This guide explains how a domain name and a DNS zone work.

Introduction

1. When you browse a website such as https://www.abc123.xyz, abc123.xyz is the domain name.
2. Each domain name has DNS (Domain Name System), which indicates where the DNS zone is located (e.g., with which provider).
3. The DNS zone then allows you to delegate the management of various services related to the domain name to different providers.
   • For a single domain name, it is possible to delegate:
     • web hosting to provider X (via an "A" record)
     • and email service to provider Y (via an "MX" record)

Domain name, DNS and DNS zone, then services

Who manages what?

1. Each domain name is registered and managed by a registrar. For example, Infomaniak is a registrar, one of the cheapest in Switzerland.
2. The DNS of a domain name is configured with the registrar that manages the domain name.
3. The DNS zone can be managed by the registrar or another provider.
4. Web hosting and email service can be managed by any hosting provider.

In the most complex case, it is therefore possible to have 1 different provider for the following services: domain name registration and DNS management, DNS zone management, web hosting, email service.

The following diagram summarizes these different possibilities with the involvement of different providers:

Infomaniak

As a registrar and hosting provider, Infomaniak can manage all of these services. This is the simplest solution.

• In the case of Infomaniak, the DNS servers are generally in the form nsXX.infomaniak.com and nsXX.infomaniak.com (XX being 11 or 12, for example).
• You can modify the DNS servers for your domain name, as well as modify the "internal" settings of these DNS servers, i.e., modify the DNS zone of a domain name.

And within these DNS zones, to redirect traffic to services, we distinguish:

• an MX record which allows a domain name (domain.xyz for example) to point to a mail server.
• an A record which allows a domain name (domain.xyz for example) or a subdomain (example.domain.xyz for example) to point to a web server that has a static IP address (otherwise, you would have to constantly edit the A record to enter the new IP address - see this other guide on this subject).

Possible scenarios

etc.