WebDevRobert

Father, Husband, Brother, Son; Sinner, Christian, Republican; Designer, Developer, Lover of Fun; Fisher, Hunter, Owner of Guns.

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Hosting & DNS

Choosing a host is an important step in taking your website live. Over the last 15 or more years, I’ve used a total of three different hosts; 1 and 1, GoDaddy and my own company. Sure, I’ve set up a few free hosting accounts. However, I’ve always come back to one of the three hosts I just mentioned.

Web Host

These days, I choose my company’s service over anyone else’s, for these reasons:

  • My company’s service is fully customized to my specifications.
  • My company’s service is a virtual server environment but I actually own all the servers, network equipment and hardware used to run my system.
  • My company’s service can be updated and/or upgraded quickly and efficiency, under my administration.
  • While FREE HOSTING doesn’t come without a cost, I am not reselling someone else’s hosting service.
  • My company’s service includes a simple installation process for many Open Source, web-based platforms.

Yes, all these reasons could be condenced into one; I HAVE FULL CONTROL!

Domain Registrar

For the purposes of this post, you should know your web host may not be the same as your Domain Registrar. While many web hosts are also registrars, it is not always the case. While my own company is my current web host, it is not a domain registrar.

So, while I’ll be sticking with my own company as my web host, GoDaddy is my current domain registrar. This means, each time I want a new domain, I use GoDaddy to register it and then point the domains at my hosting service. The steps below, outline how I go about doing this, within the GoDaddy system (and yes, I’m going for all the bonus points).

DNS Instructions

If you want to skip the detailed, numbered instructions, view the gallery (bottom).

  1. I start by paying a visit to Danica Patrick at GoDaddy.com
  2. I log in with my username and password.

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  1. I click on the black “My Account” button.

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  1. I click on the green “Launch” button. Most likely, this will open GoDaddy’s Domain Manager in another tab or window.

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  1. I select the domain(s) I wish to edit, by placing a check in the checkbox, to the left of the domain.
  2. I choose the “Set Nameservers” option from the Nameservers menu item. A lightbox will open, assuming I have JavaScript enabled for my web browser.

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  1. I Select the “I have specific nameservers for my domains” option.
  2. I then populate Nameservers 1 & 2 (minimum), with my Nameserver information. Your configuration may require more Nameservers to be used.

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  1. I review the changes I’ve made.
  2. I make sure the changes I’ve made are correct.
  3. I click the OK button. Remember, these changes are not instant. It can take a few days for this change to be updated on all the world’s DNS.
  4. I then log out of GoDaddy’s Domain Manager and website.
  5. Its at this point that my company’s DNS takes over. If I’ve already created the domain in my hosting account, my company’s DNS will automatically point requests to the correct IP address. If the domain has not been created in my hosting account, my company’s DNS will automatically point requests to the correct IP address, once I create the domain, in my account.

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This pretty much summarizes the steps I take, each time I register a domain, in order for the DNS to be correctly pointed at my company’s web hosting.

Again, if you want to skip the detailed, numbered instructions, view the gallery (below).

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STOP: The instructions for this P2PU challenge, specifically tell me to write a blog post called “Hosting & DNS.” I followed the instructions in my challenge. While I’m not very keen on using a different naming scheme, I wanted to make sure I met the criteria, specified in the challenge.

This post represents the required post for P2PU: Webmaking 101 – Your Hosting – Hosting & DNS.

I’d like to give a big Thank You to ksnapshot and GIMP, for creating the software I used to create the screen shots in this post, and many others.

Prior P2PU Posts

If you are interested in any of my prior posts in the P2PU: Webmaking 101 series, you can see them below:

  1. P2PU: Webmaking 101
  2. P2PU: Webmaking 101 – Writing HTML by Hand
  3. P2PU: Webmaking 101 – Choose Your Weapon
  4. P2PU: Webmaking 101 – HTML Hunting in the World Around You
  5. P2PU: Webmaking 101 – Attack the DNS

Poll

Oh, and if you have the time, I have a poll running at the bottom of the P2PU: Webmaking 101 – Choose Your Weapon post. Take some time to cast your vote. If you don’t see your favorite text editor listed, just add it. I think those who are watching this poll would find it much more useful if the actual editor was mentioned if you choose to vote for “other.”