BrightFire's Guide To Domain Names, DNS, and 'Whois' Privacy

What Is a Domain Name?

Think of a domain name as your website's address on the internet. It's what people type into their browser to find your site. It’s like a street address for your house but for the internet. Instead of a physical location, it directs people to your website.

What Is DNS (Domain Name System)? 

Now, imagine you have a phonebook that matches names to phone numbers. DNS is similar, but for the internet. When you type a domain name into your browser, DNS translates that name into an IP address.

An IP address is a numerical address that computers use to locate each other on the internet. So, DNS is the system that connects your domain name to the actual location of your website files on a server using IP addresses. This way, you don't have to remember long strings of numbers to visit a website. 

DNS also works the same way for email - it helps route emails to the correct email servers. The DNS system is made up of "internet pointers" that guide traffic to the correct location.

What Is ‘Whois’ Privacy?

When you register a domain name, you have to provide your contact information. This information is stored in a public database called "Whois.”. This database is publicly accessible, so anyone can look up who owns a particular domain name and see their contact information.

Whois privacy is a service that hides your personal contact information from the public Whois database. Instead of showing your name, address, phone number, and email, the database will show the contact information for the privacy service. This prevents unwanted solicitations, spam, and can protect you from potential privacy issues. 

BrightFire includes Whois Privacy with any domain name we register to protect our client's contact information from solicitors.

Questions? 

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