What is the difference between pointing your domain to an IP of your host and adding the name servers of your host?

For instance, I have a domain with namecheap and am using their nameservers but pointing it to my webhosting account via the IP (via "A" address). Are there any advantages to using my webhost's nameservers instead of my domain reseller (namecheap)?

If you use your hosts nameservers, they can do things like change your IP address, split your services (MX on one server, ftp on another, web on a third, etc) without you even knowing it.

If you run your own nameservers - either at your domain registrar or using one of the services like everydns, zoneedit, mydomain etc, you have full control over where things go and how you split up your services yourself.

Control requires you to do your own maintenance. Letting your host manage your DNS records means less control and no maintenance.

As long as you have the ability to change your domain records yourself and change your nameservers at any time, I'd probably start out by letting your host manage your DNS for you and then should you need to do something in the future that your host does not directly support, you can change your nameservers with no downtime to your website.

-t

Well said :agree:

Thank you for the information and advice, I greatly appreciate it! I am new to the whole scene so the entire thing is a learning experience for me. :-)

Well if you have a static ip, it would work but if you're hosting is name-based it wouldn't...

It doesn't make any difference where your DNS records are if you are name based or IP based. You can't split your services between different hosts without multiple IP addresses of course, but the DNS records are the same for name based or IP based hosting - whether you keep these DNS records in your hosting companies nameservers or in some other nameservers.

How do you think it makes a difference where you keep your DNS records whether you have a static IP or not?

-t