Domain Record Propagation

This page is part of the WebCom Domain Name Service online documentation, and explains the delay between the time a new domain/domain change is enacted, and when that new domain/change is reflected on the entire Internet.

The servers at the InterNIC contain the master index of which domains point to which servers on the Internet. When a new domain is activated, the name along with the numerical IP address of the system to which the name points are added to this index.

Your local ISP also retains a copy of this master index, so that when you are dialed into your ISP and you point your browser to, say, webcom.com/~webcom, the name index on your ISP's system translates that into the numerical address of our system. The indexes on these local systems around the world are not updated daily, but only periodically, to conserve bandwidth. A new domain, therefore, will not be accessible in most areas immediately after it has been approved by the InterNIC. It can usually take up to a week for a domain record change to propagate to 99% of name indexes across the Internet.

In the case where a domain is moved from another service provider to WebCom, the same propagation delay occurs. As name indexes are updated with the new physical location of the domain, requests for www.your-domain.com will gradually start coming to your WebCom site instead of your old site. Thus, if you create a mirror of your old site within your WebCom account, then the transition will be transparent to those visiting the site.

If more than a week has passed since your received notice that your domain was registered, but it is still not functioning properly, you will have to contact your ISP and ask that they update their DNS servers.