DNS Configuration with cPanel

The control panel cPanel is certainly among the most popular systems for management via a dedicated server web interface. It’s simple and powerful at the same time offering a high degree of stability and security. The latest available version is 11.25. cPanel offers the ability to easily administer all the services associated with the domain; with a simple click on the icon of the panel you can add e-mail, direct access to files, activate a MySQL database, backup files, install a shopping cart and more.

The use of the panel is simplified and well designed with a user friendly interface.

Access to the different configuration options is simplified by a convenient categorization.

cPanel and DNS configuration

The DNS is a network component that translates domain names for users to more easily interpretable numeric ip from a computer and vice versa.

Addon Domains , lets you add new domains , while a DNS zone is a contiguous portion of the DNS domain name space in which a DNS server has authority. A zone is therefore a portion of a namespace . It is not a domain. A DNS server can be authoritative for multiple DNS zones. A DNS zone file is a file that contains the DNS records that describe the hosts on the network. There are different types of DNS records, cPanel allows you to add and delete records of type A and CNAME records :

• Record : record address, returns a 32-bit IPv4 address, normally used to connect a host name to its IP address;
• CNAME : canonical name record, a DNS name allows you to connect to another. The resolution will continue under the new name specified by CNAME records

An example of domain configuration with cPanel

To add a domain (eg domain.com ), click on the Addon Domains from the main panel and fill in the required fields , some will be filled automatically by cPanel:

Click Add Domain: If the operation is successful the new domain will be listed at the bottom, as shown in the figure.

Add and delete records and CNAME

Link on the Simple DNS Zone Editor, you can access the control panel to configure the DNS zone.

Importantly, cPanel will help you to configure the DNS records so that visitors of your website will be able to access the website and its services (FTP, e-mail, etc..)  You should add a new record only when you add a service that is not provided by cPanel or from your web host.