Understanding DNS: Record Types, Migrating Safely, and More

DNS is what points your domain name to your host and your email provider, as well as many other things. We will be covering nameservers and the main types of records you’re likely to deal with – A, CNAME, MX, and TXT.

If you make your DNS changes properly, you can migrate websites with zero downtime and minimal risk of losing any changes during the transition. You can configure the hosts file on your computer to make sure your website has been copied intact on your new host before you actually point the DNS over to complete the migration.

If you have just been following instructions to make DNS changes so far, or you’ve been letting your host or domain registrar make your DNS changes for you, then you will definitely learn a lot, and you can avoid making some critical mistakes in the future.