Updating DNS Records and DNS Propagation Time

The most essential concept to understand in web hosting is the Domain Name System. At its most basic level, DNS determines whether a visitor to your site sees the actual site, or a “Server not found” error. Like a telephone book, DNS matches names (your domain name) to numbers (IP addresses).

If your browser returns a “Server not found” error when visiting a new subdomain or a site you’ve recently created (or moved here), it’s likely that a DNS record has either not yet been created or has not yet had sufficient time to propagate.

When you add a new subdomain, such as store.yourdomainname.com or blog.yourdomainname.com, it’s important to ensure that you have added the appropriate DNS record for the site to resolve. In this case, you would need to add a CNAME for “store” or “blog” to the DNS record for yourdomainname.com.

If you are using Liquid Web nameservers, you can add a record for the new subdomain in your Manage interface by clicking on Domains in the left menu and then selecting the DNS tab. The record for a new subdomain would be entered in the main domain's zone file.

Likewise, if you have set up a new domain name and chose to use Liquid Web nameservers at the registrar, you’ll want to ensure that a DNS zone has been created for the new domain in your Manage dashboard (under Domains on the DNS tab) and that a DNS “A”  record is present and pointing the site to its assigned IP on your server.

If all the DNS records are in place and the site still is unreachable, it’s possible that the DNS changes are propagating. Typically only a few hours is needed for this, but it technically can take up to 24 hours to 48 hours for a DNS change to fully propagate globally. It's important to note any time a change is made to a DNS record, regardless of whether it's adding a new record or changing the value of an existing one, it can take up to that 24 hours to 48 hours before the change is visible worldwide.

One external tool that you can use to confirm the presence of DNS records and track DNS record propagation is What's My DNS.

As always, a Heroic Support® technician will be happy to help should you need any assistance.