Child nameservers and glue records
Running nameservers named under your own domain — what the extra record is for, and whether you need any of it.
Updated 02 Sept 2026
A child nameserver is a nameserver named under the domain it serves — ns1.example.com answering for example.com. It is a neat arrangement with one problem built into it, and the fix for that problem is called a glue record.
The circular problem
To reach example.com a resolver asks for its nameservers and is told ns1.example.com. To reach ns1.example.com it needs to know its address — which is held by ns1.example.com. Nothing can start.
Whether you need this
Almost certainly not. Child nameservers exist for people running their own ডিএনএস — hosting companies, mostly — who want the nameserver hostnames to carry their own brand.
If you do need it
Registering a child nameserver happens at the registry that holds the parent domain, so it is a request rather than a switch — open a ticket from support with the hostnames and the addresses they should resolve to. Renaming or removing one later is the same request in reverse, and it has to happen *before* the address stops working, not after.
What breaks if the glue is wrong?
The domain stops resolving completely, and it does so for everybody at once rather than gradually. This is the failure mode worth respecting: an ordinary bad record makes one thing not work, while bad glue makes the name itself unreachable — including the mail you would use to notice.
Can I delete a child nameserver that is in use?
Not while another domain still points at it. The registry refuses, and it is right to: removing it would take those domains down. Move them to different nameservers first, then remove it.