DNS Guide

Before visitors can access your website using your domain you'll need to update your DNS. This guide explains what that means and how to do it.

DNS Overview

All servers connected to the Internet are assigned unique IP addresses so they can be properly located. The Domain Name System, or DNS, is a network of databases spread throughout the Internet that is responsible for routing easy-to-remember text-based domain names to their corresponding numeric IP Addresses.

At the heart of DNS are name servers. As the name implies, name servers are responsible for resolving domain names to computer friendly IP addresses. Before your domain name routes visitors to your new RPMWare website you must change some DNS settings.

CAUTION! Changing name servers will direct traffic to your RPMWare website. Only complete these steps if your RPMWare website is ready for public traffic.

DNS 101

DNS is a fairly advanced topic which you may not understand immediately. We put together a quick video to help answer your questions.

Email

RPMWare does not provide email hosting. If you already have email setup for your business you can continue using it. If you do not currently have email setup for your business, please refer to our email guide for suggestions.

Name Servers

RPMWare provides redundant name servers for your use. Once your DNS records are configured correctly (see below) you must change your name servers with your domain registrar (the company you purchased your domain name from).

  • ns1.rpmware.com
  • ns2.rpmware.com

Updating name servers can take up to 24 hours, however most updates are complete within 20 minutes. If you do not see a change on your browser within an hour, your old site may be in your browsers cache. Try clearing your cache, or using Ctrl-F5 to reload your page.

Your DNS Setup

Before changing name servers at your registrar ensure your DNS records are configured correctly.

If you are using RPMWare as your only website and Google Apps for email then the default configuration we provide is correct. Change your name servers with your registrar and your work is done.

If You Have More Than One Website

If you maintain more than one website, e.g., yourdomain.com and store.yourdomain.com, you must must add an A record to your DNS Zone.

Steps for configuring other websites

Follow the steps below to move your RPMWare website to store.yourdomain.com and continue hosting your current website at yourdomain.com. Before starting please obtain the IP address of the server hosting your current site.

  1. Login to RPMWare
  2. open the Websites & DNS tab
  3. click the DNS Zone you want to modify. A DNS zone is your domain name without any prefixes like www.
  4. we need to add an A record and change the two existing A records:
    1. click Add a new A Record
    2. enter store for the hostvalue
    3. copy and paste the IP address from the A record for @ host
    4. Change the target for the @ and * hosts to the IP address of the server hosting your current site.
  5. click Update DNS Records
  6. change your name servers with your domain registrar

If You Are Not Using Google Apps

Follow the steps below to create the proper MX records before changing name servers. Before you begin you'll need the MX records from your email host.

Steps for configuring email

  1. Login to RPMWare and open the Websites & DNS tab.
  2. Click the DNS Zone you want to modify. A DNS zone is your domain name without any prefixes like www.
  3. Remove all the Google Apps MX records and replace with the values provided by your email host.
  4. Click Update DNS Records and change your name servers with your domain registrar.
Category
Configuration