The servers that store a domain’s DNS records and tell the internet where to send requests for that domain.
Every domain points to at least two nameservers, usually assigned by the hosting company or registrar.
Short and sweet:
The servers that store a domain’s DNS records and tell the internet where to send requests for that domain.
Every domain points to at least two nameservers, usually assigned by the hosting company or registrar.
Nameservers are the first stop when a browser looks up a domain: they hold the DNS records for that domain and answer the question of where its website, email, and other services actually live. When a business registers a domain and connects it to a host, it either uses the host’s nameservers or keeps the registrar’s default nameservers and manages DNS records directly with the registrar instead. Changing nameservers moves DNS management from one company to another and typically triggers a fresh propagation delay, so it’s a bigger, less frequent change than editing a single DNS record. Getting nameservers wrong, such as pointing them at the wrong host or leaving them set to a former provider, is one of the most common reasons a newly launched or migrated website won’t load.
When a business moves its website to a new web host, the host gives them two nameserver addresses to enter at their domain registrar so traffic starts routing to the new server.
A company keeps its domain registered with GoDaddy but points the nameservers to Cloudflare so it can manage DNS records and security settings from Cloudflare’s dashboard instead.
A website goes offline after a redesign because the developer updated the DNS records but forgot the domain was still pointed at the old host’s nameservers.
