FAQs

Frequently Asked Questions

Have questions? We’ve answers. If you can’t find what we are looking for, feel free to get in touch.

What is DNS?

The domain name system (DNS) is an internet technology service that allows a domain name to be translated into an Internet Protocol address (IP). A domain name is a meaningful and easy-to-remember name that relates to an Internet address (IP). DNS handles the mapping between host names, which we humans find convenient (www.dnsmadeeasy.com), and internet addresses which computers understand (192.168.98.2).

What is Domain Name?

A domain name is used to locate an organization or other entity on the internet. For example dnsmadeeasy.com is the domain for the DNS Made Easy organization. www.dnsmadeeasy.com is a computer in the DNS Made Easy organization.

What is Fully Qualified Domain Name?

A Fully Qualified Domain Name is the complete name to specify a specific computer's location in the hierarchy of a complete domain. For example, there may be two groups within the DNS Made Easy organization: sales and support. So we could use the subdomains sales.dnsmadeeasy.com and support.dnsmadeeasy.com. If there was a specific system in the support subdomain, the FQDN for this computer would be computer1.support.dnsmadeeasy.com. www.dnsmadeeasy.com is the FQDN for the web server for the entire DNS Made Easy organization, whereas www.support.dnsmadeeasy.com could be the FQDN for the web server for only the support department inside of the DNS Made Easy organization.

What is IP?

The Internet Protocol (IP) is the method (protocol) by which data is sent from one computer to another computer on the internet. Each online computer (known as a host) has at least one IP address that uniquely identifies it from all other computers connected to the internet.

What is TTL?

Time to live (TTL) is the amount of time (measured in seconds) that your DNS record is cached in resolving nameservers on the internet. If your IP is dynamic (changes often) or if you plan to move your computer to another IP, it is recommended to set your TTL to a lower value to minimize this cache time. Once your IP is on a static IP or after you have transferred your system to the new IP, it is recommended to switch your TTL to a higher value.

The higher the TTL the faster the performance of DNS, as most machines will have the value cached for a longer period of time, which reduces lookups. However, a TTL that it too high often causes lengthy periods of downtime if your system ever needs to switch IPs.

If your computer's IP is static, the recommended TTL values range from 12 hours (43200 seconds) to 24 hours (86400 seconds). If your computer uses a dynamic IP, it's recommended that you set your TTL between 5 and 120 seconds.

How long do DNS changes take to propagate using DNS Made Easy?

All DNS changes are immediate once your domain has been added to our nameservers. This is due to our proprietary Peregrine Instant DNS Update technology.

When changing a record, it will take the length of the time to live (TTL) in seconds to expire before your new changes go into effect. You can set the TTL to any value before or after making changes to your records. Reasonable values for a static IP are anywhere from 12 hours (43200 seconds) to 24 hours (86400 seconds). Reasonable values for a Dynamic IP are between 5 and 120 seconds.

Domains which use Secondary DNS are scheduled to be added to the secondary DNS services no earlier than 2 hours after you enter the data into the system. This provides enough time to configure your primary DNS servers to allow AXFR/IXFR transfers to our secondary nameservers. You should allow at least 48 hours for configuration changes to propagate before removing any previous nameservers.

Primary DNS – What nameservers should I use?

Each domain using DNS Made Easy as a Primary DNS solution is assigned a group of IP Anycast+ nameservers. These nameservers are assigned based on load and availability. The correct servers are provided when you first enter your domain into our system. However, you can also view the nameservers that are assigned to your domain at any time through the DNS > Managed DNS menu of the control panel. The severs listed here are the only nameservers which can resolve DNS for the given domain. Assigning any additional DNS Made Easy nameservers not listed will result in resolution problems for your domain.

Secondary DNS – What nameservers should I use?

