Difference between DNS CName record and Domain Name Server?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Nick
  • Start date Start date
N

Nick

hi,
I am kinda new about DNS and recently, I am trying to create my own
website, and have some question about it.
I applied a domain from yahoo and have my own website hosted by another
host provider, for example it is www.webhost.com and I need to point my
yahoo domain to webhost's host server which has my pages on it.
My understanding about this is, in yahoo domain setting, the Domain
Name Server is yahoo's certain server. When we type the adress, like
www.mydomain.com, it first goes to yahoo Domain Name Server to look up
where the pages are. And then yahoo Domain Name Server look up the
CNames records to find out, the request should go to www.webhost.com
and redirect the request to www.webhost.com. Webhost DNS will figure
out how to send the request to my pages and then display my page to
user. Is this right?
So, in order to make my yahoo domain work on my website, all I need to
do is set the right CName records for the domain, right?
If I changed the name server of my yahoo domain, for example, if I
change my yahoo domain name server to my webhost provider's name
server, I think it should work too, right? Becuase my web host
provider's name server knows the mapping between my domain name and my
pages, once user's request gets to webhost name server, it should be
able to find my pages.
If so, both work, I am wondering, which one is the right way to do
about that?
Thanks
 
Nick said:
hi,
I am kinda new about DNS and recently, I am trying to create my own
website, and have some question about it.
I applied a domain from yahoo and have my own website hosted by
another host provider, for example it is www.webhost.com and I need
to point my yahoo domain to webhost's host server which has my pages
on it.
My understanding about this is, in yahoo domain setting, the Domain
Name Server is yahoo's certain server. When we type the adress, like
www.mydomain.com, it first goes to yahoo Domain Name Server to look up
where the pages are. And then yahoo Domain Name Server look up the
CNames records to find out, the request should go to www.webhost.com
and redirect the request to www.webhost.com. Webhost DNS will figure
out how to send the request to my pages and then display my page to
user. Is this right?
So, in order to make my yahoo domain work on my website, all I need to
do is set the right CName records for the domain, right?
If I changed the name server of my yahoo domain, for example, if I
change my yahoo domain name server to my webhost provider's name
server, I think it should work too, right? Becuase my web host
provider's name server knows the mapping between my domain name and my
pages, once user's request gets to webhost name server, it should be
able to find my pages.
If so, both work, I am wondering, which one is the right way to do
about that?
Thanks
Click to expand...

DNS servers only resolve names to IP addresses. I'm not really sure what you
are asking and what Yahoo has to do with this. I think you are saying the
Yahoo hosts a website for you and now you have purchased a domain name and
would like the website to be displayed by this domain name.

You may be able to do this, so long as the hosted site isn't in a virtual
directory e.g. www.yahoo.com/myweb DNS cannot do this and must be done
through a web server. If for instance, the website is http://myweb.yahoo.com
you may be able to to do this if the site does not use a host header.
If it is accessible by its IP address, in the DNS server for your domain
name create a Cname record named www.example.com and have this Cname resolve
to myweb.yahoo.com.

If I'm not understanding this right please let me know what you really want.
 
hi, Kevin,
thanks for your reply.
Actually, I had my domain registered at yahoo, but my web host provider
is not yahoo. So what I need to do is, point my yahoo domain to my web
host provider's name server, to get to my website. And in yahoo domain
contorl panel, we can change the DNS name server, and we also can
change the DNS CName or A record. So this is why i am asking this
question. I only need to change name server to my web host provider's
name server, or I need to change the DNS CName and A record too in the
control panel?
From my host provider's on line help, it says needs to change the
Click to expand...
domain DNS server to their name server, like ns1.xxxx.com,
ns2.xxxx.com, I did this, and I also changed the DNS A record to
ns1.xxx.com's ip address. Now, after about one day, I can access my
website with this address, http://mysite.com, but i can not access it
by http://www.mysite.com. Why is that? I am thinking probably the
problem is something wrong with the DNS A record for www.mysite.com,
does this make sense? Then I changed the DNS A record as:
mysite.com -> ns1.xxx.com's ip address
www.mysite.com -> ns1.xxx.com's ip address
and now the www.mysite.com still does not work.
I am not sure if I make myself clear, thanks for your help!
 
In
Nick said:
hi, Kevin,
thanks for your reply.
Actually, I had my domain registered at yahoo, but my web host
provider is not yahoo. So what I need to do is, point my yahoo domain
to my web host provider's name server, to get to my website. And in
yahoo domain contorl panel, we can change the DNS name server, and we
also can change the DNS CName or A record. So this is why i am
asking this question. I only need to change name server to my web
host provider's name server, or I need to change the DNS CName and A
record too in the control panel?


From my host provider's on line help, it says needs to change the
domain DNS server to their name server, like ns1.xxxx.com,
ns2.xxxx.com, I did this, and I also changed the DNS A record to
ns1.xxx.com's ip address. Now, after about one day, I can access my
website with this address, http://mysite.com, but i can not access it
by http://www.mysite.com. Why is that?
Click to expand...

Because all you have to do is create an "A" record (host record) called
"www" (without the quotes) under the mysite.com zone name and provide the
correct IP address of their web server.
I am thinking probably the
problem is something wrong with the DNS A record for www.mysite.com,
does this make sense?
Click to expand...

Did you create the www record?
Then I changed the DNS A record as:
mysite.com -> ns1.xxx.com's ip address
www.mysite.com -> ns1.xxx.com's ip address
and now the www.mysite.com still does not work.
I am not sure if I make myself clear, thanks for your help!
Click to expand...

