== Choosing DNS Hosting ==
DNS hosting refers to accepting requests from the Internet for your domain name and resolving it to IP addresses that are specified in your account (or [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zone_file zone file]). Resolving a domain name to an IP address is done by your hosting provider's [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nameservers nameservers]. If you wish to register a domain name with providerX but host the domain with providerY, you will need to specify providerY nameservers with your registrar. Other points to consider when looking for DNS hosting:
== Contingency Planning ==* Number of requests: provider usually agree to resolve your domain name to an IP address a limited amount of times per month. Once this is exceeded, you could be paying extra* Mail: most DNS providers offer you the ability to forward email to a pre-defined server. In addition, some of them will queue (spool) mail if your server is not responding * Record management: Some DNS providers allow you to specify one DNS record only - for your main website. Should you wish to have several different records for your domain (e.g. www.website.com and my.website.com) as is allowed by the DNS protocol, then they offer you an 'advanced' package for zone file management* TTL: Time to Live specific how quickly your provider will update your zone record changes. Some providers allow you to specify this time, whilst others lock you in to their default (sometimes this can be as slow as one change per 24 hours)* Secondary DNS: Some DNS providers allow you to specify an alternative destination for name resolution. This could come in handy if you want to run your own DNS nameservers without going through all the administrative requirements of being a full fledged provider* Service Level Agreements (SLA): Defines a contract with you on how quickly will the provider will respond to your queries, what kind of effort will be extended to keeping your domain accessible at all times, and so on.
== Contingency Planning ==
* Social Engineering: Hijacking a DNS account is a popular attack against a website. An account password can be guessed or broken through brute force. Alternatively the provider can be tricked into surrendering account details to an unauthorised party. Check your provider's procedures for password reset and account authentication (some of them assume the account holder simply from the email domain the request comes in on - this can be easily faked). Lookout for providers that offer 2-tier authentication and refer to [[Access_Restrictions]] section for more details.
* DDoS: Your website can also be attacked on the DNS level - meaning an attempt to overwhelm your DNS provider so that they stop resolving your address. Check your providers defenses against various levels of DDoS and the SLA specifying how much or long they are willing to protect you for.
Your website can also be attacked on the DNS level - meaning an attempt to overwhelm your DNS provider so that they stop resolving your address...
