DNS Guide
DNS Hosting and Domain Web Hosting are two distinct services that work together to make your website accessible on the internet. While they are closely related, they perform entirely different roles in the infrastructure of a website.
The primary difference between DNS hosting and web hosting lies in their functions. DNS hosting is about managing the routing of traffic to the correct servers using DNS records, while web hosting focuses on storing and serving the files that make up your website. For example, you might use Cloudflare for DNS hosting to manage your domain’s DNS records, while Cloudways hosts the actual files of your website. These two services complement each other to ensure your website is both reachable and functional.
DNS Hosting is responsible for managing the Domain Name System (DNS) records of your domain. It ensures that when someone enters your domain name, such as example.com, their request is routed to the correct server. Essentially, DNS hosting acts as the traffic controller for your domain, translating the human-readable domain name into the IP address of the server hosting your website.
The key features of DNS hosting include:
Unlike web hosting, DNS hosting does not store or serve website files. Instead, it ensures that visitors are directed to the correct destination. Providers like Cloudflare and Amazon Route 53 specialize in DNS hosting.
Domain Web Hosting, on the other hand, is the service that stores and delivers the actual content of your website. It provides server space for files like HTML, CSS, images, and databases, ensuring they are accessible to visitors. Web hosting is responsible for making your website’s content visible to users when they access your domain.
The key features of web hosting include:
Some web hosting providers may also offer basic DNS hosting as part of their packages, but their primary focus is on delivering your website to users. Examples of web hosting providers include Bluehost, SiteGround, AWS, and Cloudways.