When you make a change to your website’s DNS records on one of our high-performance VPS or dedicated servers, you expect the update to be instant. It’s a common and frustrating experience when it isn’t, but the answer lies in a fundamental process of the internet: DNS Propagation.
Simply put, DNS is the internet’s phonebook. It translates your human-friendly domain names (like https://www.google.com/search?q=yourwebsite.com) into machine-readable IP addresses (like 192.168.1.1). When you update your website’s records, this new information needs to be distributed across a massive network of DNS servers all over the world.
This process of a new DNS record being “propagated” is not instant. The primary reason for this delay is DNS caching. Every time a user visits your website, their computer, their internet service provider, and other DNS servers in the network store a temporary copy of that website’s DNS records.
The duration for which a record is cached is determined by a setting called Time to Live (TTL). The higher the TTL value, the longer a DNS record is cached, and the longer it takes for changes to take effect. While most DNS changes are now much faster than the old 24-48 hour standard, you may still experience a delay depending on your location.
At Hosting International, we optimize our DNS servers to minimize this process and ensure the fastest possible propagation times. However, the update still depends on external networks. When you make a DNS change, we recommend using a DNS propagation checker tool and, if you are still seeing the old version of your site, clearing your browser cache. This is a normal part of how the internet works to provide a faster, more reliable browsing experience for everyone. Rest assured, with our reliable VPS and dedicated servers, you are starting with the fastest possible foundation.