You or another agency must provide the Primary DNS.
‍Tell your registrar the following additional secondary nameservers from DNS Made Easy in addition to your primary nameserver(s):
‍ns5.dnsmadeeasy.com – 208.94.148.13
ns6.dnsmadeeasy.com 208.80.124.13
ns7.dnsmadeeasy.com – 208.80.126.13
‍If you limit your primary nameserver(s) to allow transfers to certain IPs, the nameservers to allow transfers from in your ACL are:
‍63.219.151.12208.94.150.198208.94.147.135
These three IPs should be allowed AXFR requests and should be listed in any NOTIFY statements that you have configured.

Secondary DNS – How do I change my master nameserver IP?

You can modify the master IP address for your secondary DNS domain by changing the assigned IP Set for the domain. Visit our knowledge base for help with IP Sets. You can specify up to 5 master IPs for your secondary zones. These zones are the only IPs that AXFR transfers will be accepted from.

What happens if I exceed my query quota?

Query overages are billed per million queries after you exceed your allotted DNS quota based on your contract. Corporate Memberships receive a discount on query overages. All overage charges are billed at $0.48 per million queries per month up to 1 billion queries and $0.20 per million queries per month after. All accounts are allowed a 10% buffer before overage charges are incurred. Overage charges that are incurred on the account are present under the Account > Invoices menu of the web control panel. Overage charges are NOT billed automatically, they must be paid manually, no later than 30 days after they are issued.

Do you support wildcard records?

DNS Made Easy supports wildcard (*) A records as well as CNAME records.

Do you support IPv6?

DNS Made Easy has full IPv6 support. IPv6 addresses are available for our nameservers and we also support the addition of AAAA records within our web interface.

Do you support DNSSEC?

DNS Made Easy provides DNSSEC support for enterprise-level memberships using our primary managed DNS service. We also support DNSSEC for all clients using our secondary DNS service.

Do you support Geo DNS?

DNS Made Easy supports geographical-based DNS with our Global Traffic Director service.
If you are looking for more advanced GeoDNS features, check out our sister company Constellix.

Do you have an API?

DNS Made Easy provides a REST based API for record and domain management.

Are there Quotas and Limitations for Secondary DNS?

All domains that have over 100 resource records must use IXFR for zone updates. Domain and DNS query quotas are subject to the quotas of your DNS Made Easy Membership level.

DDNS FAQs

What is Dynamic DNS?

A Dynamic DNS service allows a client connecting to the internet with a dynamic IP address access to applications that usually require a static IP address. This feature allows users to host web servers, email servers, or ftp servers that would otherwise be impossible to accomplish with a constantly changing IP address.

Using a dynamic DNS service, you can arrange for systems to access your IP address even though you are using a dynamic IP by keeping your IP up-to-date as soon as it changes.

Where can I find a supported list of DDNS clients?

You can locate a list of support DDNS clients on our Dynamic DNS page.

Where can I find the record ID for a specific record?

1. The "Record ID" is found on the record creation page for that record.
2. Log In
3. Click the DNS > Managed DNS menu
4. Select a domain and click on the Records tab
5. Click on a record and select the pencil icon to edit it
6. If DDNS is not enabled, enable it. The Record ID is the Dynamic DNS ID on this page

Is there technical specification available for configuration of a DDNS client?

Yes, there is information about client set up and update strings here.

Mail FAQs

How quickly do the Backup Email servers send mail back to primary email server?

If your mail server supports the ETRN SMTP command then it will automatically request immediate delivery from the backup mail servers. This can also be done manually by using telnet.

If your mail server does not support the sending of the ETRN SMTP command then the backup email servers run on a set retry schedule every few minutes.

Is there a way to view the email queued on the Backup Email servers?

There is not an available interface for viewing the email in queue on DNS Made Easy's Backup Email servers, the email is simply sent to the your primary email server once it is back online. All email is held up to 14 days. If you have a question regarding the status of your service, please submit a support ticket.

What is the difference between Mail Server Forwarding and User Account Forwarding for email?

Mail Server Forwarding is used to forward all mail from one mail server to another mail server for a particular domain. The destination mail server (mail transfer agent or MTA), must have the ability to accept mail for the domain. The email is not delivered to the mail forwarding server, it is just routed through the server. This service is extremely popular for people that want to accept mail on a port other than port 25 if their IP is blocking port 25, for example.

