DNS. What's that all about then?

[Maverick]

I was just wondering do you have to pay extra for a DNS server thingy? Do free hosts support this? I take it that when you reg a domain name you don't get a DNS server unless the same company is going to host the site. Is that right?

Oh and finally does this DNS thing make it so that the real address of your site is hidden from the right click properties window and so that you can use urls as though they were hosted at your domain name (does that make sense?). You know so you can have http://www.myname.com/homepage.htm instead of http://www.freebiehost.com/blahblahblah/homepage.htm.

Can someone enlighten me please? :)

[Canuckkev]

Well, I'm not an expert at DNS, but here is what I (think) I know:

Lots of places do offer DNS for free. hn.org, mydomain.com, zoneedit.com, domaincontroller.com

And as for hiding the real address, if the site is hosted on the same domain as the DNS, like if you have a pay host or free host that hosts domains, and the DNS is pointed to them, only your domain address will show up. Some offer stealth redirection(and normal too), where actual domain page is a frameset, and the redirect page is the 100% height frame. Also, some may offer path forwarding, so going to http://www.yourdomain.com/page.html would forward to http://url.to/your.redirection.site/page.html . But, I am guessing here, but if you set up an A entry in the DNS, and point the domain to the unique I.P. that your host gives you(very few, if any fwps do), then it will seem like you are actually at the domain.

[keith]

Originally posted by Maverick
Oh and finally does this DNS thing make it so that the real address of your site is hidden from the right click properties window and so that you can use urls as though they were hosted at your domain name (does that make sense?). You know so you can have http://www.myname.com/homepage.htm instead of http://www.freebiehost.com/blahblahblah/homepage.htm.

Can someone enlighten me please? :)

that's called path-forwarding. if you want to use this with your own domain, check out:

http://www.wzr.net
http://www.jwdx.com

set up dns for your domain: http://www.wzr.net/wzr/dns.shtml

path-forwarding: http://www.wzr.net/wzr/path.shtml

[LeX]

Those services cloak your real url, so it doesn't show up as http://www.mycrappyhost.com/members/site/area/username/hey.html . But your cloaked url stays the same, no matter where you go within your site, because the cloak uses frames... so the title doesn't change either.

[Maverick]

Thanks for the info, but I'm still a bit confused. If you sign up with hn.org why do you also need to get an account with wzr.net as well? I thought all this stuff was included when you buy a domain name and that it would be as straightforward as Name Zero. :(

[Maverick]

I've signed up with mydomain.com and have set it to point my domain at my real address. I've also added mydomain.com's nameservers to the control panel of my registrars site. Is there anything else I need to do to get things up and running?

My domain isn't showing up in the who is listing yet so I assume the changes can't go through until then. Is that right?

[keith]

Originally posted by Maverick
Thanks for the info, but I'm still a bit confused. If you sign up with hn.org why do you also need to get an account with wzr.net as well? I thought all this stuff was included when you buy a domain name and that it would be as straightforward as Name Zero. :(

well, i see hn.org is shutting down, may need to find another dns provider.

pretty simple as to why you need to sign up at both places. you sign up for the free dns routing to point your domain at an i.p. address. if you elect to use wzr.net, then you'd read the dns info page to find out all that neat stuff.

one it's pointed at the i.p. address, you'll get the wzr.net "domain not found" error, or whatever it is, i forget now. then you'd sign your domain up there too, so the database knows where to point it when it's called upon.

http://www.wzr.net/wzr/dns.shtml

[Maverick]

Hi, just me again. Thanks for that, you've cleared that up for me now. I'm not an expert on this as you've probably gathered by now but I think at mydomain.com you can combine both of these services into one account. You can choose to redirect to an IP address or the real url. I think I'll have to wait 24 hours in between changes to see if it works though. I signed up at your site first and then went to mydomain as the FAQs recommended so I've got two options to try anyway.

I don't want to sound like I'm accusing you of anything underhand, but I was just wondering what do you and these other free DNS providers get out of this service?

Thanks for all the help :)

[keith]

ummm, you get to forward your domain anywhere with path forwarding and subdomains, and i provide it free of charge, just make a small amount of money from ad banners on the site... all you need to do is point your domain at the right i.p. address. just so happens most people prefer using free dns providers. that's just how it usually turns out, nothing i can really do about it.

[Maverick]

Oh I see. Well that's fair enough. Everyone has to make a living somehow. Thanks again for the info. :)

[keith]

ha, lke i'm making a living with thatsite alone. good one.