Understanding DNS for smooth releases

Site moves: Managing your DNS

When moving your site from one host to another switching your Domain Name System or DNS is one of the most critical steps. When choosing to host your site with Six Feet Up, you'll have two options—host your own DNS or have Six Feet Up host your DNS for you.

Hosting your own DNS requires less coordination from us. If you've registered your domain through an Internet registrar such as www.DirectNIC.com or www.GoDaddy.com then they may also host the DNS information for your domain. If you are comfortable with the responsibilities and demands of managing your own DNS, Six Feet Up will provide you with all of the settings you need to make your site work from our systems. However, if you do not want the stress and worries associated with all the technical details of managing your own DNS, then it would be best to allow Six Feet Up to host it for you.

DNS with six feet up

By making this decision early in the process, we can ensure that your DNS is successfully transferred to our system with zero down time for your site. The key is to get the DNS entries set up in our system before we do a Name Server change to point your domain to our system. The Name Server change is the most critical aspect of moving DNS to our servers. When you elect to host DNS with us, Six Feet Up will be your new Name Server. Switching from one Name Server to another is what gives us authority over your DNS information and allows us to make your site “go live” on our system.

Please note that Six Feet Up has absolutely no control over your DNS unless and until your Name Server is pointing to us. If, during the process of attempting to change your Name Server, your current registrar tells you that you'll need to contact us to make these changes, they are wrong.  If we had this kind of control or access to your domain before the DNS move, we'd have this kind of access and control over every domain. If you get conflicting information from your current registrar and are unsure how to continue, please contact us and we'll help clarify the situation for you.

Steps to follow for a smooth transition

To simplify the process, it looks something like this.

1. Your site’s DNS information is currently hosted by ns.DirectNIC.com.
2. ns.DirectNIC.com is pointing DNS traffic to your current host.
3. You sign up with Six Feet Up and would like for us to host your DNS.
4. Six Feet Up technical support staff will coordinate with you to get appropriate DNS information to load into our system.
5. Six Feet Up technical support staff will load appropriate DNS information for your domain and test it for proper function.
6. Six Feet Up technical support staff will notify you that your DNS information is loaded and ready to go, giving you the appropriate Name Server information to change with your current registrar. (Don't' worry, we'll be giving you as much assistance with this step as you need to successfully complete the project.)
7. You change your Name Server with your current registrar to point to our DNS system.
8. After your existing TTL expires, new DNS requests are made and pointed to our system which has been standing by with correct DNS information.
9. Since DNS is now responding by pointing to our system, your site has “gone live” on our system with zero downtime for your existing domain.

It can be a complex and difficult to understand process. If, at any point, you are unsure of what to do next, or how any of this information pertains to you and your unique situation, please do not hesitate to contact our technical support staff at support@sixfeetup.com.

Important Terms & Information

DNS = Domain Name System: serves as a “phone book” for the Internet. It does this by translating domain names such as www.example.com into IP addresses.

IP Address = Internet Protocol address: a numeric address where your domain can be found (123.45.67.89).

Name Server: the local “Yellow Pages” where your phone number is stored.  When someone navigates to your site, the Name Server tells your computer the IP address of your site.

TTL = Time To Live.  Every time a resource is requested from your site, such as a new page view or where to send this new email, a request is made against the DNS server for what address to get this information from or where to send it. TTL attempts to minimize the traffic burden on DNS servers by caching or saving DNS information for later use.  How long this information is cached is determined by the TTL setting in your DNS entries. TTL is the reason why it may take some time for your new site to become visible when you first move to our servers.  If you are moving your domain from an existing host to our system, we'll need to wait for all of the cached DNS responses out there to expire their TTL.  Once expired, a new request will be made against the DNS servers to find the new address of your site.  Only at this step will your new address be delivered and your site will “go live” to new requests.

One important thing to note, which confuses many people that are new to DNS and TTL, is that your DNS entries may be cached by different ISPs (Internet Service Providers), companies, networks, etc.  If you are under one of these sources that is still holding on to the old cached information, you will not see the "new" site at your new location until your upstream sources allow the TTL to expire and grab new DNS information to cache.

MX = Mail eXchanger.  MX records are the portion of your DNS records that are responsible for proper routing of your emails for your domain.   During a DNS project, it is imperative that you have a plan for what you intend to do with your email.  Please include any plans or desires for email with your correspondence with Six Feet Up technical support staff.