Search Again: Re: Help! I''m a newbie... From: andrew Date: Wednesday, May 2, 2001 Time: 1:31:03 pm > Is there any tried and true method of knowing exactly when this will switch > over so that I know everything is working from the moment the IP switch > happens on Network Solutions? How do I know when it has happened? No, because routers, proxy servers and other switching equipment around the internet "cache" (store) the IP addresses of webservers so they don't have to ask your nameserver "where" the webserver is every time someone types "xyz.com" into their browser. You can tell these machines not to remember this information and ask you more frequently, which is a good idea to do about 2 weeks before you switch the IPs over, but not every machine will obey your wishes. You do this by adjusting the "TTL" value (time to live) in the domain information (either for a specific machine address or for the domain as a whole). Setting a lower value forces (or at least tries to force) the other machine caching your information to re-query your nameserver more frequently. You only want to set lower TTL values before moving the site or server, and then return them to their default values afterwards, or your DNS will become bogged down answering "where are you" queries all day long. The default TTL for a domain is 86400 seconds (one day). You can reduce this to 14000 (four hours) a week before you move the DNS and webserver, and then there will be minimal interruption in your service. In my experience there's a lot of "bad" proxies and cache servers that ignore TTL settings take that long to refresh their cache. > P.S. What is a BIND? BIND (Berkeley Internet Name Domain) is a methodology by which domains are defined. There is a BIND Server that's freely distributed but only runs on UNIX or NT in emulation, but QuickDNS is world's easier to configure. If you want to step backwards 10 years (or a millenium in internet-time) go to http://www.isc.org/products/BIND/ and start reading about it.

Messages In This Thread: Help! I''m a newbie... by Sean Stephens on May 2, 2001 at 8:46:35 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by andrew on May 2, 2001 at 9:36:18 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by andrew on May 2, 2001 at 9:42:54 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Sean Stephens on May 2, 2001 at 9:50:38 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by andrew on May 2, 2001 at 10:10:39 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Sean Stephens on May 2, 2001 at 11:29:50 am Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Global Homes Webmaster on May 2, 2001 at 12:59:42 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by andrew on May 2, 2001 at 1:17:13 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by andrew on May 2, 2001 at 1:31:03 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Sean Stephens on May 2, 2001 at 2:32:08 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Global Homes Webmaster on May 2, 2001 at 3:01:53 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Global Homes Webmaster on May 2, 2001 at 3:56:24 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by David M. Cole on May 2, 2001 at 4:42:15 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Global Homes Webmaster on May 2, 2001 at 4:52:15 pm Re: Help! I''m a newbie... by Men & Mice Support on May 2, 2001 at 5:08:10 pm