Computer networks can only widely communicate with the use of specific addresses, IP Addresses, which essentials act like a network postcode. DNS is a service which works to translate your domain name and subdomains into specific IP addresses to make navigating the internet somewhat easier.

To configure DNS, you need to first choose a nameserver.

The nameserver will have its IP assigned using a ‘glue’ record, which like any other record, points the nameservers FQDN (fully qualified domain name) to an IP address.

For example, ns.supremeservers.co.uk has a glue record which points it to 193.200.80.3.

If you have your nameservers set to ns.supremeservers.co.uk (you can check this by visiting who.is and typing your domain name) the first step of DNS lookup is to contact this nameserver.

The nameservers hold DNS Zones which are specific to your domain name. If the DNS Zone for your domain name exists, it will continue by checking the individual records, such as A records and CNAME records.

If an A record is found for the request, such as support.cwcs.co.uk, the nameserver will send back the IP of the records and your web browser will then navigate to this IP address.

If a CNAME record is found, the nameserver must lookup the result of that CNAME to the corresponding a record, for example, ftp.cwcs.co.uk may link to cwcs.co.uk, but it will then need to lookup the A record for cwcs.co.uk to actually end up with a result, a result being an IP address.

If your DNS zone does not exist the request will be rejected and it will look like the domain doesn’t exist anywhere. If you create a DNS zone on a non-specified nameserver, it won’t ever see this zone and it only every checks the nameservers which you specifiy for the domain.