What is DNS and why do I need it?

DNS stands for Domain Name System and is the foundation for the way that the internet works. Basically what DNS does is change the human friendly domain names into IP addresses that your computer can use to find web pages. Most of the time the only edits that would need to be made to DNS is when a domain is created or the web site is moved to a new server. Other things you may want to do is create subdomains to extend the usability of your domain or modify mail settings.

There are 3 primary types of records that you will most likely have to deal with.

• The first type is an A record, or address record. this type of record points to an IP address like the one that your web page is hosted on. There is almost always a primary host record by the name of @ that is used as the primary location of the domain. Additional A records can be used to create a subdomain (or alias) that points to another machine by IP address.
  • an example of this would be where the @ record where domain.com points to 10.1.1.1 and an additional a record called shop points to 10.1.1.2 which is a different machine running SSL for security.
• Another type or record you may want to create is a CNAME, or Canonical Name, is used to create a subdomain that points to a URL. CNAMES are strictly optional but are commonly used on most sites to aid FTP, POP, web mail, and other commonly used services.
  
  • A popular example of why you may want to create a CNAME record is to point something likeblog.domain.com to a Wordpress or Blogger page.
• The last type is an MX record, or mail exchange record, which is used to direct mail traffic. If you wish to use email with your domain then you will need to create MX records that points to your mail servers. MX records are weighted with the most preferred server assigned the lowest number and the least proffered server with the highest number.
  Important note: Sender Policy Framework (SPF) can also be used to detect forgeries if you are having issues with emails that say that they are from your domain but were never sent by you.

OK, so I got that but all I really need to do is make a subdomain

Easy... if you are sending your subdomain to another URL that already exists (like maybe a wordpress blog) then you will want to use a CNAME. If you want to send the request to another machine with its own IP address then you will want to use an A record.

Where do I make edits to DNS

Most of the time, DNS records are accessed and edited through the registrar that sold you the domain. This is true unless you have changed the name servers for whatever reason. Technically, DNS records are the responsibility of whoever is defined to be the authoritative name servers for the domain so if you changed the name servers to those of your hosting company then that is where you will have to access them.