Glossary

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A Record
An A Record, short for Address Record, allows a numeric IP address to map to a more human-readable domain name. An A Record may also be referred to as a host or hostname.
AUP
The AUP (Acceptable Use Policy) details the conduct expected from our users, and what they may expect of DynDNS. It is a key part of our Legal Notices, which govern all use of our site.
Abuse
The abuse system is designed to prevent repeated updates of a dynamic hostname from the same IP address. See our abuse help page for more information.
Account
The term "account" is often used synonymously with username here at DynDNS. Both terms describe the name you use to log in to our system. An account is not the same as a hostname, which may be named differently.
Alias
See CNAME.
Auth Code
The "auth code" (sometimes called an "EPP code" or a "transfer code") is a string, usually between 8 and 16 characters long and randomly created at the time of a domain's registration, used to authorize transfers in certain Top Level Domains. You can learn more about locating your domain's authcode in our DomReg Readme.
Authoritative Nameserver
A nameserver which has been configured to provide answers for a specific domain, rather than simply getting and caching data about domains from other nameservers.

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BIND
BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is an implementation of the DNS protocol. The BIND DNS server is used on the vast majority of Internet name servers, and is the reference implementation of the DNS specification.

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CNAME
A CNAME, or Canonical Name, is an alias for a host record. When a name server looks up a name and finds a CNAME record, it instead looks up the canonical name. A typical CNAME might be used to redirect a subdomain (such as mail.website.com), to a mail host (webmail.yourisp.com).
Caching
Caching is a process where DNS servers store copies of information they receive from other DNS servers. This reduces the number of requests a DNS server needs to make. The amount of time that data is cached for is determined by its TTL. To learn more, please see the Knowledge Base article on caching.
Client
A client is any device or application that connects to a server. DynDNS services can be used with a third-party Update client, which runs on your system and will automatically update your hostname when your IP address changes. To learn about client development, please visit the Developers' Connection.
Cloaking
Cloaking is a method of redirection which hides the actual URL of your site from the viewer's address bar via frames. Cloaking for non-credited users results in a popup ad being displayed the first time the page is accessed. Users who have purchased any of our services will automatically have the advertising popup removed.

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DNS
DNS (the Domain Name System) provides mapping of hostnames to IP addresses and back again. See our article on How DNS Works for more information on the operation of the DNS system.
DNSBL
A DNS-based Blackhole List, or DNSBL, is a record created by an Internet site contaning a list of IP addresses. A DNSBL may be queried by other devices or applications. The list is often (but not strictly) a collection of addresses which have been blocked due to abuse.
Delegate
To specify in DNS which nameservers handle a specific domain/subdomain. See also delegation.
Delegation
Used to refer to the current set of nameservers to which a domain has been delegated. Before a nameserver is officially assigned to a domain, it must completely delegate.
Domain
A domain, or domain name, is what identifies a group of computers on the Internet. An example would be dyndns.com, which is the domain for many computers that use our service, where the name of a particular computer (in this case, the web server) would be www. In other words, the full name of the computer is www.dyndns.com. A domain name is Fully Qualified when it is a complete hostname, e.g. "example.homeip.net" instead of simply "example".
Dynamic
In the context of an IP Address, dynamic implies that it changes frequently. Often times, a person's IP address may change each time that his or her computer reconnects to the Internet, regardless of dial-up or broadband service. Dynamic DNS is a service for users with Dynamic IP Adresses. Similarly, a service is also offered to users with a static address.
Dynamic DNS
Dynamic DNS is a term used to describe services that alias a dynamic IP Address to a static hostname. This is the type of service we initially offered, and we plan to continue offering. Many ISPs charge, some up to $200/month, just for a static IP address. We emulate this ability for little or no charge.

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FTP server
FTP stands for File Transfer Protocol. An FTP server is simply a file server, a simple way for people to access files on a particular computer from any other computer with Internet access. DynDNS does not provide FTP access as part of its service.
Fully Qualified Domain Name
A Fully Qualified Domain Name is a complete hostname, like that which you would use when connecting to a server on the Internet. Fully qualified hostnames must be used when updating with a client, e.g., if your hostname is "myhost.dnsalias.net", you must provide that entire hostname to the client, not simply "myhost".

