This article describes DNS and how this access is shared and used by your Thomas Marketing Services team.
What is DNS?
DNS Stands for Domain Name System. DNS is a registry system that keeps track of domain names (the part of a web address that comes after “www.”) and the long string of numbers (called an “IP address”) associated with that website.
What does DNS do?
When you enter a website address in the address bar of your favorite browser, the address is sent to a DNS server, which looks up the IP address for that domain name. DNS data is stored on millions of servers around the world. When a computer accesses a website over the Internet, it locates the corresponding name server and gets the correct IP address for the website.
When a domain name is registered, it must be assigned at least two nameservers (which can be edited through the domain name registrar at any time). The nameserver addresses point to a server with a directory of domain names and their associated IP addresses.
What is DNS access?
Name servers are the servers that run DNS software. A website’s DNS information is stored on those name servers, which are hosted and managed by their DNS hosting company. Thomas uses access to the name servers to make adjustments to websites, such as changing hosting or launching new websites.
Common DNS Providers:
- GoDaddy
- Network Solutions (owned by GoDaddy)
- Enom
- *Please note that Thomas does not provide DNS name hosting services.
Common Website Hosting Providers:
- Thomas via WPEngine
- GoDaddy
- Network Solutions
- HostGator
Why does Thomas need my website’s DNS access?
A website can not go live on the internet without having the proper configuration within its DNS. During website launches or hosting changes, our team confirms the site is configured properly and updated with the correct records. We need to be able to change the IP address to point to the new site created, to do that we would need to update the A record.
Please note: Thomas does not offer DNS management services; we only use the DNS login to launch the website.
What data or information is shared via DNS?
DNS grants access to the domains’ DNS Zone Data. A DNS Zone is the broken-up parts of the overall DNS that acts as an admin space which allows for more detailed control of specific DNS components. These zones can be different records that carry out different tasks, such as A records that act as IP addresses, CNAMEs that can create subdomains and aliases, MX records for email setup, and more. When launching sites Thomas will only alter the A record for the root domain and www version of the site, and/or the CNAME for the www subdomain if that is the prior setup.
What are alternatives to sending DNS access directly to Thomas?
Instead of sending our team access, Thomas can communicate with an internal IT point of contact within your organization or web development team to confirm the required DNS changes to be made. Within your onboarding form, please confirm this individual’s name, email, and phone number for us to use to contact them.
Who has access to my website’s DNS?
You can get this access from the person who is currently managing your website; your website development team or internal IT department are likely to be access holders.
How can we send our DNS access to Thomas?
For all sites:
New credentials can be created for the Thomasnet.com Google Gmail account: rpmdevelopers@thomasnet.com.
Credentials can also be submitted in your onboarding form (sent in your program onboarding email) or via a password-sharing service such as LastPass.
For GoDaddy:
Grant delegate access to rpmdevelopers@thomasnet.com and tholmes@thomasnet.com as GoDaddy defaults to 2-factor authentication when logging in from an unrecognized device. Delegate access would allow the Thomas team to access your DNS through each email login directly. This access can be revoked once the site is launched if your team prefers.
Delegate access to GoDaddy can be granted through these steps.