Understanding your domain services

This guide will walk you through the fundamental configurations required to bring your website online

When managing a website or domain, it helps to understand the four key services that work together to make a domain functional:

1. Domain registration
2. DNS hosting
3. Website hosting
4. Email hosting

These services can be provided by one company or by multiple providers, depending on how the domain owner has configured their services.

1. Domain registration

What it is

A domain registration is the process of reserving a domain name (for example example.com) through a domain registrar accredited by organisations such as ICANN or a country registry like the Australian Domain Authority, AuDA.The registrar records who owns the domain and where the domain’s DNS is managed.

What the registrar controls

The domain registrar manages:

• Domain ownership
• Contact details (registrant, admin, technical)
• Domain renewal and expiry
• Nameserver delegation

Example

If a domain is registered through a company such as a registrar, they store records like:

Domain: example.au
Registrar: Example Registrar Pty Ltd
Name Servers:
ns1.serversaurus.com
ns2.serversaurus.com

Key point

The registrar does NOT host the website or email. It only manages the domain registration and tells the internet which DNS servers to use.

2. DNS hosting

What it is

DNS hosting provides the DNS zone for a domain.DNS (Domain Name System) translates domain names into the servers that provide services such as websites or email.

DNS records commonly used

Record	Purpose
A record	Points a domain to a web server IP address
AAAA record	IPv6 version of an A record
MX record	Defines which mail server receives email
CNAME	Alias pointing to another hostname
TXT	Used for verification, SPF, DKIM, etc

Example DNS records

example.com A 203.0.113.10
www.example.com CNAME example.com
example.com MX mail.example.com
mail.example.com A 203.0.113.20

Key point

DNS hosting determines where website and email traffic should be sent, but it does not actually host the services itself.

3. Website hosting

What it is

Website hosting provides the server that stores and serves the website files.When someone visits:

https://example.au

DNS directs their browser to the web hosting server.

What web hosting provides

• Web server (Apache, LiteSpeed, Nginx, etc)
• Website files
• Databases
• Application environments (WordPress, Craft CMS, Drupal, etc)

Example flow

User visits example.au
↓
DNS lookup returns IP address
↓
Browser connects to web hosting server
↓
Server returns website content

4. Email hosting

What it is

Email hosting provides the mail servers responsible for sending and receiving email for a domain.Email servers are defined using MX (Mail Exchange) records in DNS. Email hosting is often hosted seperate to the website hosting server.

What email hosting provides

• Mailboxes (e.g. user@example.au)
• SMTP server (sending mail)
• IMAP/POP server (receiving mail)
• Spam filtering

Example DNS MX record

example.au MX 10 mail.example.au

This means email for example.au is handled by mail.example.au.

How these services work together

The typical flow looks like this:

Domain Registrar
│
│ provides nameservers
▼
DNS Hosting
│
├── A record → Website Hosting
│
└── MX record → Email Hosting

Example setup:

Service	Provider
Domain Registration	Domain registrar
DNS Hosting	DNS provider
Website Hosting	Web hosting company
Email Hosting	Email provider

These may all be with one provider or different companies.

How to identify your domain services

If you are unsure which companies provide your domain services, you can use two simple tools:

• whois – shows who your domain is registered with
• dig – shows DNS information

These tools can help identify where your domain, DNS, website, and email are hosted.You can use whois and dig as commands in your console (for example, using Terminal on MacOS) or using tools in your browser. Some helpful tools on the web are:

• AuDA whois lookup which is exclusive for AU domains
• ICANN whois lookup for global TLD support
• DiG GUI, an online Dig web interface

1. Identify Your domain registrar

You can check which company manages your domain registration using a WHOIS lookup.Command

whois example.com.au

Example output

Domain Name: example.com.au
Registrar Name: Example Registrar Pty Ltd
Status: ok
Name Server: ns1.serversaurus.com
Name Server: ns2.serversaurus.com

