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I've been out of the loop of this kind of stuff for a while but can someone please explain to me how buying a domain name and then getting it hosted works. Let's say if for example I bought a domain name xyz.com from godaddy.com.

Could I then purchase the hosting services from a different hosting company and still use the domain I bought from godaddy.com?

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From Setting Nameservers for Your Domain Names (Since Godaddy is your registrar I cited their support docs):

When you register a domain name with us, we set it up on our parked nameservers so a temporary page displays when visitors go to your website. After you determine which hosting provider to use, you can change your domain name's nameservers to remove the parked page and activate your domain name.

If you registered your domain name with another provider, you can still purchase a hosting account with us, use our Off-site DNS services, or use our CashParking® or Quick Content services. If you do any of those, you must view your nameservers in your account with us, and then set the nameservers with your domain name registrar.

If your domain name is registered with us, use the following instructions to update its nameservers depending how you use or host the domain name.

  • Log in to your Account Manager.
  • In the My Products section, select Domains/Domain Manager.
  • Select the domain name(s) you want to modify.
  • From (Nameservers), select Set Nameservers.

  • Select one of the following:

    • (Removed since they do not apply to this question)

    • I have specific nameservers for my domains — This option indicates that you are hosting your domain name with another company (enter the two or more nameservers your hosting provider gave you), or you have custom nameservers you want to use for this domain name.

    TIP: For .com, .net, and .edu domain names, see Custom Nameserver Restriction for .com, .net, and .edu Domain Names for information on using custom nameservers with these domain names. Likewise, certain country-code top-level domain names (ccTLDs) have specific requirements for their nameservers. See About ccTLDs (Country-Code Domain Names) to find the Help article with the nameserver requirements for your ccTLD.

    NOTE: You must enter at least two nameservers. After you set third-party nameservers and the DNS propagates, you can no longer manage your domain name's DNS in our system and must contact your third-party provider to do so.

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DNS and hosting are different things. It goes something like this:

  • Domain Register - sells domains and specifies DNS servers (and whois) for the domain.
  • DNS server - holds the DNS zone (mapping) and allows clients to ask what is the IP address for a certain domain or subdomain.
  • Web Host - whoever answers when clients connects to the resolved IP address.

These three are completely separate, and even though one company might fill all three roles, there is no limitation why it can't be changed.

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yes you can buy domain and hosting from two different providers and link them to see the website online.

When you purchase the hosting account or domain name they will provide you with control panel to manage your domain or hosting account. The hosting account provider will send you the nameserver details while you are purchasing the account.

Just use that nameservers and update it in your domain control panel, the panel which is given to you from the domain provider in this case(Godaddy). The namerserves will take some time to propagate in all isp. Hence it will take some time. After that you can see your website online.

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Yes, this is completely possible. GoDaddy is simply a domain registrar, although they do offer hosting but you do not need it.

After registering a domain name you would simply just set the name servers to point to your other hosting provider.

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Yes you can have your domain and hosting service with two different people. There's no rule like you must host

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Yes, it is possible to buy domain only and you can just point your domain to your other hosting provider. But, most hosting company offer domain and also hosting. Moreover, they can offer you FREE domain name if you host your site with them. One of them is hostforlife.eu.

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The answer is yes..

You can even use your computer at home for hosting your domain and have the DNS servers point to your home computer (as long as it is visible to the Internet).

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You definitely can buy a web domain name from one company and host the site on another companies servers or your own. You just need to change the DNS server settings to point to the IP you want the domain name to resolve to.

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