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gTLD Servers
The gTLD servers are a set of nameservers which contain information about all domains in the com, net, and org top-level domains.

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Hostname
A hostname (also referred to as a "host"), is a computer's unique name on the Internet, which points to that computer's IP address.

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IP Address
An IP address is a numeric representation of a computer's location on a network. It is similar to your street address, except it is for computers. IP addresses look something like 207.127.235.88. They are often hard to remember numbers, and they certainly don't tell you very much about a computer. That is why we provide aliasing services. IP addresses can be static or dynamic.
ISP
ISP stands for Internet Service Provider. Your ISP is the company that provides you with access to the Internet, and assigns you an IP address. Examples include AOL, UUNet, and MCI.

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Mail eXchanger (MX)
A Mail eXchanger is a type of DNS record that allows you to control the delivery of mail for a given domain or subdomain. Multiple MX records may be present, in case the primary exchanger fails. To learn more, see our Knowledge Base article on MX records.

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Nameserver
A nameserver is a server which has been set up to answer DNS queries, and provide information about a certain set of domains.

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PTR Records
PTR records are a reverse lookup for an A record. Due to the nature of DNS and the way reverse lookups work, PTR records can only be controlled by your ISP.
Phishing
Phishing refers to an attempt to fraudulently acquire sensitive information, such as passwords and credit card details, by posing as a trustworthy person or business in an apparently official electronic communication, such as an email, instant message, or website.
Pseudo-Static
The term pseudo-static, which is used in the Custom DNS service, has to do with how long other DNS servers will cache a particular host's IP. It is a compromise between the dynamic and the static settings. It is most appropriate for those people who have an IP address that is mostly static, but occasionally changes.

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Registrar
Your registrar is the organization through whom you've registered your domain. DynDNS, for example, is a registrar for com/net/org domains (and some others). If you use a third party registrar, this is the organization with which you'll have to change your delegation if you wish to use the Custom DNS service.
Root Servers
The root servers are nameservers that all other nameservers on the Internet know about, and contain very basic information about the DNS system, which will lead other servers along the path to finding out specific information about a host.

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Secondary DNS
Secondary DNS is one of our paid service offerings. It provides backup DNS servers that download information from your primary DNS server and share its load.
Spam
Spam is defined as unsolicited commercial or bulk e-mail (UCE or UBE). A close synonym would be "junk mail". Any member of DynDNS who is caught spamming will immediately have their account terminated. Our strict anti-spam policy is part of our AUP.
Static
Static means unchanging, not moving. In the context of an IP Address, it means that the address stays the same each time that you logon or connect to the Internet. Most static IP addresses are on permanent connections, that stay on the Internet all the time, but some are on home dialup connections. Connections that are not static are called dynamic.
Subdomain
A subdomain is somewhere in-between a domain name and a hostname (see above). A subdomain adds another level to a domain; an example would be is.mine.nu, a subdomain of mine.nu. Users who have purchased upgrade credit(s) can delegate a static host that they own to their own DNS server(s), or to the Custom DNS service.

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TTL
TTL stands for "Time To Live" and is the amount of time in seconds that a DNS record will be cached by an outside DNS server.
Tarpitting
Tarpitting refers to the practice of attempting to starve the resources of a spammer or hacker by holding open a connection until it times out. This tactic is, in general, not particularly effective, and, when used in combination with any of our MailHop services, can cause serious problems, and should not be used.

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URL
A Uniform Resource Locator, or URL, is used as a standard way of specifying the location of a web page or other object on the Internet. URLs often appear on web pages as links to other sites.
Update
Updating is simply the process of changing the information associated with a host in our system. This is usually performed by a client when the user's dynamic ip changes.
Upload
To upload means to copy a file from the local system you are working on to a (usually larger) "host" or "server". DynDNS does not allow uploading to its servers; any web page you want to host using our service, you must store and host on your own machine connected to the Internet.

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URL Forwarding
URL Forwarding (otherwise known as Web or HTTP redirection) allows a short hostname to be substituted in the place of a longer, ugly, hard-to-remember (or otherwise unwanted) URL.
Wildcard
Wildcards add an alias to *.yourhost.ourdomain.ext pointing to the same IP address as entered for yourhost.ourdomain.ext.

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