When you register for a web hosting plan, you are required to enter the URL of the main domain. After you check out, the web hosting companies will start to set up the DNS propagation for the main domain. The DNS propagation is a period which you must wait before the domain can be accessed from the internet browser. Normally, the customer will be assigned with a temporary URL to access their CPanel.
During the DNS propagation, a lot of processes take place behind the scene. The new domain name will be linked with the IP address of the server on the DNS servers. The IP address consists of numbers divided by the decimal points. The purpose of the DNS propagation is to identify the host. Though the information of the IP address is stored in binary numbers, they are displayed in the format of standard numbers, for example 366.87.744.849
During the DNS propagation process, your site is introduced to other DNS servers on the network. Other DNS servers will become familiar with your domain by recognizing the IP address. The web hosting company will also create a master DNS record in the DNS database. DNS is an abbreviation for domain name server. The master DNS informs the web that the master keeper of the files stored on the domain is the web host.
The information that maps the domain name to the IP address is propagated in the DNS table. The information that is stored in the DNS tables are the IP address, nameserver, webhost information, information on web hosting provider hardware and etc. The work of the nameserver is to covert the domain names into a valid IP address and vice versa. During the domain propagation, all these information will be recorded in the DNS tables.
Once the domain propagation is finished, people will be able to visit your website. When people enter the site URL into the address bar and hit enter, the browser will send a request to the registration database to seek for the DNS authority. After the browser found out the DNS authority, it will go to the DNS server to find the matching domain name with the IP address.
If you transfer the domain to another server, the propagation process will takes place all over again. On average, the propagation process will last for 24 – 48 hours. Sometimes, it will take 96 hours for the process to complete.