Domain
Name Servers and Propagation
What
is a Domain Name?
A
name that identifies one or more IP addresses.
For example, the domain name microsoft.com represents
about a dozen IP addresses. Domain names are
used in URLs to identify particular Web pages.
For example, in the URL http://www.solid-hosting.net/index.html,
the domain name is solid-hosting.net. You can
register your own domain name through special
online companies called domain registrars. Here's
one: http://www.active-doamain.com.
But remember: you'll get a free domain from
us if you signup to any of our regular hosting
packages.
Because the Internet is based on IP addresses,
not domain names, every Web server requires
a Domain Name System (DNS) server to translate
domain names into IP addresses.
Changing
the DNS for a domain
When you move domains from one server to another,
or when you are setting up a new domain on your
server, you need to change the DNS for the domain
so it knows where to find the new server.
To do this, go the place where you registered
the domain. Log into the members area. The domain
registration sites differ but there should be
something along the lines of ‘Change DNS’ or
‘Change Nameservers.’ These may be in a domain
management area.
Select the domain you wish to move to your Solid-Hosting.net
server and edit the nameservers and change them
to:
ns1.solid-hosting.net, IP 69.57.167.211
ns2.solid-hosting.net, IP 69.57.187.122
OR
ns3.solid-hosting.net,
IP 72.34.38.2
ns4.solid-hosting.net, IP 72.34.38.5
Please
check in your welcome email which nameserver
pair you should use.
Some domain registration sites will require
both the nameservers and the IPs which go with
them. Others will only need the nameservers
(ns1.solid-hosting.net and ns2.solid-hosting.net)
You now need to allow the changes to propagate
throughout the internet. Although this process
is getting faster, it can take up to 72 hours
depending on the registrar.
Before you set change the nameservers on a domain
make sure you have registered your personal
nameservers.
What
is propagation?
When you make a change to the DNS information
for your domain, changing the nameservers for
example, all the DNS servers on the Internet
need to be updated. Now this process is automated
so one would presume that it should only take
a few seconds, but when you consider that there
are millions of DNS servers spread globally
you can begin to understand why it takes so
long.
Due to propagation, when you make changes to
your nameservers, the domain will not resolve
to your new server instantly.
How long does it take?
The official word is that it can take up to
72 hours. But there a lot of variables involved
so it depends to a large degree on your registrar,
for example, netsol are know for their long
propagation while some eNom users report propagation
times of less than 6 hours.
Is there any way around it?
No, all you can do is wait.
What can I do while I wait?
All is not lost however, while you are waiting
for the domain to resolve to its new server
you can still access your web host manager,
your control panel and you can ftp into the
server. For this you use the server IP or the
server name, both of which will be given in
your welcome email.
To access CPanel:
http://[domain ip]/cpanel/
To FTP, use the server IP as the host name.
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