Free managed DNS: domain zone and record setup

After your first payment, tell us the domain name to connect and the records you need on the support page. Our team creates the zone, adds the records and replies with the nameserver addresses to use for that domain. If you were using another DNS, send your current record list too and we copy it over as is, so your site and email keep working during the switch.

Next, change the name servers to the HELPER VPS name servers in the dashboard of the registrar where you bought the domain. The change usually takes a few hours, at most about a day, to spread worldwide. In the meantime, keep the records matched so the old and new name servers give the same answers and visitors notice no difference.

If you need to add or change records after the setup, let us know on the support page after your first payment. When you create a new server and move over, just change the IP address in the A record, and lowering the TTL in advance makes the new address spread faster.

Managed DNS is free. Register domains with no limit on zones, and our team takes care of record setup too. You can register domains not used with a server as well, keeping mail-only domains and domains in preparation in one place.

Our name servers run on anycast. Name servers with the same address exist in several regions, and the nearest one answers each query. Domain lookups are fast wherever your visitors are, and if one location is busy, another keeps answering.

Servers and other products are paid with your chosen payment method, and DNS has no fee. The support page opens after your first payment, so pay at least $25 when you create a server and request your records on the support page together with the server IP address.

Websites start with A and AAAA records. Put the server's IPv4 address in an A record and its IPv6 address in an AAAA record for your domain name, and visitors reach your server whatever network they use. Point subnames such as www to the main domain with a CNAME record, so when the address changes you only update one place.

For email, MX records set the servers that receive mail, with priority numbers separating the first and second mail servers. So your outgoing mail is not classed as spam, publish SPF in a TXT record to declare which servers may send, and add your DKIM public key and DMARC policy as well.

CAA records set which authorities may issue certificates for the domain, keeping it more secure. SRV records are used where a port and service name are needed together, such as game servers, voice calls and messengers, and NS records are used to delegate a subdomain to other name servers.

About a day before moving, ask us to shorten the TTL of the records for the domain you are moving to a few minutes. TTL is how long other name servers remember the answer, so with a short TTL the new address spreads quickly when you change it.

Move your site and data to the new server, check it opens properly, then tell us to change the A and AAAA records to the new server's address. Within minutes of the change most visitors reach the new server; keep the old server on for about a day and clean it up once all traffic has moved over.

If there are no problems for a few days after the move, we raise the TTL back to about an hour. The same method keeps visitors connected without interruption when you place a new server in another region or move to bigger specs.

First, set which authorities may issue certificates for the domain with a CAA record. Only the authorities you set can issue certificates, preventing anyone from quietly getting a certificate for your domain elsewhere.

For email, it is best to have all three of SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Receiving mail servers check these values to confirm mail sent in your domain's name is genuine, reducing spoofed mail reaching your customers.

When asking us to change records, include the current and new values for a faster check, and when needed we can roll back to the previous values right away to keep your site and email running.