Glossary · websites
What is DNS?
DNS, the Domain Name System, is the internet's address book. It turns a domain name that people type into the numeric address of the server that hosts the site, and it tells email where to deliver messages for that domain. DNS settings are a list of records held by whoever manages the domain: an A record points the domain to a website server, a CNAME points one name at another, MX records route email and TXT records prove ownership to services like Google. Changes can take hours to spread, and one wrong record can take a website or a company's email offline.
What does DNS mean for a business in Pakistan?
The DNS for a Pakistani business domain is often managed in a registrar account belonging to a former developer, sometimes with a .pk domain at PKNIC and hosting somewhere else entirely. Before any website rebuild or email move in Islamabad, finding out who controls DNS, and getting that login into the owner's hands, saves days of delays.
A worked example
An Islamabad consultancy moves its website to a new host but keeps email on Google Workspace. The developer updates the A record to the new server and leaves the MX records alone. The site switches over within hours, and email never stops. Changing the whole DNS zone instead would have broken email for everyone in the office.
Terms that go with this one
These come up in the same conversations and are worth reading together.
- Domain namedomainA domain name is the address people type to reach a website, such as yourbusiness.com or yourbusiness.pk. It is rented, not bought outright, through…
- Web hostinghostingWeb hosting is the rented server space where a website's files and database live and from which pages are sent to visitors. The main types are shared…
- SSL certificateSSL / httpsAn SSL certificate, more precisely a TLS certificate, is a small file installed on a web server that lets browsers connect over an encrypted https…
- CDN (content delivery network)CDNA content delivery network, or CDN, is a network of servers in many cities that keeps copies of a website's files, such as images, scripts,…
- SPF, DKIM and DMARCSPF DKIM DMARCSPF, DKIM and DMARC are three DNS records that prove an email claiming to be from your domain really is. SPF lists the servers allowed to send mail…
DNS — quick answers
What does DNS mean?
DNS, the Domain Name System, is the internet's address book. It turns a domain name that people type into the numeric address of the server that hosts the site, and it tells email where to deliver messages for that domain.
DNS ko Urdu mein kya kehte hain?
ڈی این ایس — though in practice almost everyone in Pakistan says "DNS settings". The DNS for a Pakistani business domain is often managed in a registrar account belonging to a former developer, sometimes with a .pk domain at PKNIC and hosting somewhere else entirely.
Why does DNS matter for a business in Pakistan?
The DNS for a Pakistani business domain is often managed in a registrar account belonging to a former developer, sometimes with a .pk domain at PKNIC and hosting somewhere else entirely. Before any website rebuild or email move in Islamabad, finding out who controls DNS, and getting that login into the owner's hands, saves days of delays.
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