WHAT IS DNS PROPAGATION?

Mar 23, 2023

DNS propagation is the time it takes for DNS records to expire on a server. When you update your nameservers to point to a different hosting company or you newly register a domain, those new nameservers must first propagate across the Internet. This process is called DNS propagation. Each ISP has their own time frame on how often they update/expire their cached DNS records. Because there is no single shared standard throughout the Internet, this entire process can take from a few hours to up to 72 hours. The actual time of propagation may vary in some locations based on your network setup. Basically, DNS Propagation is the time it takes for the domain DNS to refresh the cache on the network.

HOW LONG DOES DNS PROPAGATION TAKE?

Most computers cache DNS which can cause the computer to “remember” the old IP address for up to 48 hours until the next time it updates. If your computer is caching the DNS, it may be possible to flush the DNS on your computer so that it looks up the IP address for the domain again. The cache is cleared over a certain amount of time. We suggest waiting up to 48 hours for the DNS cache to be fully refreshed. DNS will refresh according to the “TTL” or “Time To Live”. When the DNS refreshes according to its TTL, the propagation is complete and your site will load.

You can set your TTL (Time to Live) settings for each DNS record in your domain name’s zone file. TTL is the time period for which servers cache the information for your DNS records. For example, if you set the TTL for a particular record to one hour, servers store the information for that record locally for an hour before retrieving updated information from your authoritative nameserver. Shorter TTL settings make can increase propagation speed. However, shorter settings also increase the number of queries to your authoritative nameserver, and that increased load slows your server’s processing time.

It is often the case that when you’re trying to go to the domain, it’s actually getting an old IP address (cached on your own computer) instead of looking for a new one and finding the correct record. You can try clearing your DNS cache or “Flush the DNS”. However, sometimes clearing your DNS cache does not work so the only thing you can do is wait.