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What is a nameserver?

Last updated .

A nameserver (name server) is a server that stores a domain’s DNS records and answers queries about them with authority. The domain’s NS records, held at the registry and set through the registrar, say which nameservers are in charge.

Definition
Nameserver
A server that holds a domain’s DNS zone and gives the authoritative answers for it; the domain’s NS records say which ones.

Why changes are risky

Changing nameservers does not move one record; it moves the whole zone to a different provider. Whatever the new zone lacks stops resolving the moment resolvers learn of the change: mail, subdomains, verification records and anything else the old zone held. Delegation changes spread according to the TTL of the NS records, which is often long.

Working with them

Export the old zone and recreate it fully at the new provider before the switch, compare the two record by record, lower TTLs ahead of time and check the authoritative answers from the new servers before changing the delegation. Keep the old zone alive for a while afterwards.

How to see who is in charge

dig NS example.com +short lists the delegated nameservers, for example ns1.dnsprovider.example.. Compare them with the nameservers the registrar shows: if the registrar says provider A but the zone you edit lives at provider B, your changes have no effect. Query one directly with dig @ns1.dnsprovider.example www.example.com A to see what it serves, bypassing every resolver’s cache.

Keep a written list of each client’s DNS provider, the account holder and the person who owns the login: a zone hosted in an account nobody can reach cannot be edited in an emergency.

What to check

Which provider hosts each client zone, who pays for it, and that the NS records at the registrar match the provider you think is in charge.

Sources

Read on . Standards and vendor pages change; confirm the current text before you rely on it.

Guides that use this term

  • DNS recordA DNS record is one entry in a domain’s zone that maps a name to data such as an address, a mail server or a text value. The common types and what breaks when one changes.
  • TTLTTL is the number of seconds a DNS answer may be cached. How it makes DNS changes spread slowly, how to lower it before a change and why it is a maximum, not a promise.
  • RegistrarA registrar is the company through which a domain is bought and renewed. What it controls, what the registry does and why the registrar account matters for client sites.

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