What to look for

Field	Meaning
Registrar	Company managing the domain registration
Name Server	Where DNS is hosted

2. Identify your DNS hosting provider

DNS hosting can be identified by checking the domain’s nameservers.Command

dig NS example.com.au +short

Example output

ns1.serversaurus.com
ns2.serversaurus.com

This indicates DNS is managed by Serversaurus.Common DNS provider indicators

Nameserver pattern	Likely provider
ns*.serversaurus.com	Serversaurus
ns*.digitalocean.com	DigitalOcean
*.cloudflare.com	Cloudflare
ns*.bluehost.com	Bluehost

3. Identify your website hosting

Website hosting can often be identified by checking the domain’s A record.Command

dig A example.com.au +short

Example result:

103.209.24.102

This shows the IP address of the web server.You can then check who owns that IP:

whois 103.209.24.102

The result may identify the hosting provider.

4. Identify your email hosting

Email hosting can usually be identified by checking your domain’s MX (Mail Exchange) records. MX records tell the internet which mail servers receive email for your domain.

Step 1 — Check the MX records

Run the following command:

dig MX example.com.au +short

Example output:

0 mail.example.com.au

This means email for example.com.au is delivered to the mail server:

mail.example.com.au

What this means

When the MX record points to a hostname that uses your own domain name, such as:

mail.example.com.au

this usually indicates the email service is hosted on the same server as the website, which is common with cPanel hosting.In these setups:

• The web server and mail server run on the same hosting account
• Email is typically managed through cPanel email accounts
• Mail services use Exim (SMTP) and Dovecot (IMAP/POP) behind the scenes

Step 2 — Check where the mail server is hosted

To determine which company hosts the mail server, you can check the IP address of the mail host.Run:

dig A mail.example.com.au +short

Example output:

103.209.24.102

This shows the IP address of the mail server.You can then check who owns that IP:

whois 103.209.24.102

The result will often indicate the hosting provider that operates the server.

Example investigation

dig MX example.com.au +short

Result:

0 mail.example.com.au

Check the mail server IP:

dig A mail.example.com.au +short

Result:

103.209.24.102

Looking up the IP with whois may reveal the hosting company that operates the server.Important noteThe MX record only tells you where email is delivered, not necessarily who manages the mailboxes.In most cases, however, checking the mail server hostname and IP address will identify the email hosting provider.

Common email providers

MX pattern	Provider
*.google.com	Google Workspace
*.ax.email	Axigen email hosting
mail.domain.com.au	Often cPanel hosted email
*.zoho.com	Zoho Mail

Quick guide for checking your setup

If you want to quickly understand your domain configuration:

1. Check the domain registrar whois example.com.au
2. Check DNS provider dig NS example.com.au +short
3. Check website hosting dig A example.com.au +short
4. Check email hosting dig MX example.com.au +short

Example investigation

Domain: example.com.au

> whois example.com.au

Registrar Name: Synergy Wholesale Accreditations Pty Ltd

> dig NS example.com.au +short
ns1.serversaurus.com
ns2.serversaurus.com

DNS hosted by Serversaurus.

> dig A example.com.au +short
103.209.24.102

Website hosted on a server using that IP.

> dig MX example.com.au +short
5 alt2.aspmx.l.google.com.
10 alt4.aspmx.l.google.com.
1 aspmx.l.google.com.
10 alt3.aspmx.l.google.com.
5 alt1.aspmx.l.google.com.

Email hosted with Google WorkspaceResult

Service	Provider
Domain Registration	Synergy Wholesale (check partner lookup URL to confirm reseller)
DNS Hosting	Serversaurus DNS hosting
Website Hosting	Serversaurus web hosting
Email Hosting	Google Workspace

Summary

Service	Purpose
Domain registration	Owns and manages the domain name
DNS hosting	Directs traffic for website and email
Website hosting	Stores and serves the website
Email hosting	Sends and receives email

Understanding how these services work together helps you identify where issues may occur and who to contact for support.