DNS Sounds Terrifying. It Really Isn’t.
First, What Exactly Is DNS?
DNS stands for Domain Name System.
And we’re already off to a thrilling start.
The good news is that you don’t need to understand everything happening behind DNS to understand its basic purpose.
Think of DNS as the set of directions attached to your domain.
When someone enters your domain into a browser, something has to tell the internet where that website lives.
When someone sends an email to your business address, something has to tell the internet where that email should go.
DNS helps provide those directions.
That’s really the heart of it.
Your Domain Is Not Your Website
We’ve talked about this before, but it’s worth repeating because DNS is where the distinction becomes important.
Your domain might be:
yourbusiness.com
Your website might live on a server somewhere completely different.
Your email might be hosted somewhere else entirely.
DNS is what helps connect those pieces.
Your domain is the name people use.
DNS tells internet traffic where to go when they use it.
Nameservers: Who Is In Charge Here?
Nameservers tell the internet where your DNS records are managed.
That’s an important distinction.
Changing nameservers doesn’t just change one little setting.
You’re essentially saying:
“This provider is now responsible for answering DNS questions about my domain.”
That’s why nameserver changes deserve some attention.
If your website is hosted with one company and your email is handled somewhere else, those services may depend on DNS records that currently exist with your existing DNS provider.
Change the nameservers without recreating the necessary records and suddenly:
The website might disappear.
Email might stop working.
Verification records might vanish.
Everybody starts wondering what happened.
DNS happened.
A Records: Send Them Here
An A record points a hostname to an IPv4 address.
For example, your domain might point to something resembling:
192.0.2.123
That IP address represents the server the domain should reach.
You don’t need to memorize IP addresses.
That’s one of the reasons domains exist.
Humans would much rather remember:
marshlandmarketing.com
than a collection of numbers.
An A record helps connect the friendly name to the server behind it.
CNAME Records: This Name Goes With That Name
A CNAME record points one hostname to another hostname.
You’ll commonly see this used with things like:
www
So instead of pointing www.yourbusiness.com directly to an IP address, a CNAME might tell it to follow another hostname.
CNAME records are also commonly used when connecting websites and third-party services.
The important part isn’t memorizing every technical rule.
It’s understanding that an A record generally points toward an IP address, while a CNAME points toward another name.
Already less terrifying.
MX Records: Where Does the Email Go?
MX stands for Mail Exchange.
These records tell the internet which mail servers should receive email for your domain.
If you have:
your MX records help determine where incoming messages for yourbusiness.com should be delivered.
This is why changing DNS without thinking about email can cause problems.
Your website may work beautifully after a DNS change while your email quietly disappears into the swamp.
The website and email don’t necessarily live in the same place.
DNS needs directions for both.
TXT Records: The Weird Little Notes Section
TXT records can hold text-based information used for several different purposes.
They’re frequently involved with:
Domain verification
Email authentication
Third-party services
Security policies
If a service asks you to add a strange-looking TXT value to your DNS, it may simply be asking:
“Can you prove you control this domain?”
You add the value.
The service checks for it.
Domain ownership confirmed.
TXT records are also where you’ll encounter some of the alphabet soup surrounding email.
SPF, DKIM, and DMARC
These deserve their own article eventually, because email authentication can become complicated quickly.
For now, here’s the basic idea.
SPF helps identify which servers are allowed to send email for your domain.
DKIM adds a cryptographic signature that helps receiving mail systems verify that a message is legitimate and hasn’t been altered along the way.
DMARC provides instructions for how receiving systems should handle messages that don’t pass authentication checks and can provide reporting.
You don’t need to become an email administrator.
You just need to know these records matter.
Especially if you’re sending business email from your domain.
Why DNS Changes Don’t Always Happen Instantly
Ah yes.
Propagation.
You change a DNS record.
You refresh your browser.
Nothing happened.
You refresh again.
Still nothing.
You begin questioning whether computers were a mistake.
DNS information can be cached across different systems, so changes may take time to become visible everywhere.
Sometimes a change appears quickly.
Sometimes different networks see the change at different times.
That’s why one person can occasionally see a working website while another still sees the old destination.
It isn’t necessarily broken.
The internet may simply be catching up.
Don’t Change Random DNS Records
This may be the most important part of this entire article.
If you don’t know what a DNS record does, don’t delete it just because it looks unfamiliar.
That bizarre TXT record might authenticate your email.
That CNAME might connect an important service.
That MX record is definitely doing something important unless receiving email has become optional.
Before removing or replacing records, figure out what they’re responsible for.
DNS isn’t particularly forgiving of the:
“Let’s delete it and see what happens.”
troubleshooting method.
Although admittedly, it does produce very clear results.
DNS Is Mostly About Knowing What Goes Where
You don’t need to memorize every DNS record type.
You don’t need to understand the entire infrastructure of the internet.
And you definitely don’t need to panic when someone asks you for an A record.
You need to know what services you’re using and where each one is supposed to point.
Website over here.
Email over there.
Verification record here.
Maybe another service somewhere else.
DNS connects them.
It’s Just Directions
DNS terminology makes the whole thing sound much more intimidating than it needs to be.
At its core, DNS answers questions.
Where does this website live?
Where should this email go?
Which service handles this part?
Can this company prove it controls this domain?
Once you stop looking at DNS as a mysterious wall of letters, numbers, dots, and occasionally alarming punctuation, it becomes much easier to understand.
You don’t have to know everything about DNS.
You just need to know what you’re changing.
And perhaps most importantly:
what you should leave the heck alone.