Mail forwarding accounts used within IMAP / POP products operate differently as the destination for the email is not another mail server, but actually another email address. The email is delivered to the forwarding system and then it is resent to the destination (forward) email address. This solution is very easy to setup as no configuration of a mail server is required. DNS Made Easy does not offer email account forwarding services.

Where can I view the quota of the my SMTP account?

The DNS Made Easy web control panel keeps a daily count of your SMTP account, there are no historical logs kept. Quotas are reset at 7AM UTC. You can view the quota of your SMTP account for the current day by accessing the Mail – SMTP menu of your control panel.

What happens if I exceed my SMTP quota?

If you exceed your SMTP quota for the day, our SMTP server will stop allowing your account to send outgoing email. You will encounter an error message of "550: Relay access denied." You can purchase additional quota for your account at any time by logging into your account and accessing the Account > Purchase Services menu of the control panel. When you make a purchase, please open a support ticket to have the quota applied to your account.

Billing FAQs

When does my service expire?

You can view when your purchased services will expire from the the Account > Renew section of the DNS Made Easy control panel. By default, all DNS Made Easy services are a one year account term. DNS Made Easy clients can renew their services for up to two years at a time. All purchased services expire on the same date.

Do all of my services expire at once?

Yes, for your benefit and for ease of use, all of your purchased DNS Made Easy services and products expire at once. Any new purchases or upgrades on an existing DNS Made Easy account are prorated to share the same expiration date as the active services on the account.

How do I cancel a product or my account?

To cancel all services or products simply delete the configured services and do not renew your account. Make sure you turn off your automatic renewal option. If you would like the account closed permanently, please email sales@dnsmadeeasy.com.

‍To cancel an individual service or product, you can do so through the Account > Remove Services menu.

How do I cancel my account?

To cancel your account simply delete the configured services and make sure you turn off your automatic renewal option. If you would like the account closed permanently, please email sales@dnsmadeeasy.com.

What forms of payment do you accept?

For your convenience DNS Made Easy accepts payments from VISA, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, check, ACH, and wire transfer.

Automatic renewals of services can only be done using VISA, Mastercard, American Express and Discover. PayPal, check, ACH, and wire transfer renewals must be done manually.

Due to the extra administrative costs for manual processing, there is an extra $35 administrative fee for manual processing for all invoices paid under $275.

Do you have a Service Level Agreement (SLA)?

DNS Made Easy has a record 13-year 100% uptime history. Download a copy of our SLA Agreement.

Do you offer refunds for services?

DNS Made Easy / Tiggee LLC has a strict no refund and cancellation policy.

Can my services renew automatically?

Yes, there is an available "Auto Renew" feature that you can enable from the Account > Renew menu of the control panel. As long as a valid credit card number is on file for your account, an automatic renewal will take place approximately 15 days before account expiration.

Affiliate FAQs

Do you have to be a member to be part of the Affiliate Program?

Yes, all clients that participate in the Affiliate Program must be a paying member of DNS Made Easy.

Is there a maximum amount of money I can earn?

No, you can earn an unlimited amount of money with our Affiliate Program. Since the affiliate program is residual and multi-tier, we have found the potential credit earned to be exponential year after year for users that promote DNS Made Easy appropriately.

How do I get paid?

You can get paid by submitting a request for funds or you can use your affiliate money earned on future purchases. All affiliate money is paid by PayPal or check. There must be a $50 minimum earned to request a withdraw.

How do I participate in the Affiliate Program?

You can get started earning credit back by accessing the Affiliate Program section of your DNS Made Easy account from the Main Menu. There are segments of HTML code that you can use as advertising on your website or you can choose to provide the Affiliate link generated for you to any new clients. As long as the new account is created using your Affiliate URL, you will receive credit for the referral if it qualifies.

Do you allow email marketing?

Absolutely not. Email marketing to advertise DNS Made Easy is not permitted. This is even if your list of destination addresses is opt-in. All affiliate partners that do send mass emails advertising DNS Made Easy will automatically be removed from the system.