Webmaster forum - Questions About Domain Repointing

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Questions About Domain Repointing

jim evans

2006-06-08, 7:28 pm

Sorry if this has been asked many times but I couldn't find the right
search words in Google.

I have a clone of a website at a second host. Three days ago I
repointed a the domain name from the original web host to the one with
the clone. The domain went into limbo immediately and has never come
out. It gets a "Server not found" message from the browser.

Here's how I thought this process worked, if it's wrong please explain
how it really works.

When I repoint a domain from web host 1 to web host 2 the registrar
sends the change to some master record. The various IPs check this
master record periodically for the current address associated with
each domain name.

So, an IP's DNS server would continue to send their customers to the
host 1 until they get the update when they would start sending them to
host 2. Since there's an identical website at each of these locations
users should always see a normal website -- either copy 1 or copy 2.

If this is correct, I don't understand why the domain I repointed 3
days ago began to say "Server not found" immediately after the
repointing and has never reappeared.

Can someone enlighten me on this process?

-- jim

K A Nuttall

2006-06-08, 7:28 pm

jim evans wrote in article
<news:d9fg82t4jg1shst452ab0mf0rj89rn9hgc@4ax.com>:

> Can someone enlighten me on this process?

The new server's sysadmin needs to set a record on his web server
equating the old host name to the web space. They also need to provide
you with the IP of the web server, so that your domain registrar can
update the A Record for the 'www' subdomain.

So, if your site is www.blahblah.com, your new host must assign
www.blahblah.com to the site's web space, otherwise the web server
won't know which site to display.

Meanwhile, you need to check that a DNS lookup of the site actually
points to the correct web server.

Hope that helps.

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid

William Tasso

2006-06-08, 7:28 pm

Fleeing from the madness of the NewsGuy - Unlimited Usenet $19.95 jungle
jim evans <jimsTAKEOUTnews2@houston.rr.com> stumbled into
news:alt.www.webmaster
and said:

> Sorry if this has been asked many times but I couldn't find the right
> search words in Google.
>
> I have a clone of a website at a second host.

Please define what you mean by clone, in much greater detail.

> Three days ago I
> repointed a the domain name from the original web host to the one with
> the clone.

What exactly did you do? where did you do it?

> The domain went into limbo immediately and has never come
> out. It gets a "Server not found" message from the browser.

What is the domain?

> Here's how I thought this process worked, if it's wrong please explain
> how it really works.
>
> When I repoint a domain from web host 1 to web host 2 the registrar
> sends the change to some master record.

Registrar has precious little to do with this process.

--
William Tasso

http://williamtasso.com/words/what-is-usenet.asp

jim evans

2006-06-08, 7:28 pm

On Thu, 08 Jun 2006 17:19:08 +0100, "William Tasso"
<SpamBlocked@tbdata.com> wrote:

>Please define what you mean by clone, in much greater detail.

An exact copy of original website -- all of the original files
uploaded to the new host.

>
>What exactly did you do? where did you do it?

I changed the name server addresses from host 1 to host 2. I did this
at the domain registrar.

>Registrar has precious little to do with this process.

Then why is that where I go to change the pointing -- change the name
servers? In the past that's all I've had to do to change the domain
to a new webhost?

-- jim

jim evans

2006-06-08, 7:28 pm

On 08 Jun 2006 16:12:50 GMT, K A Nuttall
<keith@yammer.coedotyoukay.invalid> wrote:

>The new server's sysadmin needs to set a record on his web server
>equating the old host name to the web space.

That's been done.

>They also need to provide
>you with the IP of the web server, so that your domain registrar can
>update the A Record for the 'www' subdomain.

If you mean change the nameserver address from the old to the new
host, my registrar lets me do that myself and that's what I meant by
the phrase "I repointed the domain name from the original web host to
the new one"

>So, if your site is www.blahblah.com, your new host must assign
>www.blahblah.com to the site's web space, otherwise the web server
>won't know which site to display.

Isn't that what you meant above when you said:

>The new server's sysadmin needs to set a record on his web server
>equating the old host name to the web space.

>Meanwhile, you need to check that a DNS lookup of the site actually
>points to the correct web server.

How do I do that?

-- jim

jim evans

2006-06-11, 3:58 am

On Thu, 8 Jun 2006 23:00:20 +0100, Isaac Hunt
<info@3awebhosting.co.uk> wrote:

>
>I've probably missed this somewhere in one of your posts but have you
>informed the webhost the domain name, that you have pointed the nameservers
>for the domain to them and told them the account that it's to be directed
>to?

Yes, but haven't yet gotten a reply.

>For example, when someone hosts with me and they already have a domain name
>both the customer and myself need to do one thing each to get the domain to
>work. The customer needs to set the nameservers to point to one of my
>servers. I then have to log into that servers control panel, go to the
>account that the domain is to be pointed to and add the entry for that
>domain name.

In the case of my host I do both things.

-- jim

jim evans

2006-06-11, 3:58 am

I'd like to draw the discussion back to my original question.

When a domain is repointed (nameserver address changed) from host 1 to
host 2 don't the DNS servers of all Internet Providers continue to
point their users to host 1 until they get the update? Then from this
moment forward point to host 2, such that if there were identical
websites at host 1 and host 2 users would se no interruption in
service.

-- jim

Isaac Hunt

2006-06-11, 3:58 am

Hi
>
> When a domain is repointed (nameserver address changed) from host 1 to
> host 2 don't the DNS servers of all Internet Providers continue to
> point their users to host 1 until they get the update? Then from this

Yes. Until they update their DNS records they don't know about the change
so still point to the original destination

> moment forward point to host 2, such that if there were identical
> websites at host 1 and host 2 users would se no interruption in
> service.

Only if host 2 knows where it's supposed to point the domain to. From what
I've read it looks as if host 2 server hasn't got the message that it's
supposed to be hosting the domain. Contact them, email them, phone them,
play hell with them until it works.

--
Isaac Hunt
Possibly the most handsome man here?

K A Nuttall

2006-06-11, 3:58 am

jim evans wrote in article <news:pmog82tf755vkqru23fc9j6mp5fuisk9ph@
4ax.com>:

>
> How do I do that?

Do you know the IP of the new site? It's often the same IP as the ftp
upload server (but not always).

try pinging the ftp server, to see the displayed IP
then try pinging the new web site to see if it's the same

If they match, and the site does not display, then the new host has not
set-up the URL to load the appropriate directory on the web server.

The thing that confused me is the use of the word 'repoint', which I've
never heard before (except from a builder). AFAIK, it could mean one of
two things: (1) change the authoritative name servers for the domain at
the registrar; or (2) change only the www subdomain A-record.

If '1', the persons responsible for the new name servers must ensure
that the domain's records are correctly configured, as well as setting
up a domain-mapping (as described above).

--
K A Nuttall
www.yammer.co.uk
Re-type the e-mail address how it sounds, remove .invalid