premium Email Or Microsoft Hosted Exchange Email Service. Each provider will have different set of MX records.

What is NS Record in DNS?

NS stands for ‘name server’ and this record indicates which DNS server is authoritative for that domain (which server contains the actual DNS records). A domain will often have multiple NS records which can indicate primary and backup name servers for that domain. It contains the name server information. Name servers “point” your domain name to the company that controls its DNS settings. Usually, this will be the company where you registered the domain name. However, if your website is hosted by another company, sometimes they will provide name servers you need to point to.

What is TXT Record in DNS?

A TXT record (short for text record) is a type of resource record in the Domain Name System (DNS) used to provide the ability to associate arbitrary text with a host or other name, such as human or machine readable information about a server, network, data center, or other technical information. It provides additional information about a host or more technical information to servers. It is also often used in a more structured fashion to record small amounts of machine-readable data into the DNS. A domain may have multiple TXT records associated with it, provided the DNS server implementation supports it.

What is SRV Record in DNS?

A Service record (SRV record) is a specification of data in the Domain Name System defining the location, i.e., the hostname and port number, of servers for specified services. Some Internet protocols such as the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the Extensible Messaging and Presence Protocol (XMPP) often require SRV support by network elements that finds computers that host specific services. An SRV record typically defines a symbolic name and the transport protocol used as part of the domain name. It defines the priority, weight, port, and target for the service in the record content.

What is AAAA Record in DNS?

An AAAA record points a domain name to the IPv6 address of the server hosting the domain. An AAAA record is used to find the IPv6 address of a server connected to the internet from a name. The AAAA record is similar to the A record, but it allows you to specify the IPv6 address of the server, rather than the IPv4. AAAA records are not very common, however its popularity is rising with the increase in adoption of IPv6 addresses.

What is SPF Record in DNS?

A Sender Policy Framework (SPF) record is a type of Domain Name Service (DNS) TXT record that identifies which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. It’s used to indicate to mail exchanges which hosts are authorized to send mail for a domain. The purpose of an SPF record is to detect and prevent spammers from sending messages with forged From addresses on your domain. An SPF record lists all authorized hostnames / IP addresses that are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Adding an SPF record can help prevent others from spoofing your domain. You can specify which mail servers are permitted to send email on behalf of your domain. Then, when incoming mail servers receive email messages from your domain name, they compare the SPF record to the outgoing mail server information. If the information doesn’t match, they identify the email message as unauthorized, and will generally filter it as spam or reject it.

What is CAA Record in DNS?

A Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) record is used to specify which certificate authorities (CAs) are allowed to issue certificates for a domain. Certification Authority Authorization (CAA) DNS record is an Internet security policy mechanism which allows domain name holders to indicate to certificate authorities whether they are authorized to issue digital certificates for a particular domain name. It does this by means of a new “CAA” Domain Name System (DNS) resource record. It is used to prevent anyone from obtaining an unauthorized SSL certificate for your domain name.

What is Reverse DNS?

Reverse DNS (rDNS) is name resolution that looks up an IP addresses to obtain a domain name, performing the opposite function of the DNS server, which turns domain names into IP addresses. Reverse DNS can be used as a spam filter. Typically, spammers use invalid IP addresses, that is, ones that do not match domain names. A reverse DNS program looks up the IP address of an incoming message and, if no valid domain name is found, the server blocks the message. Although reverse DNS is fairly effective for filtering spam, it also often blocks valid emails.

What is Secondary DNS?

If you have a Premium DNS account at Hiya Digital, you can enable Secondary DNS, which backs up all of your DNS zone files to a secondary name server. If you enable Secondary DNS and your primary name servers go down, your secondary name servers receive and process requests so your domain won’t ever go offline. When setting up Secondary DNS, you select our name servers as your primary (master) or secondary (slave) name servers. If you make our name servers the master set, all DNS zone file record updates will be made for you and the slaves (your name server set) will pick them up. If you make our name servers the slaves, then your own master name servers will make the DNS updates, and you must configure them to send notifications to our slave name servers so they pick up the changes. You can configure Secondary DNS with or without transaction signatures (TSIG), which secure communications between the name server sets.

What is Dynamic DNS?

Dynamic DNS (DDNS) automatically updates your DNS’s A (IPv4) or AAAA (IPv6) records periodically whenever your IP address changes. Your Dynamic IP address is changed by your Internet provider and updated on DDNS automatically to resolve new IP address. If you don’t have a static IP, then the IP changes each time you reconnect to the Internet. To avoid manual update of your records every time the IP changes, you can set up Dynamic DNS for your domain.

What is Premium Cloud DNS, and how does it work?

