DNS (Domain Name Server) is used to map names to IP addresses and vice versa. DNS maintain central lists of domain name/IP addresses and map the domain names in your Internet. In short DNS is a taxi, you give them the address and they get you there. DNS registration is required when you purchase a domain name. Most of the time the place where you purchased your domain name will provide this as part of their fee, but not always so watch for hidden DNS hosting charges. DNS names are constructed hierarchically, the highest level of the hierarchy being the last component or label of the DNS address.

Labels can be up to 67 (63 outside of the U.S. ) characters long and are case insensitive. A maximum length of 255 characters is allowed. Labels must start with a letter and can only consist of letters, digits and hyphens. Unfortunately some administrators construct names that start with digits. This is wrong and can easily cause problems with software that simply inspects the first character of a host address to determine whether a DNS name or an IP address has been quoted.

Because DNS is hierarchical, DNS names grow when you add sub-domains to your organization. Short domain names result in computer names that are easy to remember, facilitating resource access.

Search the Internet to confirm that the DNS domain name that you selected for your organization is not registered to another organization. If the DNS domain name that you selected is owned by another organization, you can attempt to buy it from that organization, or select a different DNS domain name.

Configure at least one authoritative DNS hosting server to host the DNS zone for your domain name. This DNS hosting server might be located on your network or on the network of your ISP. Complete a DNS registration with an Internet registrar, and supply the registrar with the DNS name and IP address of at least one DNS server that is authoritative for your DNS domain name.

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