Occasionally, there are situations that require our Systems team to change the IP address of the server. This may happen due to a security issue or other network requirement. When this change occurs you will only need to take action if you are using a third-party DNS or if your email client uses an IP address instead of the domain name for its server settings. The following article goes over basic terminology, how to identify if you are using a third party DNS, and a brief discussion on DNS propagation.
Basic information to know when dealing with IP changes
What is an IP address?
IP is short for Internet Protocol. An IP address is a numerical address used to identify your server/computer on the network. The IP address is important because it identifies where data needs to be obtained or sent when you're looking at a website or sending an email. Here's an example on IP address: 192.0.0.1
What is the DNS?
DNS stands for Domain Name System. It can also be called the Domain Name Service or Domain Name Server. Basically, it is a service that translates domain names into IP addresses. On Web Hosting Hub servers, the DNS settings that may be affected by an IP change are the A records. For further information on changing DNS records, please see How do I make custom DNS records?
What is a name server?
A name server is a server that basically identifies where a domain name is being hosted. For more information about name servers, please go here. If you're looking to identify your name servers or find out how to change them then please go this article..
Am I using Web Hosting Hub's DNS?
Before you begin to worry about making IP address changes for your website, you should first determine if you are using Web Hosting Hub's DNS or a third party's DNS. If you are using Web Hosting Hub's DNS, then you will not need to make changes in the settings. You can use a WHOIS service to determine your name servers. Here are some simple examples of the settings you will need to identify in order to see if you are using Web Hosting Hub's DNS:
Domain name: domain_name.com
Name server: NS1.WEBHOSTINGHUB.COM
Name server: NS2.WEBHOSTINGHUB.COM
When the name servers are pointed to ns1.webhostinghub.com and ns2.webhostinghub.com, then you are using Web Hosting Hub's DNS. If the IP address changes, then you don't need to make any changes as the changes are made automatically for you.
Domain name: domain_example.net
Name server: ns1.otherserver.com
Name server: ns2.otherserver.com
If you see a different name server, then your third party DNS settings will need to be updated to reflect the IP address change.
If the IP changes on my account, what do I have to change?
As long as you are using Web Hosting Hub's DNS, then you will not need to make any IP address changes. However, if you are using an email client and you have referenced the server using the IP address, then you will need to update your mail client settings. If you used the domain name in your email server settings, then you would not need to make any changes.
If you are using Third Party DNS
When you use a third party DNS, website traffic needs to be directed to a specific IP address using an A record. The A record is simply the record containing the IP address in the DNS settings. If you see the setting, it's literally called an "A record". If the IP address is changed at the Web Hosting Hub server, then the IP record pointing to the server needs to be updated with the new IP address. If the IP record is not updated, then the viewer will not be able to see the web page.
Pointing to third party hosts from Web Hosting Hub
Occasionally, you may need to point to an outside server using an A record. If the outside server's IP address changes, then you will need to update the DNS records in Web Hosting Hub to reflect this change. You can make changes to the DNS in Web Hosting Hub using the cPanel DNS editors (see Using the Advanced DNS Zone Editor for more information).
How to find your shared IP
If you are not familiar with finding the IP for your shared server account, please go to How to find your shared IP address in cPanel. This will give you the IP address to use if you have any DNS records to update.
I've changed my IP address, but it's not showing in my browser
When you are making changes to the DNS, such as an IP address update, you may encounter a short period of time where the update is not recognized over the internet. This period of delay is known as DNS propagation and may last up to 24 hours.