Once you buy a new domain name or move a existing domain to a new hosting service, the existing domain name servers have to be updated for the website to start loading the website from the new hosting.
You can either do it by updating the default name servers through the domain name providers control panel or you can create an A Name record that points towards the ip address of your hosting service provider.
If you are new to this, I would suggest you to go through the first method over the second. Once this is done, it will take some time ranging from a few minutes to hours for the changes to take effect, this period is commonly known as DNS propagation duration. During this period DNS service providers will update their records with the newly updated nameservers.
Since the name servers have to updated globally by different dns services and internet service providers, it usually takes around more than 4 to 5 hours these days for the domain name servers to be updated globally.
If you would like to view the DNS propagation status of your website, there are more than a dozen of web services that allow you to do so. While most of the provide the same services, what differs across these dns propagation checker web services, is the number of locations they check from.
5 Web Services to check DNS Propagation Status
Here is a list of some of the best web services to check the DNS propagation status of your website.
DNSChecker.org
Have you recently switched web hosting or started a new website, then you are in right place! DNS Checker provides free dns lookup service for checking domain name server records against a randomly selected list of DNS servers in different corners of the world. Do a quick look up for any domain name and check DNS data collected from all location for confirming that website is completely propagated or not worldwide.
Visit DNSChecker
DNSMap
Provides free dns lookup service for checking domain name server records against a randomly selected list of DNS servers in different corners of the world.
Visit DNSMap
WhatsMyDNS
whatsmydns.net lets you instantly perform a DNS lookup to check a domain names current IP address and DNS record information against multiple name servers located in different parts of the world. This allows you to check the current state of DNS propagation after having made changes to your domains records.
Visit WhatsMyDNS
NetExcess DNS Checker
Check what DNS servers around the world are reporting for results of DNS lookups. If you’ve just changed your nameservers and/or DNS records this tool will help track the propagation of these changes globally.
Visit NetExcess DNS Checker
DNSPropagation
DNSPropagation.net is a free online tool that helps you to instantly perform a DNS lookup against domain names current IP addresses. It will get your DNS record information against different and multiple name servers around the world. This name servers will show you the result of the dns propagation test.
Visit DNSPropagation
These were the few service that I found useful. If you would like to share some more, feel free to drop them in the comments below.
