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Post Domain Transfer - What are the risks associated with updating NameServers of a live website?

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Naina

I recently transferred a domain name from NameCheap to GoDaddy. When I tried to manage the DNS records on GoDaddy, GoDaddy showed me a message that my NameServers are not managed by them. The website associated with the domain name is live. What steps do I need to take to ensure the transfer of nameservers happens seamlessly, with no downtime and no impact on my SEO? Thanks.

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Patrick Mevzek avatar
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Patrick Mevzek
registrar and DNS provider are two different jobs, even if they can both be done by one entity, which has both advantages and disadvantages. Changing nameservers (hence DNS providers) happens through the registrar that forwards those changes to the registry that will publish `NS` records on their authoritative nameservers, but changing content of the zone (records in the zone) happens at the DNS provider. Both names you cite are both registrars and DNS providers so it can make things blurry.
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Bob

Changing registrars:

  1. The registrar is NOT hosting your DNS

    • That means that the domain is configured on name servers either managed by yourself or a third party.
      You need to ensure that the new registrar registers the domain with your existing name servers.
    • The transfer is then completely seamless.
      You can continue make changes in your DNS records as you always do.

  2. The registrar IS hosting your DNS
    Before the transfer:

    • For all DNS records that are present in the old registrars DNS, you will need to re-create/copy identical records in the DNS zone managed by the new registrar.
    • Find out how quickly after the domain transfer to the new registrar the old registrar will delete your DNS records.
      • If they do that immediately, it might be beneficial to increase the TTL of all DNS records at the old registrar (to attempt to ensure that any cached NS records for your domain expire well before cached resource records in your domain and to prevent people from getting DNS errors when querying the old registrars DNS servers based on cached NS records). That should increase stability and prevent "Host not found" errors.
      • If they keep the existing DNS records for some time, the usual recommendation when making changes in DNS, reducing the TTL of records (at the old provider) might improve speed of the transition to new registrars name servers.

    During/shortly after the transfer:

    • Do not schedule any changes in your DNS records and infrastructure.
      You may be not be able to or forget to make the required DNS in both the old registrars and the new registrars DNS management tool.
    • Monitor user/customer complaints about "host not found" errors, email not arriving etc. that indicate that you made errors in records when copying them.
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Patrick Mevzek avatar
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Patrick Mevzek
"You need to ensure that the new registrar registers the domain with your existing name servers." No, there is no need for this as a typical registrar transfer does not change nameservers at registry, so they are registered already at registry and nothing changes there.
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