The Domain Name System (DNS) is an internet service that translates your domain name (i.e. yourname.gov) into an IP address. This makes it possible for people to access your website by typing in the domain name instead of the website’s IP address.
This is often done through your domain registrar, like GoDaddy or NameCheap. Since DotGov is managing the top level domain, local governments need to host their own DNS. We recommend CloudFlare for this because they are best in class and have a generous free tier that many of our customers find more than sufficient.