The Internet’s Infrastructure: Domains
After too many months of me avoiding making my own website, It’s finishedt. I brainstormed, I UX designed, I logo sourced, I stared begrudgingly at a blank “About” section and moaned… and then when I was finally ready to hit publish, I realized I’d almost forgotten the most important part; picking a name a buying a domain. The choices were endless and my confusion was rampant.
What is a domain? Who sells them? How do they work? Can someone steal my domain?
Welcome to Cult Creativ. In honor of my first blog to my site, I’ve committed to explaining the unnecessary deep dive I took in understanding what a domain really is, why it needs a provider, and the infrastructure I had no clue was the foundation of the very internet.
DNS: Domain Name System
A DNS is the site address for anything housed on the internet. In the world of computers, it’s known as the IP address and in the world of humans, it’s something we’d say is actually legible. Think yahoo.com or amazon.com or diewithyourbootson.com, that’s the DNS; that very name that pulls up that very website is the individual DNS.
A DNS system relies on web browsers and DNS providers to be findable and functional. The browsers are your search platforms that communicate with parent servers to identify the correct IP address while DNS providers store all records attached to that DNS for it to actually work and be owned (i.e. if it’s yours, you can use it).
Since most of society has a general understanding of web browsers already, let’s look deeper into what a DNS provider is and what "indispensable" services they offer.
DNS Providers
What is a DNS provider?
As you’ve guessed - and I partially explained - a DNS provider is what gives access to DNS(es?); the entity which allows for an individual to purchase a DNS and maintains those DNS records through its own storage. It's a global system that not only holds owned DNS’ but maintains all other DNS options not yet owned.
Where the DNS is the legible name to the IP address and servers are the search engines, the DNS provider is both the host of the DNS and the identifying mechanic that connects the two parts. So, basically:
Car = Servers
Real Estate Database = DNS Provider
Address = DNS
House = Website
Although there’s two types of DNS providers, I won’t be going into them because I’m already tired and it’s irrelevant to this article.
Why do we need DNS providers?
From the articles I read, DNS providers were referred to as the internet’s phone book, a necessary tool in locating domains from the server’s side. Although it would be great to think the domain would provide itself, everything tech-based needs a function to complete an order. Even the miniscule can’t be ignored and the web is no exception in that.
Do DNS Providers Clash? What happens if a DNS is stored in two places?
When I was researching different providers, I realized that it doesn’t matter who offered what for sale…because everything was available everywhere. If a domain wasn’t owned yet, I could purchase it through GoDaddy, PorkBun, even Squarespace itself, and it wouldn’t matter. It was only the price and whatever extra deals that changed.
Two people cannot own the same domain. Enough to say two DNS providers can’t own the same domain, either. When a DNS isn’t owned by a person, it’s just not owned. It’s not even public, so there’s no other service being fulfilled by a DNS provider, anyway. What I was seeing when I searched for domain names per individual provider was a list of available names worldwide, with a provider’s independent pricing displayed for purchasing that name through their services.
Which in turn begs the question on how DNS providers ensure maintenance and purchasability for something they don’t already have a claim over. As you can guess by now, the very question “what happens if a DNS is stored in two places” is misleading.
DNS Providers vs. DNS Registrars: Sometimes, they’re the same thing
What if I told you the way I had just described a DNS provider was wrong? What if I said this was only one part of how the whole of DNS works and not a true reflection of its moving parts? Well, I did, because that’s what my research led me to believe. But that very question - that I’m sure you’ve asked too - kept me digging.
It’s true that the DNS provider (or DNS host – whatever) maintains the records for any given domain. The registrar, however, is where you buy that domain. There are also agencies that offer both provider and registration services: Squarespace, Porkbun… you see how I got lost in translation here?
More specifically, the registrar does all the steps needed to register your domain under yourself by way of your specific IP address with the International Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). This is the not-so-ambiguous parent company responsible for organizing the whole DNS and IP address distribution, and the very reason domain ownership doesn’t accidentally overlap. At least, it’s part of the parent company…
AND ONCE THAT REGISTRAR STEP IS COMPLETED you choose the provider, which designates servers as the storage centers for your DNS.
Okay, here we go again:
THE WORLD = IANA
Car = Search Engine
Real Estate Agent = DNS Registrar
Real Estate Database = DNS Provider
Neighborhood = Server
Address = DNS
House = Website
Once everything is in place, it just feels like you’re driving home; no agents, no databases, no convolution, and a memorized address. Are we all exhausted yet?
What’s the point in having more than one provider?
By this time I was battling a headache, dry eyes, and considering my options, which there were aplenty. Why on God’s green earth was there more than one provider? Can we please be done?
No, we cannot, because multiple providers ensure the survival of our websites during a worldwide alien cyberattack... or, I don’t know, somebody loses power somewhere and your designated host server shuts down…
Redundancy: the only time we want it
In the chance something ill-fated does happen, like an apocalypse, you want a backup. That is the point of having multiple providers.
This secondary DNS has a matching URL, which differs from the “save your name, use ‘.org’ for a discounted price” message I received at checkout. This tactic is also employed as digital currency to prevent SEO competition between two like names by separate businesses, but I digress.
I did not explore how to obtain a secondary DNS because my pebble brain cannot withstand the pressure of learning more new things right now. It has shrivelled and mummified. I’m holding on to by a thread of my own torment.
If you’re interested in learning more on the matter, I found this article particularly useful: “How, and why, we scaled up to a Multi-DNS architecture (Part 2)”
Do you need web hosting for a domain?
Is this a silly question to ask? Maybe. It’s not like anyone is going to purchase a domain without the intent of web hosting, but they are different. As we’ve learned, the domain is the address for your website; the obvious addition is that web hosting is hosting your website. Making it ‘online-able’.
I’m not writing another chart.
There’s some good in registering your domain before you’re ready to set up a website. If you already have a business name, you’d want to save a domain that matches before somebody else calls dibs. That’s why I had to drop the E in “creative” for my brand... However, it’s often that a DNS provider or web hosting service offers both domain purchasing and hosting, so you don’t have to split your attention between two places.
I for one chose to use Squarespace as my web hosting service for ease of website creation (and because I didn’t even know my business name yet), and opted for Porkbun as a provider due to its reviews and rates. Which is how we are here, at the end of this very educational and not at all tedious blog.
