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The Domain Name System (DNS) is another one of those crucial pieces of the Web that we expect to 'just work' without really worrying about all the complexities and uncertainties involved. DNS is important to website operators because it determines their website name - URL. However there are many factors to consider when deciding which DNS provider to register your domain with, including privacy, usability and security. To learn more about DNS in general, please refer to our chapter on the Domain Name System.

A domain name needs to be registered, hosted and resolved. These functions can be performed by a single or several different entities (providers).

Choosing a Registrar

A registrar reserves your website name on the Internet and is responsible for maintaining these records with centralised databases. Only your registrar may modify or edit details on your domain on these databases. The registrar must pay membership fees and operate according to ICANN requirements. Here are a few important considerations when choosing a DNS registrar:

• Location: As with hosting providers, DNS companies are governed by the legislature of the country they are located in. If you are looking for a country specific domain name suffix (e.g. .ru .ie .ca) then you will likely need to find a DNS provider from this specific country
• Reputation: The cheaper providers are not necessarily the best choice. Their reputation is influenced by their treatment of clients, response times for support questions, reaction to DDoS and other types of attacks against your domain, as well as their policies for allowing you to transfer your domain to another provider. Some of the larger DNS registrars include Go Daddy, eNom, Tucows, Melbourne IT who process millions of domains and may not be so responsive to support requests or any adhoc questions you may have
• Privacy: Most registrars will require verification of your identity before allowing you to register a domain. These details can be publicly accessible via a Whois request on the Internet. Many registrars provide a Whois privacy option that will hide these results from public view (they can still be accessed by official request)

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 zone file).

Contingency Planning

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.