My domain names dummy for managing my job

Terminology
A-record
The mapping from a name to ip.
abc.com → 123.123.123.123

CNAME-record
Aliases like www.abc.com → abc.com.
A CNAME always should point to an A-record.

How to redirect a domain 4 Apr
When we have acquired a domain name from a domain name registrar (like 1&1 or Godaddy) we have to redirect it to the actual site. Either it is the name of an original site (abc.com), or it is just an alias to an exisiting site (abc.net).

When setting up an original site the name has to be registered with the hosting provider. Either as the main domain or as an add on domain on the specific host (a2hosting terminology).

HTTP Redirect
If we just want to redirect a newly acquired domain name to the original site a http redirect is the simplest to add. For this kind of redirect only the domain name information at the registrar has to be edited. No edits need to be made at the hosting provider. Only http traffic will be redirected.

E.g. When typing abc.net in the browser you will be redirected to abc.com. www.abc.net will also work.

CNAME
The other alternative is to edit the cname for the acquired domain name. No edits need to be made at the hosting provider.

E.g. For abc.net you provide abc.com as cname. www.abc.net will also work.

Name servers
And the third alternative is to redirect using name servers. Typically you change the name servers at the registrar to point to the hosting provider. E.g. from 1&1 name servers to ns3.a2hosting.com. When using cname or name servers all kinds of traffic will be redirected. For this to work the names servers at the hosting company needs to be edited as well. An alias need to be added. (Parked domain in a2hosting terminology.)

E.g. abc.net must be added as a parked domain on the hosted server. For www.abc.net to be redirected as well it must be setup as a subdomain at the domain registrar and redirected to the same name servers. (Then at e.g. a2hosting the www. subdomain is known by default so it does not need to be added.)

A-record
If we a re setting up an original site and have a known IP then editing the A-record at the domain registrar can be of interest. But most likely (if we are using a web hosting service) we would like to do a name server redirect in this case.