I want to register a domain name and there are a couple of things I do not understand.

One can register second level domain names on the Internet, such as example.org, for a small fee. Upon registration you should supply addresses of nameservers. Can any publicly accessible host become a nameserver, or they should be registered with ICANN? What do people usually use as nameservers?

Let's say that my example.org is pointing to 1.2.3.4. Now I want to create a third level domain, ftp.example.com, pointing to 1.2.3.5. Where do I put the "ftp" in? Does this action require access to the nameservers, or another (paid) registration is necessary?

Edited March 8, 200818 yr by j7n

most of the time, you don't have to worry about touching the name servers or dealing with them in any way. If you go with a decent host, http://www.msfnhosting.com/ for example, they allow an unlimited number of subdomains (ftp.example.org), and they'll worry about the IP addressing for you. Some will allow you to make additional entries into the DNS server, but it isn't required.

hope that addresses your question

I don't need webhosting. Some small web projects will be provided from my own computer(s). A proper domain instead or example.sytes.net is also needed for running a mail server. Some recipients reject my mail as spam, because they can't find rDNS entries. Most of all I want to understand how DNS operates.

ah, ok

have you read this yet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System

Yes I have. But I didn't find exact answer to these 2 questions.

Name servers point all traffic for example.org to the ip of the computer it is hosted on. Usually the DNS is on the same network as the hosting computer (like in purchased hosting). If you have a static IP then it should be a simple matter of pointing the domain to your ip and creating a hosting file to tell the hosting computer where to redirect all the information to.. If you have a dynamic ip i would suggest using a service like this here

I want to register a domain name and there are a couple of things I do not understand.

One can register second level domain names on the Internet, such as example.org, for a small fee. Upon registration you should supply addresses of nameservers. Can any publicly accessible host become a nameserver, or they should be registered with ICANN? What do people usually use as nameservers?

Let's say that my example.org is pointing to 1.2.3.4. Now I want to create a third level domain, ftp.example.com, pointing to 1.2.3.5. Where do I put the "ftp" in? Does this action require access to the nameservers, or another (paid) registration is necessary?

I believe that the registrar of a domain, in your case example.org must own the authorative name servers for the domain. This means that

1) you can register the domain with whoever you wish - they are the registrar

2) you can create DNS records anywhere on the internet with any name server......BUT they aint gonna mean jack to no-one, the only ones that matter are the onese held by the authorative name server, they are the ones propogated across the net during zone transfers.

regarding the third level;

if you type in http://example.org you will be taken via an A record to example.org

for example:

example.org - A - 80.22.243.31

similarly if you then type in FTP://example.org you will visit the same place, but on a different port.

and assuming it is configured, you will be prompted for credentials etc.

both of these require as explained a single A record to have been created on the authorative nameserver.

Lastly,

for anything to actually be at example.org, whether its http or ftp you must have a host.

this host can be anywhere on the planet, it could be in your house, as long as you have an A record created on the authorative nameserver telling every other DNS server that example.org is at your IP address (also assuming you have the ports forwarded at home lol)

I hope this helps, if you have any questions please ask

Everything became more or less clear after reading these two guides. Thank you everybody who paid attention.

http://howtoforge.com/ispconfig_dns_godaddy

http://bind8nt.meiway.com/publicDNS.cfm

Edited March 26, 200818 yr by j7n