DNS Propagation Oddness

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Geektastic

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#132358 19-Oct-2013 09:39

Ok so my new website is live and hosted on Bluehost.

Everyone I have asked in Wellington and the USA sees the new site not the old one which was on same domain, different server etc.

Except..me!

Using VF internet with Open DNS I get the old site on both desktop and iPhone. Have cleared browser cache etc but no difference.

If I turn off the wifi, I get new site on iPhone over 3G. This suggests to me that it is an issue with Open DNS but not sure why.

Any web genius types have any ideas?

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BDFL - Memuneh
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Geekzone

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#917299 19-Oct-2013 09:56

They probably are not respecting the TTL set for your site. Or perhaps the existing TTL has not expired yet.

DNS does not "propagate". DNS servers receive records from the NS and one of the attributes is the TTL. At the end of the TTL these DNS servers should request the records again. Either they are not respecting TTL or the existing TTL you have are very long and the time has not passed yet.

danfaulknor

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#917300 19-Oct-2013 09:58

I did a big server migration recently, set the TTL to 5 minutes but neither OpenDNS nor TelstraClear's own DNS followed it, and the records didn't clear from their cache for a couple of days :(

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freitasm

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#917302 19-Oct-2013 10:00

Yep, some servers are badly configured, run old software that's buggy, etc. Not much you can do unless you contact each server's owner directly and ask for a cache clear. But one can't do it for every single DNS server around the world...

RunningMan

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#917304 19-Oct-2013 10:23

If you have a TTL of 7 days for example, then you should drop it down to 5 mins or so at least 7 days prior to to doing the work, otherwise there will still be servers that have cached the old details at the time you change over.

I'd wait until a duration of time has passed that was equal to your old TTL for DNS caches to clear, then start looking for a problem.

Geektastic

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#917585 19-Oct-2013 23:24

TTL is 4 hours. New site has now been 'live' for 48 hours and...

The site still shows as the old one on my iphone and iMac except on 3G!

I queried Open DNS and it shows correct server address.

freitasm

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#917586 19-Oct-2013 23:38

Are you sure you don't have the domain in your hosts file?

Geektastic

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#917587 19-Oct-2013 23:40

freitasm: Are you sure you don't have the domain in your hosts file?

To be honest I'm not even sure what that means, much less whether I have it...!

However fortunately my web genius and designer in Wellington knows I expect so I will ask her!

She says that everyone she asks in NZ and the USA apart from me can see the new site.

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richms

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#917595 19-Oct-2013 23:57

Have seen this with several people recently. insanely long TTL's before a change and some servers seem to apply a multiplier to it internally, so a 120 min one can become half a day etc.

Really wish there was a way to put an expiry time in and have the server ramp the TTL down as it approaches, but for a site like works one overloading a DNS server isnt going to happen in any case ;)

Richard rich.ms

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#917596 19-Oct-2013 23:59

richms: Have seen this with several people recently. insanely long TTL's before a change and some servers seem to apply a multiplier to it internally, so a 120 min one can become half a day etc.

Really wish there was a way to put an expiry time in and have the server ramp the TTL down as it approaches, but for a site like works one overloading a DNS server isnt going to happen in any case ;)

Good to know I am not alone.

Heck of a multiplier to go to over 48 hours from 4 though!!

mattwnz

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#917597 20-Oct-2013 00:02

Have you contacted your host? They may ask you do to a traceroute. But they should be able to help in this situation, as it is probably a FAQ. Some ISPs do cache international content, and sometimes they can have problems with the cache farm not updating, as I have had this problems before with a USA hosted website. So as you are using an overseas web host, I would also contact the ISP to see what they can see.

I suspect though it could be the fact that you are using opendns and it's settings, or something with your hosts file. eg try using a different device. Try not using opendns, and see if it makes any difference.

richms

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#917598 20-Oct-2013 00:03

What is the old site? an actual site or just a placeholder parking page that was provided by a previous host?

And you are accessing the site by typing the URL yourself, not reloading or using a bookmark from a previous session?

Richard rich.ms

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#917606 20-Oct-2013 00:32

freitasm: Are you sure you don't have the domain in your hosts file?

127.0.0.1 localhost

255.255.255.255 broadcasthost

::1 localhost

fe80::1%lo0 localhost

(that probably means a whole lot more to you than me!!)

Geektastic

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#917607 20-Oct-2013 00:35

richms: What is the old site? an actual site or just a placeholder parking page that was provided by a previous host?

And you are accessing the site by typing the URL yourself, not reloading or using a bookmark from a previous session?

old site was my website, up and running 18 months.

Yes, have cleared cache, typed it myself, searched on Google and every other way I can think of to come at the address from a different direction, as it were.

richms

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#917608 20-Oct-2013 00:39

Was the old page static or dynamic? It may have been served with a stupidly long expiry which is sitting on vodafones cache they plague their fixed line connections with, try appending a ?something to the end of the URL and see if you get the new page.

Richard rich.ms

RunningMan

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#917626 20-Oct-2013 08:48

Geektastic:
freitasm: Are you sure you don't have the domain in your hosts file?

127.0.0.1 localhost 255.255.255.255 broadcasthost ::1 localhost fe80::1%lo0 localhost

(that probably means a whole lot more to you than me!!)

It isn't in your hosts file then!

In basic terms the hosts file is like a local DNS table - you can overide the result you would get from querying a DNS server by making an entry in the hosts file - there are several reasons why you would do this.

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