You need to basically tell your domain name
to "point" to the
EdmontonHOST.com servers. This is
done by changing the DNS information for
that domain name.
You will need to access the site that you
purchased your domain name from and there
should be a member's section. This will
require a Username and Password [that you
received when you bought the domain name]
Then find the section that says something
like "Change or Update DNS info". You then
replace the information that is currently
there with the nameserver information that
came with your welcome email. You'll see 2
nameservers and 2 IP addresses.
By entering this information, you are
instructing that requests for your domain
name are directed to the
EdmontonHOST.com servers. It could
take up to 3 days for your domain to be
fully propagated and for your site to be
accessible via your domain name.
If you can't find a Member's section on the
site that you purchased the domain name
from, email their support staff and tell
them what you want to do etc.
By redelegating your DNS info for your
domain name, you are in effect hooking your
domain name up with the
EdmontonHOST.com servers and any
requests for your domain name will be routed
to the EdmontonHOST.com
servers.
To access your sites before the domain has
propagated, simply access via the server's
IP address and the ~username of the account.
So, that would be
http://serverIP/~username.
Details of your server's main IP are in your
welcome email.
A lot of support requests that we receive at
the
Helpdesk is about domain propagation
and clients not
being able to view their newly created
sites. This article will go about trying to
explain what is happening and why you can't
view your new site whereas someone else can
view your site.
You've just opened your
new account here and you've gone
along to your domain register and you've
updated the DNS info for that domain so that
it now points to your account on the
EdmontonHOST.com
server that you're
on. Your site will not become visible by the
domain name for probably 48 hours. Why is
this taking so long, you ask? Basically all
the ISPs around the net have to update their
DNS cache and this takes time.
Why does it take so long? There are various
reasons, but some studies have suggested
that there are literally millions of DNS
Servers that need to be notified of the new
information!
Propagation takes two forms, changes to your
DNS Zone and changes to your WHOIS
information. The WHOIS is the master record
that tells every DNS Server in the world
which is the authoritative server for your
domain. A change to your WHOIS information
(done my your domain registrar) can take up
to 72 hours to propagate fully. A change to
your DNS Zone information typically affects
only a handful of servers, and so is done
much more quickly.
You can also access the site via the
http://SERVERIP/~username.
Check the "SERVERIP" from your welcome
email.
A common question we get is that why can I
access the site but my client cannot access
the new site. The answer to this is that
your ISP has updated its DNS information and
the ISP of your client has not yet updated
their DNS info. Hence you are looking at the
new location of the domain name, whereas
your client will still be looking at the old
location.
Use this page to check the whois and other
nameserver checks for your domains -
http://www.verisign-grs.com/whois/.
Just because you can see the updated
information on this page, this doesn't mean
that your site is viewable at its new
location by everyone from around the net.
True domain propagation takes up to 72
hours, maybe even longer.
So, hang in there and ride out the domain
propagation waiting game.
Merriam-Webster defines propagation as:
the act or action of propagating : as a :
increase (as of a kind of organism) in
numbers b : the spreading of something (as a
belief) abroad or into new regions c :
enlargement or extension (as of a crack) in
a solid body
For our purposes, definition B is most
appropriate. Quite literally, propagation is
the time during which your DNS Zone
information is spread abroad to servers that
didn't know about it before.
Why does it take so long? There are various
reasons, but some studies have suggested
that there are literally millions of DNS
Servers that need to be notified of the new
information!
Propagation takes two forms, changes to your
DNS Zone and changes to your WHOIS
information. The WHOIS is the master record
that tells every DNS Server in the world
which is the authoritative server for your
domain. A change to your WHOIS information
(done my your domain registrar) can take up
to 72 hours to propagate fully. A change to
your DNS Zone information typically affects
only a handful of servers, and so is done
much more quickly.
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