DNS — the Domain Name System — is the internet’s phone book: it translates human-friendly names like yourbusiness.com into the numeric addresses computers use. You’ll touch DNS every time you connect a domain to hosting, set up email, or verify your site with Google. Here’s the working knowledge you need, minus the theory you don’t.
What happens when someone visits your domain
Their device asks DNS “where is yourbusiness.com?”, gets back your server’s IP address, and connects there. Two layers control the answer: your nameservers (which company answers DNS queries for your domain — set at your registrar) and your DNS records (the individual answers, managed wherever your nameservers point). Point nameservers at your host, and your hosting control panel manages the records — the simplest setup, covered in our domains pillar guide.
The four records you’ll actually use
A records — “the site lives at this address”
Maps a name to a server IP: yourbusiness.com → 203.0.113.10. The root domain almost always uses an A record. When you change hosting, this (or your nameservers) is what changes — as our migration guide shows.
CNAME records — “same as that other name”
An alias: www.yourbusiness.com → yourbusiness.com. Change the target’s A record and every CNAME pointing at it follows. Used for www, and for services like shop.yourbusiness.com → yourstore.platform.com.
MX records — “email goes here”
Mail Exchange records tell the world which server accepts email for your domain. Website and email can live at different providers precisely because A and MX records are independent — which is why moving hosting doesn’t have to move your email.
TXT records — “notes machines read”
Verification strings (Google Search Console, Microsoft 365) and email authentication live here. SPF, DKIM and DMARC — the TXT records that stop your emails landing in spam — deserve their own guide, and they get one in this series.
TTL and propagation, briefly
Every record has a TTL (time to live) — how long the internet caches the answer. That’s why DNS changes “propagate” gradually: caches expire at different moments. Before a planned change, lower TTL to 300 seconds a day ahead, and the switch completes in minutes instead of hours.
Frequently asked questions
How long do DNS changes take to work?
Anywhere from minutes to 48 hours, depending on the old record’s TTL. Lowering TTL before a planned change makes cutover near-instant. Check propagation with online DNS checker tools.
Should I manage DNS at my registrar or my host?
Either works. Pointing nameservers at your host puts everything in one panel and lets hosting support fix issues directly — simplest for most people. Keeping DNS at the registrar makes future host switches marginally faster.
Can my website and email be with different companies?
Yes — that’s exactly what separate A and MX records enable. Your site can be on UWeb Solutions while email runs on Google Workspace, or vice versa.
Domain and hosting in one place means one support team for all of it: domains + hosting from UWeb Solutions.