Frequently Asked Questions

Has the DNS been updated?
What is DNS?
Why does it take so long to update DNS?

Has the DNS been updated?

You could call us to find out, or you could easily check it for yourself. To determine, you'll need to be at a command prompt (Unix or Windows):

nslookup [yourdomain.ext] will tell you what IP your DNS thinks is correct.

nslookup [yourdomain.ext] dns1.registeredsite.com will tell you what our DNS has.

If our address isn't correct, either the updates have been made and the DNS server hasn't yet refreshed internally, or the updates have not been made yet but are in line to be added. DNS records are checked rigorously for error prior to their submittal. We'd rather take a few extra minutes to get it right the first time than have to wait another four hours to fix a small mistake.

What is DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is the system by which hosts on the Internet have both domain name addresses (such as Take-One.net) and IP addresses, such as 192.17.3.4. The domain name address is used by human users and is automatically translated into the numerical IP address, which is used by the packet routing software.

To use a simple analogy, surfing the web is like calling people on the phone. To call someone on the phone, you need their number. To reach a site on the Web, you only need to know their domain name; the actual number is looked up for you, automatically.

For example, when you type www.yahoo.com into your browser, your computer connects to a DNS server. The DNS server looks up www.yahoo.com just like you'd look up Smith, John in the phone book. The DNS server finds the corresponding IP address and sends it back to your computer, which is then able to make the call using the correct number, or IP address.

Why does it take so long to update DNS?

When DNS records are updated, they have to be sent all over the world so that everyone will be aware of the changes. Basically, one DNS server connects to another and swaps information. This swapping process - also called propagation - takes time and ample network resources. For this reason, DNS servers do not update continuously. Instead, they update (or refresh) several times per day.

Our DNS servers are updated daily at 12 am, 4 am, 8 am, 12 pm, 4 pm, and 8 pm. Even after a Web site's IP address has been changed, it takes time for all the DNS servers to get their updates. Propagation can take up to 72 hours, depending on how close you are (from a network standpoint) to our DNS servers.