Mapping IP Address to Domain Name

Computers connected to Internet will be identified with the help of Numbers assigned to them (IP address) at the back end. When a user sends request to access some resources (say Gmail) present in the set of computers, the destination computer will be identified by decoding of these numbers. It will be difficult to remember all the numbers as address, to overcome that domain names are introduced.

When you enter gmail.com in the web browser, the name gmail.com will be converted into its equivalent IP address and then it will be decoded to locate the address of gmail servers to further access the resources. IP address will be assigned to any computer connected to Internet (obviously without which internet connection will not be possible)

It so happen so that you purchase domain form one registrar and the hosting package form other, may be for various reasons. In such cases mapping of domain name with IP address will make your domain name to point to the hosting provider’s IP address.

Login to your domain registrar, all the domain name registrars and sellers provide it to customers.

Look for ‘A record’ entries in your domain control panel, in that add A record with IP address provided by your hosting provider. Save the file. It will map your IP address to the domain name.

Click on ‘CNAME records’ it will be for aliasing your domain name. In that add a record with name as ‘www’ (if required) and with IP address provided by hosting provider. Save the file. CNAME records will be helpful to forward request to your website when website name is entered without ‘www’. ‘A record’ IP address and ‘CNAME’ IP addresses are same.

One more step, change your default name servers name record to the ones of hosting provider. The hosting providers will have different ‘NS records’ add them according to your hosting provider. Usually two address of ‘NS records’ are mandatory and remaining are optional. This may take 24 to 74 hours and remember if this change in 'NS records' is not done then Domain Mapping is impossible.

By making the above changes your domain name will be mapped to IP address, whenever your domain name is given it will redirect to the mapped IP address.