DNS
What is DNS?
How the internet finds your website and delivers your email — explained without jargon for business owners.
Need help with this? Talk to our Microsoft 365 team
DNS in plain language
The Domain Name System (DNS) is the phone book of the internet. When someone types yourdomain.com.au or sends email to you@yourdomain.com.au, DNS answers which server should receive that request — your website host, Microsoft 365, or something else.
Why businesses should care
Wrong DNS means your site goes offline, email bounces, or login links point to the wrong place. Changes are made as records in a DNS zone, usually at your registrar, web host, or a provider like Cloudflare.
Who manages yours
Find the nameservers on your domain — they show who hosts DNS today. Store registrar and DNS admin credentials in a password manager and document who is allowed to change records.
Check before you change
Export or screenshot existing records before migrations. Use a DNS lookup tool to confirm what the world sees today, then compare again after TTL passes.
Related service
This is part of our Microsoft 365 service for Melbourne businesses.
Try it now
Run the related tools
Common questions
What is DNS?
DNS maps domain names to servers for websites and email — like the internet’s directory. Businesses manage it as records at a registrar or DNS host. See mrtechmelbourne.com/guides/what-is-dns
Need a hand?
Run the tools. Then talk to us.
Use our free diagnostics to see what is wrong, then get Melbourne IT support for the fix.
Keep reading
More guides
Domain expiry and DNS basics
How registration, nameservers and records fit together — and how to avoid your site and email going dark overnight.
- Registration vs DNS hosting
- Records you should know
A, CNAME, MX and TXT records explained
The DNS record types every Melbourne business touches — what each one does and common misconfiguration mistakes.
- A and AAAA records
- CNAME records