Which record do you change at a registrar to change DNS hosting?
A network administrator needs to change where the outside DNS records are hosted. Which of the following records should the administrator change at the registrar to accomplish this task?
Community Votes
100% of anonymous learners picked answer A. Votes are pick records left by other test-takers — they are not the verified answer.
Community Insight
The exam is testing whether you know that registrar-level delegation uses NS records, not the zone-level SOA or PTR/CNAME records; the trap is confusing the registrar's role with the DNS zone's internal records.
For CompTIA Network+ N10-009, the record changed at a registrar to redirect where DNS records are hosted is the NS (Name Server) record. Community consensus and the suggested answer both agree that NS is correct, since it designates the authoritative DNS servers for the domain.
A common wrong choice is SOA, because the Start of Authority record identifies the primary DNS server for a zone; however, SOA lives inside the zone file at the DNS provider, not at the registrar. Changing hosting providers is done by changing the domain's NS records at the registrar.
Community Discussion (4 comments)
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Expert Analysis
Why the Answer Is Correct
Option A (NS) is correct because NS records, also called delegation records, are stored at the registrar and point a domain to its authoritative name servers. When you update the NS records at the registrar, you tell the global DNS where to find the zone that holds all your domain's DNS records, effectively changing where the records are hosted.Why the Other Options Are Wrong
SOA (B) is the Start of Authority record that starts a DNS zone and contains administrative data like the primary name server and refresh timers; it is a zone-level record, not something you configure at a registrar. PTR (C) is a pointer record used for reverse DNS to map an IP address back to a domain name, and CNAME (D) creates an alias from one domain to another; neither affects where your domain's records are hosted. One commenter incorrectly said 'SOA is service orientated architecture,' but in DNS SOA is actually the Start of Authority record and is not a registrar-level control.Community Comment Notes
Top comments (4 likes, 3 likes) both answered A, explaining that NS records specify which DNS servers are authoritative for the domain, and updating them directs queries to the new DNS servers. Another commenter gave a simple definition: 'Name Server DNS servers that hold the actual name and IP DNS records in a kind of database called a zone.' A lower-rated comment mentioned 'SOA is service orientated architecture,' which is a common misremembering; for this exam, SOA means Start of Authority and is an internal zone record, not the registrar-level switch.Official Reference
Exam Strategy
When you see a question about moving a domain to a new DNS host, immediately look for the registrar-level control, which is the NS record. Remember that records like SOA, PTR, and CNAME are all zone records managed by the DNS provider, so only NS is changed at the registrar to delegate where the records live.
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