3Essentials provides a standard DNS configuration which provides for web and mail services to be directed to 3Essentials servers.  When you register your domain and configure it to use 3Essentials nameservers, you've made our DNS configuration active for your domain... i.e., our DNS servers are the active DNS server providing name resolution for all hostnames within your domain namespace (www.yourdomain.com, ftp.yourdomain.com, mail.yourdomain.com, etc..).    Your control panel will have a icon labelled "DNS" where you can review this configuration, all the records for your domain namespace (your "dns zone").  

It is possible a customer may wish to host their own DNS on their own DNS nameservers.  Customers who wish to do this are welcome to do so, and this can be achieved by updating your domain registration to list your DNS servers as the "nameservers" for the domain, instead of ours.   Please note, when you host your own DNS, you are completely responsible for the configuration and for all related functionality, and 3Essentials is not responsible for any related DNS functionality at that point.  You should you have sufficient knowledge of DNS, so that you can manage your DNS to meet your specific requirements and needs. 

3Essentials does not provide consulting on alternate DNS configurations besides our default configuration.  To clarify, if you are going to manage your own DNS, it is presumed you will have sufficient knowledge of DNS to properly assess your requirements and implement the necessary changes to achieve your desired configuration.  3Essentials is not responsible for unexpected service outages resulting from your DNS management/hosting.

If you....

1. You want to manage your own DNS.    You have your own DNS servers (either you or your company does) and you want to manage the master DNS zone file for your domain.  Simply update your domain registration to use the nameservers you want them to use.  If you need assistance in defining what records you need to include in your zone file for your domain in order for web and/or mail services to point to our hosting servers, you can log into the control panel, click your domain, and click on DNS... this will show you our standard DNS configuration... it won't be active for you, since you are hosting your own DNS, but you can review this to retrieve sample DNS record configuration which point to our server.  Instructions for accessing the DNS features in the control panel are listed below.  Additionally, you may submit a support ticket indicating you are hosting your own DNS, and specify what records you need assistance with (www, MX, etc..).
2. You want to keep web services and DNS services with 3Essentials, but direct mail to your own mail server (or some similar change).  You can use the DNS icon in the control panel for your domain to make the necessary changes to your MX record(s) to implement this. 

You can access DNS settings for your domain via the control panel:

• Log into your control panel 
• click on the domain name
• click on the DNS icon
• Here you will find your entire DNS zone for your review... all DNS records for the domain, and make changes as you wish to meet your needs (again, what is shown in the DNS icon will not be active if your are hosting your own DNS).