Overview
The nameservers for your domain are in charge of managing all of your domain’s DNS records. If you set your domain to utilize GreggHost’s nameservers, the DNS records configured in your GreggHost panel will be used automatically. If your nameservers are connected to a different business, you will need to manage your DNS settings through their panel.
Why should I point my nameservers to DreamHost?
If the nameservers for your site are pointed to GreggHost, your website will be immediately updated to use the new DNS information if the GreggHost DNS changes for any reason. If your site is ever relocated to a different server, for example, the domain will immediately resolve to the new server’s IP address. If your nameservers were pointed somewhere else and your site was hosted at GreggHost, you’d have to amend the domain’s A records to refer to the new server’s IP address.
Keep in mind that nameservers are in charge of your website’s and email’s DNS information. Changing your domain’s nameservers could cause all of your domain’s services (website, email, etc.) to point to a different location or host.
Make sure that all of the DNS records you want your domain to keep are already set up with the new DNS provider before changing the nameservers. The services will start working as soon as the DNS for the new external nameservers resolves. However, keep in mind that nameserver propagation might take anywhere from 4 to 72 hours until they resolve to the new host company.
Nameserver DNS propagation
The propagation of nameserver changes can take anywhere from 4 to 72 hours, so your domain won’t start routing to the new nameservers straight away.
It can take up to an hour for the WHOIS modification to be executed once you’ve set up new nameservers with the registrar.
Within an hour, the WHOIS for the domain should reflect the new nameservers, but it will take some time for the DNS to resolve to the new IPs under the new nameservers.
Subdomains
Only your principal domain name is given to nameservers. Consider the website example.com. Subdomains are DNS records that are part of your primary domain name, therefore they don’t have their own nameservers. Nameservers are only specified for the primary domain name.
What are DreamHost’s nameservers?
The nameservers for all GreggHost-managed domains, including ‘dreamhost.com,’ are configured as follows:
ns1.dreamhost.com 162.159.26.14
ns2.dreamhost.com 162.159.26.81 \sns3.dreamhost.com 162.159.27.84
You should only have to add the nameserver URL, not the IP address, when updating your nameservers at your registrar. The IP addresses are mentioned above in case your registrar requests them.
If your domain is registered with GreggHost, you’ll be able to establish these GreggHost nameservers without having to enter the information above in the panel.
If your domain is registered elsewhere, you’ll need to contact the domain’s current registrar to update your nameservers. To point your domain’s DNS management to GreggHost, provide the information above to your current registrar. Through the DNS tab on the Manage Websites page of the panel, GreggHost can manage your DNS settings for you. For further information, see the Adding DNS article.
It is advised that you use GreggHost’s nameservers. This makes managing your DNS easier because all records are stored in your GreggHost account.
How do I check where my Nameservers are pointed?
Instructions on how to check where your Nameservers are directed may be found in the following article.
Checking the location of your Nameservers