TECH KNOWLEDGE FOR NON TECHIES
What does DNS mean, and why should you care?
I talked in quite a lot of detail about what a domain name is and why it matters in a previous post, but in this article I want to focus on the system behind a domain name and how it works.
Helping you to develop an understanding of what DNS means and how it works for your business will mean you are better informed when talking to the team here at The Capture Factory or your own web agency/developer.
Understanding more about the technical side of how customers find your website or email address can’t be a bad thing, right? So, let’s get down to the technical stuff!
What does DNS mean?
Well, DNS stands for Domain Name System. This Domain Name System is one of the most important IT services and it makes the internet possible. If we didn’t have a DNS, the nice friendly names of companies on the internet like bbc.co.uk or tcfdev.xyz simply wouldn’t work. We would all have to remember and type in IP addresses like 151.101.0.81 for every website we wanted to visit. In fact, now the internet has become so big, we would have to remember really long version six IP address like this:
2001:0db8:85a3:0000:0000:8a2e:0370:7334
Not a very time-friendly and practical solution, is it? Just imagine having to type something like this every time you want to go to Amazon, do your weekly shop or book a restaurant table. How busy do you think your business would be if all your clients had to type in a complicated address like the one above to access your website? Let’s face it, it just wouldn’t work.
What is DNS?
How does DNS work?
Okay, so we have hopefully shown you why it is important. The next question is, how does DNS work? What happens when you open a web browser and type an address into the address bar? for example:
tcfdev.xyz
Behind the scenes, your web browser does a ‘DNS Lookup’ by asking its local Domain Name System server what the address ( this is called the ‘A record’) is for tcfdev.xyz. The DNS server comes back with the IP address for The Capture Factory, which your browser uses to request access to the web page.
Email addresses work in exactly the same way. You can type the email address for someone into your email software, for example:
Your email software knows you want to send an email to tcfdev.xyz domain name. It asks the local Domain Name System server where do I send this email? The DNS server returns a ‘mail exchange’ or ‘MX record’, (as opposed to an’ A record’), which your email software uses to contact your email server so the email can be sent to the right person at the right company.
Why should you care?
Hopefully, I have demonstrated the importance of knowing the answer to the question what DNS means, because one of the things you should know is who manages the DNS server for your business.
It may be managed by the same company you used to purchase your domain name, or it may be managed by a different company. For example, you may have purchased your domain name through ‘123reg’, but your DNS servers could be with a different hosting company, e.g. 321hosting.
It is not important to understand the nitty gritty but knowing who manages the DNS server for your business is super important because if you want to move your website to a new hosting company, change the existing site or even build a new website, you will need to give DNS server access to a technical support person from your proposed new supplier.
We come across instances every day where business owners have no idea who is managing their DNS server, and without this knowledge they cannot move from one supplier to another for hosting or relaunching their website. I have therefore written this article to give non-technical decision makers at management level an understanding of why it is important to know who manages your DNS server.
Hopefully this blog has given you the answer to the question ‘what does DNS mean?’ and that you will now make it your business to find out who manages it and pass on this information to members of your IT and marketing team. Should you ever want to change your website or move hosts or email servers, this knowledge will become critical to that project’s successful implementation and your ability to carry on business as usual.
You can read more about why your company’s domain name is important in a previous blog.
If you would like to talk to us about developing your online presence so you can communicate more effectively with your customers, call The Capture Factory on 01538 787559 or contact us today.
Our team is ready to answer any questions you may have and begin your online journey.
