Domain vs web hosting: what is the difference?
Last updated: 26 August 2026 · Reviewed: 26 August 2026 · By: Alston Antony
A domain is your rented address at a registry (like yourbusiness.lk at LK Domain
Registry, or yourbusiness.com at Verisign), controlled by DNS records that decide which server to
answer requests. Hosting is the actual server the site's files sit on and the IP address that
DNS points at. You need both, they come from different companies (a registrar and a host), and you can move
one without touching the other. Keeping them at separate providers is what most experienced site owners do,
because the domain then survives any hosting change, cancellation or dispute.
What a domain actually is (a record at a registry)
A domain name is a lease on a label inside a top-level namespace, held on the registry's authoritative
database. For .lk, the registry is LK Domain Registry (also called IPS Sri Lanka), and every
.lk or .com.lk record ultimately lives there regardless of which registrar you bought
from. For .com, the registry is Verisign. The registrar is only a commercial front-end that sells,
renews and updates the record; the record itself is single-source at the registry. What you own is the right
to point that name at any IP address in the world via DNS records. Common records are A (IPv4 address), AAAA
(IPv6), MX (mail server), CNAME (alias), and NS (nameserver). Change the NS records and the site can move to
a new host in minutes without the domain changing hands.
What hosting is (a server, an IP address, disk, bandwidth)
Web hosting is renting a slice of a physical or virtual server, its public IP address, some disk, some RAM, and a monthly bandwidth allowance. Shared hosting slices one machine across hundreds of accounts and prices from around LKR 400 to LKR 1,200 per month billed annually. VPS pricing starts around LKR 2,000 to LKR 4,000 per month for entry-level plans (LKR figures checked 2026-08-27). Cloud hosting bills per hour on providers like Cloudways, DigitalOcean or Vultr. What you get is a place to put HTML, PHP, WordPress, a database and a mailbox, plus the software stack (Apache or LiteSpeed, MySQL, PHP) to serve it. The host publishes the IP address; the domain's DNS records send visitors to that IP.
Why keeping them separate is the safer default
Separating the registrar from the host means a hosting failure never puts the domain at risk. Concrete cases that come up on Sri Lankan sites weekly: the host account gets suspended over a billing dispute and the registrar (same company) locks the domain too; the reseller who registered the domain "for free" as part of a bundle listed themselves as the registrant and the site owner cannot transfer out; the host quietly renews the domain at a higher price on the same invoice as hosting and the customer notices six months late. All three vanish if the domain lives at LK Domain Registry (or a neutral international registrar like Namecheap or Porkbun) and the hosting is a separate purchase. The tradeoff is one extra login and one extra invoice per year.
How a domain finds its hosting (a five-line DNS trace)
Domain resolution runs the same way every time. First, the visitor's browser asks a recursive resolver for
yourbusiness.lk. Second, the resolver walks up to the .lk root and gets the nameservers listed on
the registry record. Third, the resolver asks those nameservers for the A record. Fourth, the nameserver
returns the host's IP address, for example the Hostinger server at 156.67.75.10. Fifth, the browser opens
an HTTPS connection to that IP and asks for the site by name. Change the host, update one A record on the
nameserver, and step four returns a different IP without touching the domain record itself.
Frequently asked questions
Do I have to buy domain and hosting from the same company?
No. Domain and hosting are separate products from separate registries and connect over DNS. Buying them together is a convenience, not a technical requirement. Keeping them at different providers is what most experienced site owners do because it makes leaving the host straightforward.
Can I use a .lk domain with an international host like Hostinger?
Yes. LK Domain Registry only controls registration and delegation, not where the site runs. Point the .lk domain's nameservers at the host, or set A and CNAME records to the host's IP, and the site loads normally from Hostinger, SiteGround or any international provider.
Who owns my domain if the host registered it for me?
Whoever the registrant is on the WHOIS record, which is usually the host if they registered it as part of a bundle. Log in and confirm your name and email are on the WHOIS contact fields; if the host is listed, ask them to transfer registrant to you before renewal. Otherwise leaving them means losing the domain.
What breaks if my hosting expires but my domain does not?
The site returns a browser error (usually a 522 or DNS failure) because the domain still points at a server that no longer responds. Email routed through the host stops arriving. The domain itself stays yours and continues to redirect once new hosting is set up, which is the whole reason to keep them separate.
Sources & references
- ICANN - what is a domain name — Registry, registrar and registrant explained (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- LK Domain Registry — .lk registration policy and namespace list (checked 26 Aug 2026)
- IANA Root Zone Database — TLD delegation records (checked 26 Aug 2026)