You create a website and find a host for it. You then enter in your URL into your favorite web browser (Mozilla Firefox in my case), but you don’t see your website? You don’t see results right away because your DNS first must propagate. DNS Propagation is pointing your domain name to the appropriate DNS - name server. When you access a website, the browser first checks with your domain registrar. Then the registrar, such as Godaddy and NameCheap, will point the browser to your name servers and will proceed to load your website via your host.

Some computers can Flush DNS right away while others may take a while. You can manually flush your DNS and tell your computer to look for the new nameservers. For instructions on how to flush DNS, check out WhatsMyDNS.net. WhatsMyDNS outlines step-by-step how to do a DNS Flush for Windows 98/NT/2000/XP, Windows Vista, Windows 7, Mac OS C and Linux. WhatsMyDNS.net is also a Global DNS Propagation Checker.

WhatsMYDNS checks your DNS via many locations around the United States and the world. Just a few of the locations includes New York, NY, USA; Portland, OR, USA; Hong Kong, China;; Auckland, New Zealand; and Sydney, Australia. The online service allows you to perform DNS lookups. Each of the locations is also associated with a different online service operator. For example, one of the locations in the United States is through Verizon while the Sydney location is through their own local service, Exetel. You can also do a IP lookup via WhatsMyDNS.