Overview

To control where your site is hosted, you have two DNS options.

Changing the Nameservers (this must be done at the Registrar of your website)
A records are being changed.
Checking the location of your DNS
This article will assist you in determining the location of your website’s hosting. You must first determine where your site’s DNS is hosted in order to determine this.

The instructions in the following article will show you how to see where your current DNS records are directed.

Checking where your DNS is hosted

When you update your DNS, what happens?
Changing the Nameservers is a simple process.
The company where the Nameservers are pointed is in charge of all of your site’s DNS records.

Changing your Nameservers directs ALL of your site’s DNS records to a single provider. This means that the new company will have power over your website, email, mysql, ftp, ssh, and any other records.

To modify the Nameservers, you must first log into the firm where you obtained your domain registration. Your domain’s Registrar is the name of the company.

What happens when you change your DNS?

A records are simply your website’s IP addresses. This is the IP address for your site’s www and non-www versions. Consider the following scenario:

example.com
www.example.com
If you merely point your A records to a different firm, the new company will only host your website. Your other DNS records (email, mysql, ftp, and ssh) are still hosted where your Nameservers are directed.

The diagrams below indicate a few different ways this could be done.

Different ways to point your DNS

Nameservers examples
Registrar
What are the names of the nameservers?
What direction are the A records pointing?
Explanation of the hosting company
GreggHost
Nameservers for GreggHost

ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
There haven’t been any changes to the records.
GreggHost
The site is hosted at GreggHost because the Nameservers are pointing to GreggHost and the A records have not been changed.
Another business
Nameservers for GreggHost

ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
There haven’t been any changes to the records.
GreggHost
The site is hosted at GreggHost because the Nameservers are pointing to GreggHost and the A records have not been changed.
Another business
Nameservers that aren’t GreggHost

ns1.nameserver.com
ns2.nameserver.com
There haven’t been any changes to the records.
Another business
The site is not hosted at GreggHost since the Nameservers are not pointing to GreggHost and the A records have not been changed.
GreggHost
Nameservers that aren’t GreggHost

ns1.nameserver.com
ns2.nameserver.com
There haven’t been any changes to the records.
Another business
The site is not hosted at GreggHost since the Nameservers are not pointing to GreggHost and the A records have not been changed.
A keeps track of examples.
Registrar
What are the names of the nameservers?
What direction are the A records pointing?
Explanation of the hosting company
GreggHost
Nameservers for GreggHost

ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
Records point to a different company.
Another business
Although the nameservers point to GreggHost, the A records point to another firm, hence the site is hosted by that company.

Because the Nameservers are directed to GreggHost, all other DNS records will continue to be housed there.

GreggHost Nameservers is another company.

ns1.dreamhost.com
ns2.dreamhost.com
ns3.dreamhost.com
Records point to a different company.
Another business
Although the nameservers point to GreggHost, the A records point to another firm, hence the site is hosted by that company.

Because the Nameservers are directed to GreggHost, all other DNS records will continue to be housed there.

Another business

Nameservers that aren’t GreggHost

ns1.nameserver.com
ns2.nameserver.com

The site is hosted at GreggHost because the A records refer to them.

However, because the Nameservers are directed to the other organization, all other DNS records will continue to be housed there.

Non-GreggHost Nameservers on GreggHost

ns1.nameserver.com
ns2.nameserver.com

The site is hosted at GreggHost because the A records refer to them.

However, because the Nameservers are directed to the other organization, all other DNS records will continue to be housed there.