Nameserver lifecycle

For each nameserver you create, DNScaster provisions a separate nameserver instance with its own IPv4 and IPv6 addresses.

Typically it takes just a few minutes for a new nameserver to be built, synced, and ready for DNS queries.

DNScaster nameservers are fully managed. Changes to your domains are typically synced to your entire fleet of nameservers within 1-2 seconds.

We also take care of all ongoing system updates and maintenance. Most updates are performed super quick and designed to be as transparent as possible. On the occasion a more significant update is required, we will spin up a new, already-updated instance, seamlessly migrate traffic over, and then deprovision the old instance. In this way, we avoid any kind of degradation of your DNS services.

To facilitate these occasional soft replacements, all DNScaster plans include 3 hours per full-time nameserver per month of extra runtime hours. With the default nameserver TTLs, this is more than enough to accommodate normal maintenance.

Nameservers are also monitored continually. In the event a nameserver stops responding properly, our system will automatically detect this scenario and build a replacement instance.

The DNS system at large is already a redundant system (provided you have at least 2 nameservers, of course—we recommend at least 3). Even in the event of a nameserver outage, DNS queries should just be a bit slow as clients detect the offline nameserver and then requery another nameserver. Nevertheless, our goal is to avoid unscheduled outages of even a single nameserver, ensuring your users reach your sites and services as quickly as possible.