Nameserver Lookup

What is a Nameserver Record in DNS?

Firstly, a nameserver (or NS) record is always associated with a domain name (e.g., courier.com). The NS record is responsible for finding the authoritative DNS server for the specified domain. In laypeople's terms, it specifies the location of the nameserver in which your DNS records are stored.

What does NS Record do & What is it Used for?

The NS record lets people access your site through your domain name. It is used to find the nameserver that holds the DNS records for the given domain. So, you may have multiple DNS records in different nameservers, but the Internet will route traffic to the nameserver specified in your NS Record.

For example, if a user types "courer.com", the Internet uses the NS record for "courier.com" to find the nameserver that contains DNS records to ensure that users can access the site (via other records like A, CName).

What does an NS Record Look Like?

An NS record typically contains the following:

• A key specifying the domain name.
• A nameserver that is associated with the domain.
• A TTL denoting the caching period by the DNS resolver.

The snippet above denotes the NS record for the domain foo.com. It specifies that to find out more about foo.com (finding its DNS Zone Configuration), we have to visit its nameserver at ns1.bar.com.

How to Perform NS Record Lookup Using this Tool?

1. Provide the domain name that you wish to find the nameservers for.
2. Submit the request.
3. If the tool finds the NS records for the given domain, it will display a list of the NS records; else, it will display a message indicating that it failed to find the NS records.

FAQ

What's the difference between A & NS records in DNS?

The NS record finds the nameserver that contains the DNS records for the specified domain, while the A record is used to map the domain name to a specified IP address. Essentially, an A record points the domain name to an IP address of your server which serves the customer.

How long does it take for nameservers to update?

Generally, DNS propagation differs based on the type of record you've updated. However, it typically takes 72 hours for the DNS record to be updated worldwide.

How many nameservers should I have?

Generally, two or more nameservers are recommended, so your domain will remain online if your primary server goes down. On the other hand, you can have more than two nameservers if you wish you distribute the DNS lookup load across multiple nameservers.