Let’s start with the basics, the basis of the system. DNS stands for Domain Name Service. What is DNS? It’s like the whitepage directory for the Internet. You supply a name, DNS supplies a number. The name in this case is specifically a hostname and the number is an IP address. Without DNS you would have to remember
Continue ReadingMany times, it’s only after a DNS has come under attack or after it has suffered unwanted downtime that we start thinking strategically about DNS. DNS is an integral component of your overall website strategy. Individuals and enterprises alike spend valuable resources creating and promoting their brands and forget about managing perhaps the most important aspect of it – their domain name.
Continue ReadingName servers perform the critical task of translating domain names to the IP address needed to connect online. You can think of them like a phone book. They hold all of the IP addresses of all the domain names that are hosted on them. If it weren’t for name servers saving all of the records of domain names, you would have to know the IP address of every single website that you visit. Visiting the No-IP website would not be as simple as typing in www.noip.com into your browser, you would have to type the actual IP address http://8.23.224.107.
When you register a domain and host a website, you are able to choose who handles your name server records. If you delegate your domain to No-IP, our Plus Managed DNS handles your websites DNS. Choosing a managed DNS provider is a wise decision if you rely heavily on your website and hate the thought of experiencing any downtime. How much would website downtime cost you?
Related article:
What is DNS?
I am a total sucker for an online deal; 1 day sales, Cyber Monday sales, Black Friday sales, I am the exact target market. So it should be no surprise I also love holiday shopping!
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Did this video answer all your questions about No-IP Free Dynamic DNS? If not contact our support team for additional assistance now!
Did you know that if you are not using a managed DNS provider, it can be detrimental to your website and eCommerce? Most people register their domain and then just use the DNS that is provided by the registrar. This technique is okay if you are a running a small personal website, small blogs, etc, but if you are a business that relies heavily on the up time of your website, you should definitely reconsider.
What will you gain if you choose to use a managed DNS provider?
1. Reliability
2. Speed- With our 11 points of presence across the globe, your users will be connected to the server that is located closest to them. This makes connecting and loading webpages on your site faster.
3. DNS failover protection
4. Money- Less downtime= more money in your pocket. Even a few minutes of downtime can end up costing you hundreds, if not thousands of dollars.
5. Redundancy- If your website is only hosted on two name servers (that are typically on the same network) when one goes down, they both will, bringing down your entire website.
But, why is a managed DNS provider better than your registrar? Typically, registrars do not have time to focus their energy on DNS, so this means that the servers they have available are are not as fast and have high TTLs (time to lives), which makes changing and updating values extremely slow.
Also, in most cases, your registrar will only give you two name servers to use and the name servers are usually on the same network, which means less redundancy (if one goes out, they both will, bringing down your entire site) and are usually hosted on over subscribed, overworked networks.
If website is your livelihood and money maker, why not have it running on premium fuel instead of regular? Check out our Plus DNS. No-IP Plus offers all of the above features for a small fraction of the cost that one outage to your website could cost. What are you waiting for?
As “earthquake on East Coast” and “earthquake” searches soar on Google, now is a great time to focus on the importance of having your DNS hosted in many geographically diverse locations. Companies should now be thinking about the “What-If?” scenarios.
What If:
Your DNS is only hosted in one location and mother nature decides to wake up on the wrong side of the bed?
Your website was down for an hour, a day, a week? What would this mean to your business?
Your companies email system just stopped working?
DNS is an essential part of the Internet. If your web servers are only hosted in one location, and something happens, your entire website can be wiped out. Having DNS that is hosted in many geographically diverse locations means that even if the unthinkable happens, your customers will still be able to reach your site.
The location of DNS servers is important in ensuring 100% uptime. We deploy name servers across the globe at geographically unique datacenters using different tier 1 bandwidth providers to ensure a natural disaster or connectivity outage does not disrupt our robust DNS network. Check out No-IP Plus DNS for more information.
Have you or your business ever been affected by a DNS outage? Share your thoughts below!
1. Research Faster and More Efficiently: Faster internet browsing for all of those last minute term papers. Sites hosted with reliable DNS will always be available when you need them most.
2. Get Better Grades: Forgot your term paper at home that’s due in 15 minutes? Don’t use the “dog ate my homework” excuse, log in to your computer from school, access your files and viola! Crisis averted.
3. Play Video Games With Your Friends From Home: Far away from all of your video game buddies from home? Wipe those tears away, because with DDNS you can run your own game server on your dynamic IP from your dorm room!
4. Be the Life of the Party: At a party with really lame music, but forgot your IPod? Be the hit of the party by accessing your entire music library on the go! (Just make sure you don’t play the YMCA.)
5. Sharing is Caring: Live in an apartment with multiple computers? Want to easily share files, music and movies? Create your own VPN server in your apartment or dorm.
6. Save Money: Food disappearing quicker than usual? Do you suspect that your roommate is secretly munching all of your Cheetos at 2am? Set up a security camera and catch the culprit red (er orange?) handed! Just make sure you keep the camera rated G by not installing them in a bathroom, bedroom, or other places where people expect privacy.
Other tips and ideas on ways college students can use DNS ? Add them below! And check out our website to learn about our awesome DNS products.
More often than not, when I tell people what the company that I work for does, they look at me with a blank stare and a trivial look on their face and say DNS, What… They still seem utterly confused after I try to explain what DNS is and how they are most likely using it everyday. These people usually just pretend like they get it and walk away, but do they really get it and what’s so hard to “get”?
We have touched on what DNS is quite a few times, but we still get the inevitable comments on surveys and blog posts that people are still very confused. One person actually compared DNS to buying a bottle of air, open it and there is nothing inside, but that couldn’t be further from the truth!
DNS redirects an IP address, to a static domain name. So if you want to visit www.no-ip.com, you type the domain name into your browser, not the IP address. If not for DNS, you would have to remember every IP address of every website! With over 300 million websites on the web, remembering every IP address would be utterly impossible, well unless maybe you’re Kim Peek: The Real Rain Man.
In addition, the transition to IPv6 will make remembering IP addresses even harder! IPv6 addresses are 128 bits long compared to 32 bits of Ipv4 addresses.
They look something like this: 2001:db8:0:1234:0:567:8:1. That’s a lot if numbers to remember! (I can barely remember my phone number!)
So, next time someone asks you, WHAT the heck is DNS?! You can tell them that it is indeed more than just bottle air. It makes visiting websites by a domain name, possible!
Have you ever had someone look at you confused when you mention DNS? Also, if you like this article, be sure to share it with your friends via Facebook and Twitter!
An A record is the actual record. The name is resolved to the corresponding IP address.
An example of this is www.no-ip.com resolves to 204.16.252.112
CNAME records (short for short for canonical name) map your hostname to another hostname. It is useful for pointing many hosts to the same place and updating them easily.
An example of this is:
www.no-ip.com to www.noip.com
This is a CNAME record because even though the domains are different, they still go to exactly the same place and follow the same rules that are in place.
Redirects are like CNAME records in a way, but different. Use a redirect if you want one domain to redirect to another.
An example of this is:
www.yourwebsite.com redirects to yourblog.blog.com
Have questions or comments about CNAME records, A records or redirects? Leave them below.
Want to know more about No-IP’s services? Check out our website to learn more.