The Difference between Domain Registrars, DNS, and Hosting

by | Oct 31, 2025 | Featured, Guides, Hosting

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Spelling out Hosting and explaining its key difference from DNS and Domain Registrars

This guide covers the differences between DNS and Domain Registrars as well as some examples on how to ask for this information from clients. You can find additional resources including a video at the end of this guide.

The Big 3 of Hosting – Domain Registrars, DNS Management, and Hosting Provider

Every website running around the world has three unifiable components allowing their websites to be searched on the web.

Domain Registrars, DNS Management Tools, and Hosting Providers.

Our team at Loud Canvas Media has solutions for each of these services, but it can be difficult to onboard clients onto these services without understanding how they work. Below is a breakdown of each of these tools, including a definition, example, and common services clients use to fulfill these services.

At the end are a couple of additional resources and examples of how to ask clients for information regarding these tools to get them into our ecosystem.

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1. Domain Registrars

This is the first step in hosting a site. A Domain Registrar is where a user selects a domain name and (if available) purchases the rights to the Domain Name.

Sometimes the same resource covers multiple services…

Domain Registrars are responsible for reserving the domain name so that a user can use it to point online traffic to their desired resources. (Example : A website hosted on a server)

Some Domain Registrars provide DNS management by default.

Some Domain Registrars provide DNS management and Hosting by default.

In technical terms: A domain name registrar is a business that handles the reservation of domain names as well as the assignment of IP addresses for those domain names.

Example : 

  • James goes to Register.com and pays to reserve a new domain: cats.com.
  • James reserves cats.com for a period of time and the domain can now be used to direct traffic to a particular IP using a domain name system.
  • James now needs to either use the Registrar’s provided DNS service (if applicable) or update the Nameservers to point to a different DNS service to manage where his domain points traffic.

Common Domain Registrars

How do I know where a Domain is registered? 

You can use some tools to help narrow in on where a domain is registered.

Using ICANN Lookup will allow you to identify what Nameservers a domain is using and in some cases who the registrar is.

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2. DNS Management 

The second step to hosting a site is a DNS Management tool.

DNS management tools often come paired with Domain Registrars but not always.

Domain Registrars use Nameservers to indicate where DNS is managed for a particular Domain

We use a DNS Management tool called Cloudflare for our clients that are hosted on our servers.

In Technical Terms: Humans access information online through domain names like nytimes.com or espn.com. Web browsers interact through Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.DNS translates domain names to IP addresses so browsers can load Internet resources.

Example : 

  • James has registered his Domain successfully and now needs to use a DNS Management tool to point the domain to his desired resources.
  • James can either…
    • Point his Nameservers to another Domain Management Service such as Cloudflare (The Loud Canvas Media Way)
      • Log into Domain Registrar
        • Use Custom Nameservers
          • Warning : Before pointing nameservers away from an existing DNS Management system, you want to prepare the new DNS Management tool by carrying any existing DNS Records over ahead of time.
        • Point Nameservers to provided Cloudflare Nameservers (this ends clients direct involvment)
          • Our team Logs into Cloudflare for DNS Management
            • Our team Edits Records to point the Domain to desired Hosting IP (Server)
    • Use his Domain Registrars provided DNS Management Service
      • Edits Records to point Domain to desired Hosting IP (Server)

Common DNS Management Tools

How do I know where DNS is managed? 

This can be tricky, but in most cases, you can tell by the nameservers that a domain is set to where its DNS is managed.

For example, Cloudflare uses nameservers like elmo.ns.cloudflare.com or henry.ns.cloudflare.com

Using the same ICANN Lookup tool, you can tell where nameservers are pointing.

You can also sign up for a free account on DNS Trails for a way to view legacy DNS records (including nameservers)

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3. Hosting Provider

Hosting providers are where the data for a website, web app, or other service is served from. They are identifiable by their IP addresses.

Loud Canvas Media offers boutique high-performance hosting alongside our security and maintenance plans. This hosting is included with our security and maintenance plans where most other hosting providers don’t offer any sort of support.

Getting access to a client’s current hosting provider can be a bit tricky. Some common hosting providers are…

 

What does our team need to move a website to our hosting?

What our team needs to access a site can vary depending on the build. Below are different types of access we can request, ordered from the most to the least effective.

Hosting Provider Admin Access – This is the best option as it gives us access to all the other methods.

Cpanel Access—Depending on the hosting provider, the client may have Cpanel access. This will give us access to their database and files and allow a migration.

CMS Access—A CMS is a Content Management System. For example, WordPress is a CMS. With WordPress Admin access, we can usually make a copy of a site, update content, and review users.

FTP Access—This is the most basic access and allows us to connect using an FTP client like Filezilla.

 

How do I ask a client For…

Below is a list of common scenarios regarding Domain Registrars, DNS Management, and Hosting that may come up with clients. Use the prompts below to craft a response that works for your situation.

*Also, spellcheck before sending – these were typed up by a caffeinated fiend of a developer who shall remain nameless*

How do I ask a client for Domain Registrar Access? 

To proceed we’ll need to acquire access to your Domain Registrar.

Your Domain Registrar is where you reserved/purchased your domain originally.

How do I ask a client for DNS Access? 

To proceed we’ll need to acquire access to your DNS Provider.

Your DNS Provider is where the records for your website are managed and maintained.

Additional Resources :

The Difference between Domain Registrar or DNS

Cloudflare: What is a Domain Registrar?

Cloudflare: What is DNS? | How does DNS work?

 

Written by Samuel Wood

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