News > Newsletters

The Perils of Moving a Web Site At least twice a year at DeckerWright, we get a panicked call from one of our New Jersey customers indicating that their e-mail has stopped working. In order to diagnosis the problem, we immediately begin investigating internet connectivity, the health of the Microsoft Exchange server, and other basic network functionality. Those investigations almost always indicate that everything is running normally. The next set of checks we do focuses on the customer’s external Domain Name Service (DNS). Very often, this is the root of their email problem.

What is DNS and why is it important? DNS is similar to the white pages of a phone book. A telephone directory matches a person’s name with a specific telephone number. DNS matches Internet Protocol (IP) addresses with specific names like www.deckerwright.com. Every DNS name has an authoritative name service that has the master records governing which IP address goes with what name. As the owner of a domain, you select the authoritative name service for your domain. DNS records identify every IP address associated with a specific name related to your domain (A records) and indicate the specific information where e-mail should be sent (MX records). There are other types of DNS records, but the “A” and “MX” records are the most commonly used.

Most customers surrender control of their DNS to their company hosting their website because they don’t understand DNS and how it works. Problems begin when the customer becomes dissatisfied with their current web hosting company and decides to move their web site to another service provider. All too often the new service provider doesn’t take the time, or perhaps doesn’t know, to check the current DNS records. The customer’s Marketing Department doesn’t think to notify DeckerWright Corporation (DWC) or the IT department of the impending web site move. Why would they? DWC or IT has nothing to do with the web site. Then the fateful day arrives when the new service provider changes the information about the company serving as the authoritative name service for the domain. Unfortunately, the new MX records created do not include the right records for e-mail, or the “A” records for virtual private networks and other key business functions. Normally within hours our phone begins to ring because the customer’s email system stops working.

Unfortunately there is no quick fix after the change in authoritative name service is discovered. Typically half a day has gone by before the customer contacts DWC, and before we begin to research the problem and identify the issue. Even if the new web hosting company immediately adds or corrects the DNS entries, it will take 24 hours for the changes to propagate over the Internet. In the meantime, inbound e-mail service remains disrupted until the changes take effect.

Recently, one of our customers in Freehold, New Jersey made this mistake. They had an Exchange Server which actively synced to the field force’s Blackberries across Monmouth County. The web hosting company that moved the DNS neglected to create an important “A” record used by the Blackberries and changed the “MX” records to point at a new e-mail server. Rather than contact DWC, the customer contacted the new ISP for support. By the time DWC was called in, there had been no inbound e-mail for two days and half of the Blackberries had been reprogrammed and were not functional. A week and 20 billable hours later, we had everything back to the way it was before the web hosting company made the changes.

Here are some tips on how to avoid these problems by managing your companies external DNS:

• Document where the company’s domain name is registered (eg., Network Solutions, Go Daddy, etc.).
  • Include the login, password and account number in that documentation.
  • Use an e-mail specifically tied to the business like admin@deckerwright.com, not an individual’s e-mail box for the registration
  • Note the expiration date of the domain. Domains do expire, and this can cause even worse problems
• Don’t give up control of DNS to the web hosting company. Use a third party DNS service like Network Solutions.
• Make certain that your company owns the domain name. Very often the web company that secured the domain has themselves listed as the owners making changes impossible without their consent.
• Always contact your IT consulting company (DeckerWright Corporation) prior to making any changes that may affect DNS to discuss the possible consequences and to identify the right approach that will achieve the desired business objective.
• Carefully plan any changes, making sure to contact all of the stakeholders about the pending changes.

By following these guidelines you can help your company avoid problems related to moving the DNS authoritative service provider. Contact Decker Wright Corporation for assistance with planning and implementing DNS changes – we can guide you so that you avoid these problems and the associated business interruptions.

 

About the Author:
Marshall Wright of DeckerWright Corporation has been providing New Jersey businesses with Technology Consulting Services including HARDWARE, SOFTWARE & NETWORKING solutions since 1984.

For more information please contact DeckerWright.