The NS, or Name Server records of a domain, show which servers handle the Domain Name System (DNS) records for it. Setting the name servers of a particular hosting provider for your domain name is the easiest way to forward it to their system and all its sub-records are going to be handled on their end. This includes A (the IP address of the server/website), MX (mail server), TXT (free text), SRV (services), CNAME (forwarding), and so forth, so, in case you would like to edit any one of these records, you're going to be able to do it by using their system. To put it differently, the NS records of a domain name point out the DNS servers which are authoritative for it, so when you attempt to open a web address, the DNS servers are contacted to get the DNS records of the domain you want to reach. In this way the site that you will see is going to be retrieved from the proper location. The name servers normally have a prefix “ns” or “dns” and each domain address has at least two NS records. There is absolutely no practical difference between the two prefixes, so which one a web hosting provider is going to use depends completely on their preference.