The ``Backbone'' is the main trunk lines that carry Internet traffic across the country, and around the world. Each backbone machine has a copy of a master set of tables, which direct traffic for a particular network to a specific backbone carrier, and from there down the chain of service providers until it reaches your network. This process can take up to 48 hours to be completed.

Steps in Moving a Domain

1. You sign up with a new host.

2. You point your domain's DNS, via your domain registrar, from your old host to your new host. This usually takes 24-48 hours but can take longer depending on your Registrar.

3. The new host sends you a Welcome mail with all your account details, including how and when you can upload files and access your site. Some hosts provide you a temporary address to both upload to and view your site. Others do not.

4. If your host allows you to upload and view your site via a temporary address, you upload your files, view your site and check your site's functioning via the temporary address. And you wait for the new DNS to fully propagate so others will be able to access your site via your domain name. If your new host does not provide a temporary address to upload and view your site, unfortunately you will have to wait for the domain's new DNS to fully propagate before you can proceed with uploading, etc.

5. Your new DNS begins propagating across the Internet. That generally happens fairly quickly (within the 24-48 hours period subsequent to updating your DNS via your Registrar). But it can take much longer, depending on the circumstances causing the delay. I'll get into that further on.)

6. Finally, your new DNS fully propagates and then everyone connected to the Internet can see your site at it's new DNS.

What does propagate mean?

It means that the new DNS has been communicated to each of the backbones of the Internet and that each backbone has in turn re-mapped its routes to the domain's new DNS location. (DNS = domain name server.) This DNS information does not travel to each of the Internet backbones in a straight line. It travels much like the mapped routes for any given address within the streets, avenues and boulevards included in a map of a country - in a multitude of directions and connecting paths to its states, counties, cities, communities, etc.

Each backbone has to re-map the new DNS and pass it along the routes to be taken through it to the new DNS. This routing information is necessary in order for anyone's computer connected to the Internet to traverse the Internet to a particular domain's site. (Said computers are generally connected to the Internet via an ISP which is another whole topic and has impact on what particular backbone and route your computer will take to a particular Internet location. But I won't get into that aspect of the Internet for now, and not at all if it remains unnecessary to the purpose of this particular article.)

Each backbone must pass the new DNS information to all the other backbones to which it is connected, in order that the connecting backbones can update their mapping and they, in turn, must pass along the new DNS to the backbones connected to them. This process continues until each and every backbone in the Internet has received the new DNS and has re-mapped the route to the domain's new DNS.

Here's an analogy that might help:

Imagine that the Internet, much like a human body, is all connected together by a huge central nervous system. The system transmits signals along its length (backbone and all related connections thereto), through various routes along the way.

The backbone connections in turn take the signal and push it along to sequential connecting points, similar to how a sensation of pain or pleasure travels between the brain and the origination point of the sensation, perhaps the full length of the body all the way to its toes, should you stub a toe.

Within each backbone are various domain hosts. The backbone contains the mapping to those hosts. Without the mapping done by each backbone, no one could travel along Internet routes or view a particular site. In our analogy, if there's a break in the central nervous system, or an impaired area of the central nervous system of the body, it can slow down or even stop the transmission of the signal to the appropriate area of the body.

The actual time it takes a backbone to update a domain's map location (DNS) depends on various factors, such as where along the central nervous system (route) a backbone is located, as well as whether another prior connecting backbone along the route is functioning properly and is able to timely send along the new mapping to this backbone. (Sometimes backbones go down and there's a major outage which affects a multitude of hosts, ISP's, and millions of sites.) The actual time it takes to propagate is impacted by how long it is before each backbone receives the new DNS mapping from the prior connecting backbone. Other factors which impact the process are: which week day and time - and its relational traffic patterns, overall Internet traffic, and the actual response time of the backbone itself to update/re-map. This isn't an all-inclusive list of variables impacting propagation. There are other factors. But you get the general idea.)

How long it takes for a site's new DNS location to propagate across the Internet such that you are able to see a particular site depends on all the above factors and more. Considering the sheer magnitude of the Internet's overall size and the relational requirements involved, it's rather miraculous that it works at all, let alone as rapidly as it normally does.

Understanding the basic make-up of the Internet

Everyone connects to the Internet via a communication device (and related software). Generally this requires a computer with a modem, cable connection, or other form of connection (such as satellite) to the Internet via an ISP.

Each ISP provides the transportation of a connection from its location to another Internet location.

Internet locations are made up of the following:

The Internet which enables one to traverse to various locations within it.
Let's think of the Internet as a country such as the United States.

Backbones (servers) within the Internet route/transport Internet travelers through them and on to various server locations within the Internet.
Much like do the roads, streets, avenues, rural routes, etc. of a country to the various states/provinces within a country.

Located within the backbones (servers) are various hosting communities.
Think of hosting communities as the states contained along the roadways within a country.

Hosting communities (servers) within each of the backbones generally connect a multitude of smaller hosting companies.
Like the relationship between a state and all its counties and provinces. For example, the State of Texas is made up of counties such as Dallas County, Harris County, etc.

Smaller hosting companies in turn host domains, which in turn may host even smaller domains (subdomains).
For example, in the State of Texas, there's Dallas County, Denton County, and Harris County, to name a few. Within these counties are various metropolitan areas, such as Austin, Dallas, Houston, San Antonio. Within each metropolitan area are numerous communities, for example in the Dallas metropolitan area are the cities of Fort Worth, Dallas, Addison, Plano, to name a few.

The servers which host domains represent a map point on the Internet. The mapping to a domain involves both a primary and secondary DNS (domain name server). The primary and secondary DNS consists of the main route and a back-up route to a domain.
Think of routing to a location on a map. Include an alternate route in case the main connecting highway's traffic is very heavy or even shut down.

Register your domain today!  Fast & Simple $15 domain registration

- Serena M. Giddens
http://www.serena1.com