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Yesterday was a tough day for many customers with Register.com and Network Solutions. We received many calls, emails and pleas for help as their customers were offline, seemingly due to a massive DNS issue from our investigations. Both register.com and network solutions are owned by newly created Newfold Digital. Newfold Digital is a new name but has many recognizable brands in the “fold” – namely Register.com, Web.com, Network Solutions.com, Endurance International (hostgator, bluehost, domain.com)

Our techs and sales team fielded many inquiries on moving DNS, how to move DNS away from Register.com and Network Solutions and get them back online. We helped as many register.com and netsol customers move/migrate their DNS to our Anycast DNS platform, but many were left out in the cold and were confused on what the issue actually was. This was due to the vague message repeated over and over by both Network Solutions and Register.com on their Twitter accounts. It was pretty clear their DNS was not responding properly but that wasn’t made clear so many customers were simply in the dark as to the issue and waited it out

The big issue is keeping DNS for any business domain at your registrar (where you ordered and renew your domain name registration). Why is this so bad you ask?

Well, this is a fairly simple reason but there are many finer points that I’ll touch on below, but the main reason is this – they are Domain name providers first and foremost – they sell domains and their DNS comes with the domain name. Most domain providers offer a very basic DNS, no real DNS features are available and most definitely DNS support will be lacking at best. They aren’t a DNS provider selling domains, so this means lesser investment in DNS vs. a true Managed DNS provider such as ourselves – CloudFloorDNS. CloudFloorDNS provides DNS as our primary service, offering a Service Level Agreement that says we will be up and operating at a certain performance level. We know how important DNS is to your domain, it’s literally the foundation of anything online you do with your domain, so downtime and no SLA offered is absolutely unacceptable. DOWNTIME IS A BUSINESS ISSUE! Anything other than 100% uptime SLA is simply unacceptable in today’s DNS market, and anything with NO SLA, you should run and run fast.

Here are just some of the advantages to moving to a true Managed DNS provider such as CloudFloorDNS:

1. You’ll get a focus on your DNS and much increased DNS speed, performance
   Faster DNS means faster website, faster VPN, faster everything.
2. You get Anycast DNS Reliability, backed by a 100% Uptime SLA
   Anycast DNS technology coupled with a large global network means reliability for you
3. Access to lower TLL settings, Faster updates in DNS
   TTL or DNS cache settings are key for DNS changes. Lower TTL is better for records that need to be changed often
4. Expert DNS Support – Folks that understand and know DNS
   Have a question or problem? Our DNS experts are here to help on Phone or email
5. Exporting and Importing DNS Zones for backup and easier migration
   Easily import or export any DNS zonefile for moving or on-boarding, or for backup
6. Ability to Import DNS via txt or zone transfers
   AXFR import means an easy move from one provider to CloudFloorDNS
7. Access to Secondary DNS features for a backup DNS
   Secondary DNS helps spread the risk to another secondary or tertiary provider
8. Access to DNS Load Balancing
   Want to add another server to balance the load? Turn on Round-Robin Load Balancing for free
9. Access to a DNS & DOMAIN API
   Use the API to easily integrate DNS and Domain functions into your platform or service
10. Access to DNS Failover, ISP and Datacenter Failover
    Easily upgrade your account to add Server Monitoring and DNS Failover
11. Access to GEO DNS, Traffic Director options
    Easily upgrade your account to add GEO DNS Traffic Management
12. Access to Enterprise level 24/7/365 phone and email support with dedicated engineer
    Our Premium Support offerings give you the best possible support for your operations
13. Access to DNS Professional Services – get consulting help from our DNS infrastructure engineers
    Need help with your infrastructure and DNS beyond the scope of our support? We can help!
14. Stats on all aspects of DNS such as Popular hosts, record type, geographic distribution and more
    Get insight on your DNS zones and how they are being queried with our detailed stats
15. DNS change notifications – any DNS updates are logged and you get notified
    Help prevent unauthorized changes by getting an email notification anytime your DNS is changed
16. and many more benefits….

DNS is a critical technology that plays a huge part in your online business being up and available to your customers and prospective customers. Don’t take your DNS for granted and leave it at your registrar, investigate your options, look at Managed DNS providers and make room for this in your budget. Our starter Anycast DNS plan for a single domain comes in at only $8 a month, and at only $50 a month you can get our Bronze Anycast DNS plan (includes Failover). Either of these options are a very small price to pay for the uptime insurance that they provide.

Interested? Learn more about our DNS Failover and BRONZE Anycast DNS plan to easily get started with a more robust, business-focused DNS for your online endeavors