Premium Cloud DNS, also known as Managed Premium Cloud DNS, is a robust DNS solution that allows you to control sophisticated elements of your DNS settings. This will help you improve your site's security, performance, and reliability. By administering changes to the settings for your domain names, you can maintain complete control over your website. Simply put, Premium Cloud DNS administration provides peace of mind by providing a higher level of support and security. You may relax knowing that your website will never be taken down. In addition, premium Cloud DNS ensures that your DNS information is distributed among numerous servers worldwide. This ensures that the visitors to your website are linked to the closest server location for a quick response. See our Premium Cloud DNS support page for more information.

What's the difference between Premium Cloud DNS and Free DNS?

Premium Cloud DNS provides your domain with enhanced security and performance, while Free DNS hosting is a free service that allows clients with domains registered through us to manage their zone files. For example, imagine you registered your domain with another firm but wanted Hiya Digital to host your content. We allow you to edit and update your zone files as needed without requiring you to move your domain. Even if we aren't your registrar, this form of DNS administration enables you to control your domain. However, if you wish to use our Premium Cloud DNS services, you must first register with us or transfer your domain name.

What is the benefit of using Premium Cloud DNS?

Slow DNS connectivity and "website not found" issues are reduced considerably when using a service like Premium Cloud DNS. We want to ensure that your website visitors can find you, which is why our managed DNS service guarantees 99.99 percent DNS resolution uptime. Because DNS security is a top priority for us, we provide state-of-the-art managed DNSSEC, ensuring that DNS data is legitimate. This function secures the DNS during the DNS lookup process, preventing hackers from changing the IP address and redirecting your visitors to a fake website. It's critical to have a secure and accessible website, especially when hackers can access your visitors' personal information or lead them to a dangerous website. In addition, we want your online website presence to be a success, which is why it's critical to have a constant online presence that gives your visitors the trust they deserve. It's also simple to upgrade to Premium Cloud DNS.

Is Premium Cloud DNS simple to manage?

Unlike other DNS services, we built Premium Cloud DNS management to be simple enough for beginners to use while also being strong enough for advanced users. If you're a beginner to managed DNS, our dashboard allows you to make quick and easy DNS modifications. In addition, we provide templates and bulk import/export options to make updating DNS for large or small groups of domain names simple. We created premium Cloud DNS's organizational structure with you in mind; it reduces your time to establish your DNS services and provides you with the tools you need to track your traffic success. If you don't want to configure your DNS and need assistance, you can give the support team permission. They will have administrative access to your DNS service if they have support team credentials. If you don't have time to learn Premium Cloud DNS's sophisticated capabilities or have questions regarding our Premium Cloud DNS hosting service, don't hesitate to contact our DNS specialists and technical support staff, who are accessible 24/7 for assistance.

Why should I choose your Premium Cloud DNS service instead of others?

It's as easy as that: our Premium Cloud DNS gives you more for less. It not only has standard DNS settings, but it also has advanced capabilities for a better level of assistance. These advanced features allow you to customize and secure an unlimited number of domain names. They also enable you to assign DNS control to various users, easily manage and create customized DNS settings, and track website traffic and DNS errors. With our Premium Cloud DNS services, you can manage an infinite number of domain name zones and records from an easy-to-use dashboard. Furthermore, our powerful DNS security function, Domain Name System Security Extensions (DNSSEC), ensures website security and provides you with peace of mind. These capabilities, as well as others, are less than half the price of competing DNS providers.

What happens if I have no idea how to handle my DNS hosting?

Unlike other DNS services, we created Premium Cloud DNS to be easy enough for beginners yet strong enough for advanced users. Our dashboard lets you make quick and straightforward DNS modifications if you're new to managed DNS. It's simple to update DNS for large or small domain names with features like templates and bulk import/export options. We created the premium Cloud DNS structure with you in mind: it reduces the time you spend establishing your DNS services and provides you with the tools you need to track your traffic's success. If you don't want to configure your DNS and need assistance, you can give the support team permissions. They will have administrative access to your DNS service if they have support team credentials. Suppose you want more information about our Premium Cloud DNS hosting service or don't have the time to learn about Premium Cloud DNS' advanced capabilities. In that case, we have DNS specialists and technical support staff available 24/7 to assist you.

In what ways will Premium Cloud DNS assist me in maintaining a professional online image?

Premium Cloud DNS provides top-of-the-line backup services to ensure that the DNS for your domain name is reliable and secure. We want your online business to succeed, which is why it's vital to maintain a consistent online presence that earns the trust of your visitors. You can set up backup servers with our secondary DNS hosting solution if your domain name's primary DNS server fails. If the primary DNS fails, then secondary DNS can take over and ensure that your visitors' access is not hampered. This function is ideal for websites that rely on traffic from visitors. You can even give your servers unique names to improve your online appearance. Vanity name servers allow you to hide your server names so that when visitors search for information about your website, they find your name rather than ours!

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