The ns1.xxx.com sound ike it's Yahoo's DNS server.
Is their DNS server a webserver too? If not, I wouldn't point www.mysite.com
and mysite.com to that machine. That is supposed to be the nameserver that
is hosting the mysite.com zone name.

--
Ace

This posting is provided "AS-IS" with no warranties or guarantees and
confers no rights.

If this post is viewed at a non-Microsoft community website, and you were to
respond to it through that community's website, I may not see your reply
unless that website posts replies back to the original Microsoft forum.
Therefore, please direct all replies ONLY to the Microsoft public newsgroup
this thread originated in so all can benefit or ensure the web community
posts it back to the original forum.

Ace Fekay, MCSE 2003 & 2000, MCSA 2003 & 2000, MCSE+I, MCT, MVP
Microsoft Windows MVP - Windows Server - Directory Services
Microsot Certified Trainer
Infinite Diversities in Infinite Combinations.
=================================
 
thanks Ace, I think the "www" record must be the one I missed.
My web host provider is discount asp.net. So my web pages all are
discountasp.net web server. They tell me the their name server
is:ns1.discountasp.net(61.122.12.223) and
ns2.discountasp.net(61.122.12.224). What I did was in yahoo domain
contorl panel, I changed the domain name server to ns1.discountasp.net
and ns2.discountasp.net instead of the old default setting
ns1.yahoo.com and ns2.yahoo.com. Is this right?
And then, you mean I need to add www A record in yahoo domain contorl
panel or discountasp.net my website domain zone name?
I am trying to think about how these whole things work. Basically, DNS
is a recordset of mapping between URL name and URL ip address. And the
A record or CName record is the record in this recordset, right? Then
how can a single user request find the discountasp.net and then find my
pages?
Thanks.
 
In
Nick said:
thanks Ace, I think the "www" record must be the one I missed.
Click to expand...

That's an important one not to forget. :-)
My web host provider is discount asp.net. So my web pages all are
discountasp.net web server. They tell me the their name server
is:ns1.discountasp.net(61.122.12.223) and
ns2.discountasp.net(61.122.12.224). What I did was in yahoo domain
contorl panel, I changed the domain name server to ns1.discountasp.net
and ns2.discountasp.net instead of the old default setting
ns1.yahoo.com and ns2.yahoo.com. Is this right?
Click to expand...

If you want discountasp.net's name servers to handleyour domain name,
absolutely yes.
And then, you mean I need to add www A record in yahoo domain contorl
panel or discountasp.net my website domain zone name?
Click to expand...

Well, let's put it this way. If discountasp.nbet's nameservers are
authorative for your domain name, meaning that anyone that is looking for
your website when they type in http://www.mydomain.com or
http://mydomain.com, then all requests will be sent to discountasp.net's
nameservers because they are the nameservers on record to go to when someone
asks any specific info about mydomain.com.

Based on that, where would you think is the best place to create the www
record?
I am trying to think about how these whole things work. Basically, DNS
is a recordset of mapping between URL name and URL ip address.
Click to expand...

NO. Not URLs. DNS is a database of domain names and their resource records.
There are a multitude of records types that can be created, which is too
much to get into here. And www is just one type of resource record, an "A"
record, or better known as a "host" record. A blank resource record is
called a blank FQDN (Fully qualified domain name). In Active Directory
terms, it's called the LdapIpAddress.

This is just one type of record with two totally unrelated reasons to create
them. For a website, it's used for accessing a website without typing in the
host portion (called the blank FQDN), or just typing in http://mydomain.com.
.. For Active Directory, it's a resource record for GPOs and DFS
functionality, among other things. (It's one reason not to use the same name
as your external name in an AD infrastructure design.)

Years ago someone said, we'll use www (world wide web) to signify web page
URLs. That was Tim Berners-Lee coming up with that phrase in 1989, then
officially released by CERN in 1992. He developed the first web browser. We
are more familiar with the first GUI based browser, Mosaid, by Marc
Andreeson and a few others of NCSA, then formed Netscape.

Now I would have liked it better if someone were to have said let's use
"ace" as the record of choice for web page URLs. This way everyone around
the world would know my name, and would type in to get to say, Microsoft's
site by typing in http://ace.microsoft.com. Hmm, nice ring to it. I could
have lliterally made a name for myself!! :-) But no, someone thought of
using www instead. Darn...
And the
A record or CName record is the record in this recordset, right?
Click to expand...

A CNAME is a record that points to another record. Also known as an alias.
Then
how can a single user request find the discountasp.net and then find
my pages?
Click to expand...

That is part of the resolution, or recursion process. I already gave you a
brief on www. Read up below for more info.

How DNS Works:
http://www.stamey.nu/DNS/DNSHowItWorks.asp

How DNS Works -by Templetons:
http://www.templetons.com/brad/dns/howworks.html

How Does DNS Work - DNS Wizard:
http://www.dnswiz.com/dnsworks.htm

How the DNS Works! -- A Lecture-Based Video Presentation on how DNS (Domain
Naming System) Works.:
http://www.learntcpip.com/DNS/default.htm

Howstuffworks How Domain Name Servers Work:
http://www.howstuffworks.com/dns.htm

ZoneEdit.Com Simplified example of how DNS works (ZoneEdit.com):
http://www.zoneedit.com/doc/dns-basics.html

Thanks.
Click to expand...

My pleasure.

Ace
 
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