# WTH is DNS ??? I’ve always heard words like *DNS*, *SSL*, and *Cloudflare*, but honestly, I didn’t really know what they meant. Recently, I bought my first domain `jaivardhan.online` from [Hostinger](https://www.hostinger.com/1), and I decided to try connecting it to [Cloudflare](https://www.cloudflare.com/en-in/). It turned into a fun learning journey where I not only connected my domain but also finally understood what all these “DNS records” mean. Here’s the full story — step by step, just like I did it. --- ## Step 1: Buying the Domain I started with Hostinger because it had cheap domains. I bought [`jaivardhan.online`](https://jaivardhan.online). At this point, I thought, “Okay, cool, I own a website name.” But I soon realized: a domain is just a **name** — it doesn’t do anything by itself. If I wanted to connect it to a server, add SSL, or protect it, I needed to manage its DNS (Domain Name System). And that’s where Cloudflare came in. --- ## Step 2: Adding My Domain to Cloudflare I created a free account on Cloudflare. The first thing Cloudflare asked was: **What’s your domain?** So I typed in `jaivardhan.online`. Cloudflare then gave me three options: 1. Scan existing DNS records automatically 2. Enter them manually 3. Upload a DNS file I picked **automatic scan**, because why make life harder? Within a few seconds, Cloudflare pulled in all the DNS records that were already on Hostinger. I was surprised at how many things were there. --- ## Step 3: Understanding the DNS Records When Cloudflare scanned my domain, here’s what I saw: * **1 A Record** → This was the main one pointing to my server’s IP (the “home address” of my website). * **1 AAAA Record** → Same as the A record, but for IPv6. * **12 CAA Records** → These were for SSL certificate providers. I didn’t know why there were so many. * **1 CNAME Record** → This pointed `www.jaivardhan.online` to `jaivardhan.online`. * **2 NS Records** → These were Hostinger’s default nameservers. At first, this looked scary. But step by step, I figured them out: * The **A Record** is the most important — it connects your domain to your server. * The **CNAME** is just an alias (www → main domain). * The **CAA Records** tell which companies are allowed to issue SSL certificates for your domain. But since Cloudflare provides its own SSL for free, I didn’t need them. * The **NS Records** (name servers) were Hostinger’s. But soon, I’d have to replace them with Cloudflare’s. --- ## Step 4: Cleaning Up I went back to Hostinger’s DNS panel and deleted all the **CAA records**, because they were unnecessary once I moved to Cloudflare. Then I noticed something interesting: even after deleting them in Hostinger, Cloudflare’s dashboard was still showing those old records. That’s because Cloudflare had copied them during the scan. So I deleted them from Cloudflare too. I also saw some yellow warning icons on the AAAA and CNAME records saying “not covered by SSL yet.” I didn’t panic — Cloudflare was just waiting for me to finish setup. --- ## Step 5: Switching Name Servers to Cloudflare Now came the big moment: actually giving Cloudflare control of my domain. Cloudflare gave me **two new name servers**: * `noor.ns.cloudflare.com` * `chase.ns.cloudflare.com` I went back to Hostinger → “Domain” → “Nameservers” → and replaced Hostinger’s default ones with these two. This basically told the internet: “Hey, from now on, Cloudflare is the manager of my domain.” After saving, Cloudflare showed me a message: *“Waiting for nameserver changes… this can take up to 24 hours.”* That was a little disappointing, but I learned it’s normal. DNS takes time to update all over the world. --- ## Step 6: Checking Propagation While waiting, I got curious: how do I know if the change is working? That’s when I found [WhatsMyDNS.net](https://www.whatsmydns.net/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) . This site lets you check if your domain is pointing to the right IP across different countries. When I entered `jaivardhan.online`, I saw **green ticks** all over the map with the IP . That number was my domain’s server IP address. (Honestly, I was so happy seeing that. It felt like my domain was alive across the globe!) I also checked on [ICANN Lookup](https://lookup.icann.org/?utm_source=chatgpt.com) . and it confirmed my domain was now using Cloudflare’s nameservers (`noor` and `chase`). Success! --- At the start, I thought moving my domain would just be clicking a few buttons. But it turned into a really useful exercise. I not only connected my Hostinger domain to Cloudflare but also learned the meaning of DNS records, what name servers do, and why SSL matters.