Nameservers vs DNS Records (A/CNAME): Which One Should I Use? Print

Summary

Many clients confuse Nameservers with DNS records. This article helps you choose the correct method.

Quick Decision Guide

Use Nameservers (NS) when:

• You are moving DNS management to another provider (e.g., Cloudflare, another hosting company)

• Your web developer gave you ns1/ns2 values

Use DNS Records (A/CNAME) when:

• Your DNS is already managed at DUHosting, and you only need to point the website/email to a server

Option A: Change Nameservers

1. Client Area → Domains

2. Click your domain

3. Nameservers → choose Custom

4. Enter ns1... and ns2...

5. Save

Option B: Update DNS Records (A / CNAME)

1. Login to cPanel (or DNS Manager if provided)

2. Open Zone Editor

3. Update:

   • A record: points @ (root domain) to an IP

   • CNAME: points www to a hostname (or to @)

Propagation Time

DNS changes can take minutes to 24 hours (depending on caching).