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.monoclehosting.com/index.htm, the domain name is monoclehosting.com. You can register your own domain name through Monocle Hosting's own domain registration service. Click here for more information. But remember: you'll get a free domain from us if you signup to either our Standard or Advanced 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 Monocle Hosting server and edit the nameservers and change them to:

ns1.monoclehosting.com (IP 64.91.231.45)
ns2.monoclehosting.com (IP 64.91.231.46)

Some domain registration sites will require both the nameservers and the IPs which go with them. Others will only need the nameservers (ns1.monoclehosting.com and ns2.monoclehosting.com)

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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