Overview
The following explains the concept of DNS Propagation and offers some tools for checking propagation status.
FAQs
What is DNS propagation?
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DNS propagation can be thought of as the time it takes DNS records to update across the Internet. This happens when records expire on a server, and new records take their place. When this happens, Internet traffic is then routed to the new DNS values.
How long does it take for DNS to propagate?
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Each Internet Service Provider (ISP) has its own time frame on how often they update/expire their cached DNS records, usually from a few hours up to 72 hours.
Because there is no single shared standard throughout the Internet, different computers in different locations see the update at different times. This means changes to DNS do not take effect all at once.
DreamHost cannot control how fast your DNS propagates throughout the Internet since this process requires ALL servers around the world to update their records in their own time frame.
What is Time to Live?
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Time to Live (TTL) measures how long a DNS server stores (caches) a record value before checking for new updates. The TTL is set by the DNS server administrator. The validity period may vary from seconds to days or even weeks.
The TTL on DreamHost servers is set to 5 minutes by default.
Flushing the DNS cache
If you’ve made recent changes to a domain or other DNS related services, and are not seeing changes, you might need to flush your DNS cache in order to see the new changes appear in your location.
Using a tool to help you check the DNS status
The following tools help you confirm in which locations your DNS has updated:
- What's my DNS?
- DNS Propagation Checker
- Viewing your DreamHost DNS records — DreamHost's DNS propagation checker in the panel
Viewing your site before the DNS has propagated
You can still view your site before the DNS has changed. There are two ways to do this: