Sometimes you need to move to the new host for whatever reasons. And when you moving to the new host you are also need to repoint your domain nameserver to the new host name server. When repoint your nameserver it’s not instantly change to all dns server, this process called dns propagation. DNS propagation need maximum 48 hours for it to fully propagated.
While in propagation time, you may still access to your old server as well as your other visitors. So while in propagation time i suggest you not to update anything on your website. But you can still access your new server by hack your hosts file. Read more here: Migrating Your Website To New Server Without Down Time
But how do you know if your domain nameserver is fully propagated? I have 2 tools to check it:
- Whatsmydns
whatsmydns.net is an online service that allows you to instantly perform a DNS lookup to check a hostnames current IP Address and other DNS information against a selection of random name servers around the world. This is especially useful to check the current state of DNS propagation after making changes to your domains zones. - Host Tracker
Host Tracker is website monitoring from many nodes that spread all over the world. To see if your website is up and accessible. You can check your server ip and if it is not the same ip (using 1 server), then it’s not fully propagated. Beside check the ip, it also check your server speed from different location.
Thank you very much. This is really useful. Just checked my domain since it hasn't completely propagated yet. 🙂
thank you for the two sites, I'm having difficulty with one of my domain. it is already propagated to other computers except for mine. I really don't know what to do. If you can help me, please send me an email thanks.
Just wait. it will propagated less than 48 hours.
There is also this propagation check at http://www.net-tools.eu/network/dns-propagation. By the way very good article.
I made a small change on my Index page on my new host so that when it propagates I will know immediately. For the email, I did not reconfigure the email on my computer to bring in my mail and so when it fails to come in, I will know that has propagated. (I don’t think mail will go to both places)
Great article. One thing to notify is that a tool to remember, which helps you in seeing the propagation of your DNS servers in a more detailed way than whatsmydns.net is https://dnschecker.org/. With almost 100+ public servers available to check the live propagation result, and the option to add your own custom public server, that tool provides more detailed propagation lookup than any other online similar tool. You must give it a try.