-1

I don't think I explained the question clearly enough. I have domains that I registered with goadaddy and my dns is hosted elsewhere. I have 2 different hosts which house my dns records.

One of my domains has host records ns1, ns2 .domainname. These are created on toady to point to my dns servers.

Another domain simply points the name servers to rackspace.

I just want to make sure when I switch domain registers that all these records stay in tact.

Chris Muench
  • 487
  • 3
  • 10
  • 31
  • Does this answer your question? [Does transferring a domain transfers DNS records?](https://serverfault.com/questions/226014/does-transferring-a-domain-transfers-dns-records) – mwfearnley Jul 06 '23 at 12:20

3 Answers3

3

When I move to another register, will my host records AND name servers stay the same?

If you leave them at the same. If you are the typical non-profesional end user level setup then likely the DNS is part of a package the registrar provides you with and they normally do that only for domains they have - then no, it is time to reenter them.

If you run a professional setup (or: larger setup) where the DNS is separate from the registrar, then the name servers are only changed if you do that (which is a separate operation).

TomTom
  • 51,649
  • 7
  • 54
  • 136
  • I host with rackspace and knownhost. For one my domains I have host records for nameservers (ns1, ns2.*). I am just wanting to make sure that all of that info will transfer over. Do you see any issue with this? – Chris Muench Jan 29 '14 at 22:48
  • @ChrisMuench HOw can I give en that I use neither of them? I keep my DNS servers separate from my registrar. – TomTom Jan 30 '14 at 06:38
  • I don't understand your last comment. All I am trying to verify that my domains will transfer easily without issues. – Chris Muench Jan 30 '14 at 16:51
  • @ChrisMuench I think you [should read about DNS fundamentals](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Domain_Name_System). You're not giving us the info we need to answer your question and you don't seem to understand why TomTom couldn't give you a yes or no answer. – MDMarra Feb 02 '14 at 03:30
3

TomTom has answered this already, but I'll try again and maybe you'll understand from a different point of view.

  1. If you host your own DNS servers, then your registrar doesn't matter much outside of glue records that they'll register on your behalf. This means you have configured ns1 and ns2 as authoritative for your zone and registered glue records with them. If you don't know what this means: see #2.

  2. If your registrar hosts DNS for you (which is common for small businesses or personal websites) then you will likely not keep the same DNS records during the transfer - you'll have to check with your host and see if they support zone exports or transfers to your new registrar who will host DNS for you.

If you have to ask this question, you likely fall into bucket #2, but you haven't told us if you self-host your authoritative DNS servers yourself, or if your registrar hosts it for you.

This can be confusing, because people inexperienced with DNS assume that domain registration and DNS hosting are one in the same, when in fact, DNS hosting is usually a complimentary or cheap service offered by registrars. There's no requirement that the two be bundled.

MDMarra
  • 100,734
  • 32
  • 197
  • 329
  • As the question states my dns is pointed to rackspace. My domain register is godaddy. I am pretty sure when I transfer my domain will continue to point to rackspace for DNS. I have another domain that as host records which are used as name servers. I just want to make sure all of this stays in tact before I move. I am assuming they will as I only with goadaddy for domain registration. – Chris Muench Feb 02 '14 at 03:41
  • Please see updated question for more details – Chris Muench Feb 02 '14 at 03:45
  • @Chris then if all your old registrar did for you DNS-wise is register glue, then, that's all you need your new registrar to do. – MDMarra Feb 02 '14 at 03:50
3

Your nameservers are unlikely to change unless your registrar is exceptionally stupid, but you will probably lose your glue records and have to set these up again with the new registrar. Do this immediately after the transfer, or while the transfer is still in progress, if possible. There's not likely to be any immediate impact, since the root nameservers generally cache glue records for quite a while, but it's still not something you should delay.

Of course, a good registrar will regenerate the glue records for you automatically, but since you haven't said who your registrar is, it's impossible to comment further on this.

Michael Hampton
  • 244,070
  • 43
  • 506
  • 972
  • My new registar will be namecheap – Chris Muench Feb 02 '14 at 03:49
  • You can find or change the glue records under ["Nameserver Registration"](https://www.namecheap.com/support/knowledgebase/article/Nameserverregistration-Help) when viewing a single domain in Namecheap's web interface. – Michael Hampton Feb 02 '14 at 03:51