Domain registration vs. hosting

[tarsus]

I'm still trying to learn the ins and outs of domains. As I understand it, domain registration, DNS hosting, and web hosting can all be independent. I'd like to have my domain name registered (or hosted) at one place, like namecheap.com, with my web site hosted at another.

I would register my domain with namecheap.com, with the intent of pointing it at my web host's domain servers, correct? But most hosts (for this particular project, I'm looking for cheap/free hosts for a simple personal site) only allow the domain options of "register" or "transfer."

So would I be doing the process right by registering mysite.com at namecheap, setting up that domain at my web host with "transfer existing," and then pointing my DNS at namecheap to the name servers of my web host? Or would "transfer existing" transfer the registration as well?

In other words, what is the proper way to set up the domain at my web/DNS host, in light of the fact that the domain is registered with namecheap.com (and I want to keep it that way)?

[felgall]

Domain registration and web hosting are as different as a street address and a block of land. Just as there are various ways to refer to a given block of land you can set up multiple domains to point to the same hosting.

The only link between the domain and the hosting is the nameserver settings on the domain record which need to point to where the hosting can be found.

[tarsus]

I do understand all that. I need a bit more specific information about the steps involved. Is the proper way to:

- register my domain with namecheap.com
- set up my web hosting account with "transfer existing domain"
- at namecheap, point my domain to my web host's name servers

My real question is about the "transfer existing domain" at the web host, and whether that is truly what I'm supposed to do.