If I'm going to make a DNS change to an A record for my domain (changing from one IP to another), how long can I expect until people are moved over to the new info? Is it simply <= the TTL? I know it used to take a while, but in 2009 how long should I expect?
How Long Will A DNS Change Take
configurationdomain-name-systemhosting
Best Answer
Theoretically everyone should see the updated A record somewhere between instantly and the relevant TTL value. Most registrars set the TTL to 24 hours IIRC, so for 24 hours some people will see the old address and some will see the new one and by 24 hours after the change everyone should have the new address, with some instead using a lower value like 4 hours.
If you have access to change the TTL values (i.e. you run you own DNS servers) then you can reduce the TTLs down to something small a day or so before you make your change so the propogation period is much lower.
I say "theoretically" above as there will always be some bugs, glitches, and badly configured caches out there that will mean some users will not see the change for longer. This is especially true if you use very small TTLs as there are still some ISPs out there with DNS caches that ignore TTLs below a given value.
Another thing to look out for is delays between your registrar's DNS control panel and their DNS servers. For instance I noticed that changes made to domains managed by 123-reg.co.uk can take up to an hour to appear on their DNS servers, which is an extra hour on top of the TTL value that you'll have to account for.