A nameserver is used to lookup the IP address of a domain name before the webpage can be displayed properly. Every website is hosted on a computer called server, that is designed to serve webpages. The information for all domain name servers are stored at the Central Registry. W
eb hosting companies regularly obtain up to date DNS information from the Central Registry. IANA (Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) and ICANN (Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) are the two major organizations responsible for maintaining the DNS.
How Domain Name Server Works?
Human recognizes a domain name by the URL such as xyz.com but the computers need to refer to a IP address such as 12.238.647.32 to bring up the webpage. When you enter the domain name into the web browser, the browser will first use the DNS to search for the two nameservers assigned by your web hosting company, for example ns1.webhostdomain.com and ns2.webhostdoomain.com. Once the two nameservers are retrieved, the browser will be able to retrieve the IP address. As soon as the IP address for the domain is returned, the browser will send a request to display the page.
Changing the Nameservers from the Domain Management Control Panel
When you buy a new domain name, it is hosted at the default nameservers owned by the domain registrar. You must go to the domain management control panel and set the custom nameservers to the nameservers specified in your hosting plan from the.
Usually, the nameserver information is included in the welcome email after you sign up for the web hosting plan. After you have changed nameservers, you must wait 1 – 3 days for the DNS propagation process to complete. It takes some time for the DNS servers around the world to be updated. You can check back your website from time to time to see whether the DNS propagation process has been completed.
Vanity Nameserver
What is a vanity nameserver? Vanity nameserver allows you to use your domain name extension for example ns1.yourdomain.com instead of the web hosting company domain name for example ns1.webhostingcompany.com. It is called vanity nameserver because it is not a standalone dedicated nameserver but uses the nameservers of the web hosting company.
The vanity name servers will appear in the WHOIS result. There is no need to setup vanity name server since most people don’t think of finding out what nameservers you are using. You can setup the vanity nameserver via the simple DNS zone editor in your cPanel.
Custom Nameserver
Custom nameserver allows you to set your own nameservers to respond to the DNS requests dispatched to the domains. It is necessary to set the custom nameservers for your VPS and dedicated hosting plans if you want to get root access to your servers. Root access gives you the ability to make changes to the DNS server as it is risky to use the public name server zones.
Buying Private Name Server
If you are selling web hosting services, it is best that you buy a private nameserver. Nameservers that are associated with a domain name is called private nameservers. It will make you look more professional as you can rebrand your web hosting company in your own domain name.
Getting a private nameserver prevents you from having to give your clients the third party details. Your customers will feel more secure using your nameserver as the nameserver you assign them is the same as your web hosting company domain name. Another advantage is that it allows you to conveniently switch to a different web hosting provider without having to send requests to your customers to change their nameservers.
Conclusion
In conclusion, nameserver is the computer version of phone book used primarily for converting a domain name to IP address that is machine readable. If you enter the IP address of a website into the web browser, you will surely land on the same page as when you enter the domain name. The existence of nameserver makes it easier for people to come to a website by simply typing the domain name instead of the IP address.