An NS record, which stands for "Name Server Record," is a type of DNS record used to indicate which name servers are responsible for managing the DNS information for a specific domain. Nameservers are computer servers that enable the translation of domain names into IP addresses. They play a crucial role in the DNS system by processing DNS queries and responding to queries about a domain's DNS information.
A typical NS record looks like this:
yourdomain.com. IN NS ns1.yourhostingprovider.com.yourdomain.com. IN NS ns2.yourhostingprovider.com.
- "yourdomain.com" is the domain for which the nameservers are specified.
- "IN" stands for Internet and indicates that this is an Internet-related DNS record.
- "NS" is the record type that specifies that this is a name server record.
- "ns1.yourhostingprovider.com" and "ns2.yourhostingprovider.com" are the host names of the nameservers responsible for managing the domain's DNS information.
A domain name may have multiple NS records to ensure redundancy and availability. These NS records point to the nameservers of the hosting provider or DNS service provider responsible for providing DNS services for the domain.
When a user looks up a domain name, the DNS resolver consults that domain's NS records to identify the appropriate nameservers. Then the resolver sends DNS queries to these name servers to retrieve the corresponding DNS records, such as A records for IP addresses, MX records for e-mail servers and other relevant DNS information.
The NS records for a domain are important for the stability and consistency of the DNS infrastructure because they indicate which servers are responsible for providing the correct DNS information for that domain. It is essential to keep the NS records up-to-date and managed when changing hosting providers or DNS service providers.