{"id":956975,"date":"2022-04-28T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2022-04-28T09:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/?p=956975"},"modified":"2023-05-10T15:14:11","modified_gmt":"2023-05-10T13:14:11","slug":"test-dns-server-response-time-troubleshoot-site-speed","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-rocket.me\/blog\/test-dns-server-response-time-troubleshoot-site-speed\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Test DNS Server Response Time to Troubleshoot Site Speed"},"content":{"rendered":"

When it comes to decreasing your website\u2019s load times<\/a>, your DNS and how quickly it responds are often overlooked.<\/p>

Without it, users would need to remember the long string of numbers of your IP to visit your website instead of a user-friendly address.<\/p>

Since Google\u2019s research<\/a> indicates your website\u2019s bounce rate can increase by 32% if it loads between one and three seconds, it\u2019s essential to shave off as much time as possible from page load speeds.<\/p>

Today, I\u2019ll share more details on DNS testing and how you can run your DNS response time test to see if you can improve the performance of your DNS and website\u2019s speed.<\/p>

What is a DNS?<\/h2>

Domain Name Servers (DNSs) are like phone books for websites, linking them to their IP addresses. In turn, a DNS lookup is the process of finding the correct IP address for a given website URL. <\/p>

Domain names such as \u201cwp-rocket.me\u201d require the assistance of DNS servers to translate the domain name into a numeric IP address so that users can access the right site.<\/p>

How do DNS Servers Work?<\/h2>

Understanding how DNS servers work might help troubleshoot when you have DNS problems. For example, a number has a name and a number attached to it. The name is what people type into a browser to access a site, such as our website wp-rocket.me. <\/p>

Numbers or IP addresses are associated with that domain name and indicate the location of the website on the internet. A DNS server\u2019s job is to tie the name to the number.<\/p>

When a website\u2019s name is put into the browser, it queries the nearest DNS server for its IP address. When the DNS server delivers the IP address, the browser connects to the webpage, which shows on your screen. Unfortunately, end users are unaware of the necessary background processes to keep the system running.<\/p>

If the DNS server is unavailable, the browser cannot get the website\u2019s IP address and returns an error. Because it takes seconds for the news to spread, everyone knows the server is down.<\/p>

\"\"
DNS Lookup Journey. Source<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>

Here\u2019s a quick step by step process of how it works once you type in the domain name you want to visit:<\/p>

  1. Requesting website information.<\/li>\n\n
  2. It contacts the recursive DNS servers<\/li>\n\n
  3. It looks for the authoritative DNS servers, or it looks elsewhere<\/li>\n\n
  4. Access the DNS record<\/li>\n\n
  5. Returns the record to your computer to your browser<\/li><\/ol>

    And entire DNS process takes only milliseconds to complete, and as a site owner, you want to reduce DNS lookup<\/a> as much as possible.<\/p>

    Two Methods And Two Very Different Tests<\/h2>

    The two methods are:<\/p>

    1. Ping test<\/li>\n\n
    2. Dig  test<\/li><\/ol>

      Site owners and developers commonly run ping tests<\/a> to measure the average time for a site to load.<\/p>

      While these tests give helpful information, they are not always trustworthy.<\/p>

      Some servers consider pings to be unnecessary and do not respond to them. Unfortunately, when this occurs, you will be unable to generate data on how fast your site loads.<\/p>

      Ping tests also don\u2019t always disclose how quickly your DNS responds and fetches the IP address needed to load a page.<\/p>

      This is when the BIND tool comes into play.<\/p>

      It may be used to execute a DIG (Domain Information Groper) command to get your actual DNS response time.<\/p>

      It comes with Mac and may be downloaded and installed on Windows<\/a>.<\/p>

      Using dig to test DNS server response time<\/h3>

      The DNS response time results show just one metric from your computer, and it is essential to conduct your tests from other locations to get more accurate findings. You may run further tests using Google\u2019s Public DNS. <\/p>

      To run a DIG command and DNS response time test, go to your Applications<\/strong> folder on Mac and open the Terminal<\/strong> app.<\/p>

      For Windows, go to Start > Run<\/strong>, enter \u201ccmd\u201d (without the quotation marks) into the field, and press Enter<\/strong> on your keyboard. Then, click on Command Prompt to open it.<\/p>

      Next, type in the command in the link below, but don\u2019t forget to replace \u201cyour-site.com<\/em>\u201d with your actual domain before pressing Enter<\/strong> on your keyboard:<\/p>

      time dig example.com <\/p>

      Furthermore, you must enter the command in the link below, but remember to change your site\u2019s domain with your actual domain before pressing Enter.<\/p>

      In this case, we\u2019re showing a result similar to the one shown below for the DNS response time test performed for Google. The real-time is recorded in minutes, then seconds, followed by a period and milliseconds during the test. <\/p>

      The query time is recorded to determine how long it takes for your computer to execute the command, whereas the real-time determines how long it takes for your computer to contact your site\u2019s DNS.<\/p>

      \"Using
      DIG command and DNS response time test on Terminal App via Mac OS<\/figcaption><\/figure>

      The results are identical to the previous commands, and you can get DNS response time by subtracting the real-time from the query time.<\/p>

      Digging Deeper into a DNS Response Time Test<\/h3>

      The resulting DNS response time test shows only one metric from your computer. To get more accurate results, you must run tests from different locations.<\/p>

      You can use Google\u2019s Public DNS<\/a>, for example, to run more tests.<\/p>

      Go back to your Terminal app or Command Prompt and enter the following command:<\/p>

      Don\u2019t forget to replace \u201cyour-site.com\u201d with your actual site address.<\/p>

      The results are similar to the previous command, and you can subtract the real-time<\/strong> from the query time<\/strong> to get the DNS response time.<\/p>

      You know how to test DNS server response time using the DIG command, but how reliable are your results, exactly?<\/p>

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