Network Solutions DNS server TTD settings

I don't see anything on their DNS Manager control panel

[Robert Charlton]

Anyone have any experience with the TTD settings on DNS hosting at NetWork Solutions?

I'm about to move a domain whose DNS is hosted by them and want to speed up propagation time by reducing the setting before moving. I don't see anything on their DNS Manager control panel to accomplish this.

I'm thinking that maybe it's something only they have access to. Has anyone gone through this with them? What's involved?

[vkaryl]

I haven't used Network Solutions since it became possible to buy DNS hosting for way less elsewhere, so I don't have any real knowledge of the TTD settings problem (been maybe 3-4 years....)

What I DO remember about NS was how complicated practically ANYTHING YOU WANTED TO DO actually was. Especially compared to other venues.

[Robert Charlton]

First off, I should have said TTL (Time To Live), not TTD (Time To Die). Half full or half empty.

If a mod wants to change the title, I'd be grateful.

I had a good talk with a Network Solutions tech about their DNS propogation. There's no such setting that he knows of at NS. They update your settings to their servers roughly every 15 minutes, and then "broadcast" to the web I believe twice a day, I think at noon and midnight. Something to check if you want to time it optimally.

What came clear is that a large company like NS couldn't possibly broadcast more often. They're dealing with a huge volume of domains. My guess is that people who are talking about changing TTL settings must be talking about small registrars, not large ones.

Otherwise, I'm not sure what they are talking about.

[MarkHutch]

Robert. TTL is set by the domain, hosting company or ISP. ICANN states that no ISP should set the TTL longer than the hosting company or domain name owner says, but that is not followed very well. There is a thing called minimum TTL which is available on all DNS servers. That can be set up to 10 days, which I've found many cable and DSL providers use. In other words, if you set a TTL on your server to 5 hours, if an ISP sets their DNS server to only check every 10 days, then that's what their customers will see. An update every 10 days. This is mainly done on very busy ISP's and it's done because of resources. However, DNS lookups are so small compared to anything else. I have yet to see why they do this. Search engines, like Google, will set the TTL for up to a month. ( my experience ) This can be disastrous to folks that move their domain from one host to another. My advice is if you're moving a domain, don't cut the old one off for at least 30 days after the new host is up and running and you should be fine.

P.S. Even though there are many registration companies out there, I believe, they still have to submit their information to Network Solutions to get their DNS data posted on the net. At least they do in North America.

[vkaryl]

Interesting. The last domain I registered (about a month ago) was live within 2 hours. On a Sunday. In the US. At its "real" [example.com...] addy, not just the IP one some hosts give you to use.

[Robert Charlton]

MarkHutch - Thanks, but I'm still not clear on where you change the TTL setting. Network Solutions tech support, which is very good, has explained, per above, their updating pattern. So, if your DNS is hosted there, there's no place to reduce the TTL, but they do refresh their settings every 15 minutes or so and then "broadcast" twice a day.

What I'm not understanding is how this relates to "TTL." Might it be that if your DNS is hosted elsewhere, the DNS TTL tells Network Solutions how often to check you? I'm not sure how the system works, so I'm speculating.

Incidentally, I'd use great caution about going into the Advanced sections of the Network Solutions control panel. If your DNS is hosted elsewhere, just going in and looking will automatically change some default settings.