ServeTheWorld has been managing domain, hosting, and email services since 1999, and our experienced team has built up a huge wealth of practical knowledge invaluable to our customers. Until now, much of it has remained inside support conversations and internal notes.
The ServeTheWorld Tutorial Channel changes that. We’re publishing structured tutorial series, written by our own team, that walk you step by step from the fundamentals through to advanced, practical tasks.
Why DNS First?
We’re starting with a comprehensive tutorial on DNS. DNS (Domain Name System) is what translates a domain name like “example.com” into the actual server address that your browser, email, or other services need to reach. It works quietly in the background every time someone visits your website, sends you an email, or connects to anything you host online.
Every domain registration requires the right DNS setup to work. Every email setup depends on the right DNS records being in place, because mistakes here are the single fastest way to land in spam folders. And every VPS deployment needs records that point your domain to the correct server.
For something so integral to hosting, we noticed that good guides on the subject are hard to find. Most skip the practical parts, assume too much background knowledge, or cover theory without showing you what to do in a real control panel. We wanted to build the guide we wish had existed when we started answering these questions two decades ago.
What the Series Covers
Our DNS tutorial is a ten-part series. It starts from scratch with how DNS lookups work and builds up through the full range of record types, editing workflows, and troubleshooting methods.
Every guide was reviewed by engineers at ServeTheWorld who work with this infrastructure daily. The full series is available in both English and Norwegian.
A few things you’ll learn:
- How DNS lookups work, step by step, from the moment you type a domain name to when your browser finds the right server
- Setting up SPF, DKIM, and DMARC, the authentication records that prove your emails are real and keep them out of spam folders
- Connecting your domain to a VPS by creating the records that tell the internet where your server is
- What to do when a DNS change you made doesn’t seem to be taking effect
- SRV records, used by services like Microsoft 365, VoIP systems, and game servers to find each other automatically
- Protecting your domain with security features like DNSSEC (which prevents tampering with your DNS data) and CAA records (which control who can issue security certificates for your domain)
We cover territory that most online guides skip. Reverse DNS, for example, is something email providers check when deciding whether to trust your server, and the series walks through exactly how to set it up. We discuss how DNS changes spread across the internet and why they sometimes seem to stall, along with step-by-step instructions for clearing old cached data on Windows, Mac, and Linux. And you’ll learn practical security measures for protecting your domain from hijacking and misuse.
If you’re a ServeTheWorld customer, you’ll find walkthroughs using the STW Manager that match what you see in your own control panel. We’ve ensured the DNS concepts we discuss apply regardless of provider, though, so you’ll find the guide useful wherever you host your services.
What to Expect Going Forward
We will be releasing new tutorials on an ongoing basis, with subjects driven by the questions our customers bring to us. DNS was the natural starting point, and we’ll be covering WordPress next. The library will grow to cover the full range of topics that come with managing domains, hosting, and online services.
Since launching the blog last year, we’ve used it to discuss our new email platform, our third-generation VPS infrastructure, and our platform policies. The tutorial channel is the next step in that direction: turning what we know into something our customers can value.
If you’ve got suggestions for what you’d like to see covered next, let us know through our contact page.
Explore the DNS tutorial series: ServeTheWorld DNS Tutorials
Richard Sutherland
Technical Writer (Tutorials), ServeTheWorld