Anycast DNS, a performance accelerator
Your website is always accessible in record time, across the entire globe.
The Anycast DNS service is a powerful solution that accelerates the standard functioning of Domain Name System (DNS) servers. It delivers quicker response times when visitors first query your webpages worldwide.
This solution is built on our DNS servers across the globe, and is offered as an option for each of your domain names with the best value for money.
The Anycast DNS will be offered as an option when you order your domain.
ANYCAST DNS
- Automatic, immediate deployment
- Low latency
- Improved availability
- Enabled via the OVHcloud Control Panel
Services included with your Anycast DNS
Automatic deployment/setup type
Host your solutions with OVHcloud to get access to the Anycast DNS option. Simply activate it via the OVHcloud Control Panel, and it will be set up automatically.
Immediate deployment on our servers
There are no delays caused by setup or provisioning — we activate your Anycast DNS service in an instant.
DNS propagation time: 48 hours maximum
When you modify your domain name’s DNS zone files, we aim for minimal propagation times.
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What is a DNS used for?
Your website is on a web server, identified by an IP address that corresponds to the domain linked to this website. To access your website’s data, your visitors must have its address. However, rather than memorising the IP address itself, they’ll remember your domain name. The purpose of a DNS server is to translate these domain names into IPv4 or IPv6 addresses. This is what is known as DNS resolution.
When the visitor types your domain name in their browser, a DNS query is sent to the server, which returns the website's IP address.
The browser then communicates with the server directly to return the page data.
Potential problems with standard DNS
Your DNS records are usually stored in a single location: i.e. the DNS server’s physical location.
High latency:
DNS resolution requires data to be sent back and forth — and if users are not geographically close to the DNS server’s location, this process can take much longer.
Unavailability:
If the DNS server becomes unavailable, the domain name cannot be converted to an IP address on your server. Your visitors can no longer access your website, and your SEO ranking will drop as a result.
How does the Anycast DNS solve these problems?
The Anycast DNS automatically duplicates your DNS records across the OVHcloud global network, in four points of presence around the world.
This means your DNS records are then present worldwide, as close as possible to potential visitors.
The Anycast IP then redirects them to the secondary DNS server that is physically closest to them. The redirection depends on its geographical proximity to the request, and is carried out automatically. Whether your customer is based in the UK or Japan, they will have their DNS request resolved in minimal time. Their request would also be redirected to the nearest secondary server, if the DNS server became unavailable.
This ensures that your visitors have optimal access to your website.
What benefits does it offer?
- Lightning-speed loading times for your webpages, to deliver the ultimate browsing experience for your users. Your bounce rate (users leaving your website after visiting the first page) will also be reduced.
- Stay accessible at the same speed anywhere in the world, with our DNS servers spread across multiple countries.
- Improve your natural SEO ranking*.
- By choosing OVHcloud to configure your Anycast DNS, you get simple, automatic setup.
*If two websites have equal-quality content, search engines will give a higher ranking to whichever website has better performance.
Your questions answered:
How long does DNS propagation take?
The maximum propagation time for any modifications to your website files is 48 hours.
What factors can increase my DNS propagation time?
Several elements can affect DNS propagation time.
Firstly, your TTL (time-to-live) configuration can affect it. This is the time during which a server caches your DNS records. For example, if you have configured each type of DNS record in your domain name’s DNS zone file with a TTL duration of 1 hour, they will be cached during this period. Longer durations can result in an overload of requests to the server, increasing the time period as a result.
The propagation time may also depend on your Internet Service Provider (ISP). Every ISP has a different local storage policy. They can speed up browsing — but this also means they can increase your DNS propagation time.
What is the difference between the Anycast DNS service and the CDN?
The Anycast DNS service only works when a user first accesses your website. It redirects the user to the nearest DNS. The CDN works as a cache for your website content, distributed across OVHcloud access points worldwide. When a user wants to access your website, the closest CDN will serve their request — so its role is to reduce transfer times.
Can I use an Anycast DNS and a CDN together? What benefits would this offer?
Both services are complementary, and can be combined. You can use them to reduce latency when users access your website — and they will get minimal latency every time they visit. The display time will be reduced for all of the content on your website.
How is a DNS server organised?
A DNS server has a hierarchical structure with a root. On the same domain, you can attach several sub-domains and delegations (data records in the sub-domain’s parent zone) to other servers. There are a number of ramifications to these actions. If the sub-domains are not delegated, they create DNS zones. These are sets of domains and sub-domains grouped on the same server. The most commonly used DNS server type on the internet is the BIND server.
The domain names located directly under the root directory are the primary domains, also called ‘top-level domains’ (TLDs). The extensions are distributed as follows:
- generic top-level domains (gTLDs), e.g. .com or .org
- country code top-level domains (ccTLDs), e.g. .uk or .fr
- secondary level domain names
For further information on this topic, please refer to our guide on managing your DNS zone