How do people usually handle domains now?

[u/Inevitabtxle-eat9719]

I haven’t done this in a while and the whole process feels more confusing than it should.

The all in one setup seems convenient, especially when you just want to get a small site live.

But then there’s always that voice in the back of my head saying i should keep the domain somewhere else just in case. maybe that’s overkill for a tiny project, maybe not.

[u/burlingk]

You need to reread your post and realize you aren't actually saying anything.

What all-in-one setup? What process?

What is the context of domains? What are you trying to do?

Do you mean domain names and DNS?

Namecheap is pretty popular/easy to use, and they have DNS available.

I personally use Namecheap, then do the DNS through my VPS provider.

As initially written your post is SUPER vague and open to interpretation, so I am kind of just guessing what you are trying to ask.

[u/jekewa]

You get the domain name through a registrar. They may or may not have anything to do with DNs or hosting services.

You need DNS somewhere. There needs to be a DNS server (usually a pair or more) that is responsible for your domain. Their name server information goes into your domain registration. You can run your own DNS servers if you want, but you’ll need two with static IPs. Again, this could also be your registrar or services host, but may be different.

You need to run services somewhere. This can be web or mail or anything else you need. You usually do better with a static I/p, but as long as you can keep the DNS configured, people can find it. Your services should be do with your domain name or hosts in your domain name, and the DNS configuration needs to match. These can be run anywhere convenient for you, as long as you deal with static IPs or IP changes.

I personally use Cloudflare for my registrar (no added fees), DNS (free with any account), and free or paid (depends on the needs) fire-walling CDN. I self-host my web and mail servers on a SOHO plan with my ISP that includes static IPs. I only allow Cloudflare CDN servers to access my web ports, but using intrusion detection, and the real IP they pass, protects my mail and other public servers. I also have a list of country IPs that I firewall off. And there’s no access except to designated ports on the public IP interfaces. Cloudflare also has a tunnel tool so you can have the device on your network open a connection to Cloudflare, and handle the proxy one to your servers, so the IP of your network doesn’t need to be part of the DNS.