Back to Basics - Domains, Hosting, DNS

8 March, 2010

• definitions
• DNS
• domains
• hosting

Michael Bartlett

Category: Web Design

These three terms - Domains, Hosting, DNS - are all essential parts of any website. Together they form the basis of how your website is labeled, stored and located.

Sometimes the combination of terms can be confusing, so today we will look at each one in detail and explain how they work together.

Domain
A domain (e.g. www.yourcompany.com.au) is the ‘label’ for your website. It’s a ‘shortcut’ similar to the ones you find on your computer (an icon representing a program that will launch the correct files when clicked).

When you ‘buy’ a domain name, you are actually just leasing the right to use it for a set period of time. When that expires, you must ‘renew’ your lease to continue using it.

Now that you have a domain, you need a website to point it to! This leads us to our next term...

Hosting
Your ‘hosting’ package is an allocation of server space on which you store all the files, code and databases that make up your website. Hosting servers are true multi-taskers, with specialised software that ‘runs’ your website, manages your email accounts and collects visitor statistics on your site.

So now we have a domain name (label) for your site, and some hosting (storage) to put it on. Now it’s time to connect the two...

DNS
DNS (standing for Domain Name System), is the connection between your domain name and the hosting server on which your website resides.

A link without a destination is worthless! DNS allows you to ‘point’ your domain name to the location of the hosting server on which your website is located. That way, when a user types in your address, they are taken there and your website is loaded.

If all this sounds confusing, don’t despair - we handle all the setup and configuration of these services! If you’d like some more information, consult our section on web design or contact us online.