DNS explained simply

DNS is one of those things that sounds scarily technical but is actually quite simple. You don't need to understand this to be a customer of ours – but if you're curious, here are the essentials.

DNS is the internet's phone book

Every website lives on a server that has a string of numbers as its address (an IP address). Humans don't remember number strings, but we remember names. DNS is the system that translates the name yourcompany.no into the correct number string, so the browser finds its way.

When someone enters your domain, the browser looks up in DNS "where is this site?", gets the answer, and fetches the page.

DNS records you might hear about

You don't need to touch these yourself – we do that – but here's what some of them mean:

• A record – points the domain to the server where the website lives.
• CNAME – points one name on to another name (often used for www).
• MX – determines where email to your domain should be delivered.
• TXT – used, among other things, to prove your email is genuine (see Email at Ibenta).

Why do changes sometimes take time?

When we change DNS – for example when launching or moving email – it can take anywhere from a few minutes to up to a day before the change is visible everywhere. This is called propagation: the update has to spread to DNS servers all over the world.

That means the site can, for a short period, show old content to some and new content to others. This is completely normal and resolves on its own. We plan larger changes so they're as unnoticeable as possible.

What do I have to do?

Usually nothing. If we need access to your DNS settings – for example at a domain provider you already use – we'll let you know and guide you step by step.