I'm looking for someone who knows how the Internet works at the various levels, to answer this one...

In terms of producing the fastest surfing experience for your customers (and their customers), is it important to have fast name servers, or fast connections between the user's browser and the name server? Or is the information from one name server automatically copied to other name servers, so that this speed question is not an issue? What does the name server really do?

If it did matter, how would you measure this? My guess would be to ping the name server, e.g. NS1.CHOSENREGISTRAR.COM.

Here are my average ping times from Dallas, Texas to the first name server of various domain name registrars, and the primary supplier of the network used:
GoDaddy = 36ms (AT&T)
PowerPipe = 44ms (Sprint)
GKG.net = 49ms (AT&T)
ZoneEdit = 50ms (AT&T)
AQHost = 59ms (Genuity)
NameCheap = 60ms (Qwest)
Dotster = 87ms (Exodus Commun.)
000domains = 129ms (AboveNet)

Is the above info even relevant, in terms of the browser user's experience, using domain names registered with these companies?

Also, is it important that your name server be physically close to the web host server, or have a fast pipe/route between them?

These questions all raise the issue of what actually happens when someone enters a URL or clicks on a link to another site. My understanding is that the request goes through the ISP to a table somewhere, to convert the URL into an IP address, and somehow a route is chosen and it hops from router to router until it finds the destination address, and returns the info that the server chooses to send (possibly static, possibly dynamic). There is some fixed upper time limit, so that it returns a failure message if it doesn't find the box with that IP. But how does the name server figure into all this?

Thanks in advance for knowledgable responses.
TexasMan

Only matters when you want to use their service to register a boat-load of domains under pressure. Otherwise it is not important. The URL you enter resolves via your ISP's DNS servers.

Where a domain is registered makes absolutely no different in a users "surfing experience". When a domain name is registered the info in the domain name such as the registrant, billing, administrative, techincal contacts as well as _which_ DNS servers to use are propagated to the root servers. This is totally seperate to the websites DNS servers.

Back to your question about a users "surfing experience". The DNS servers of the web hosting provider (the ones that you are told to put in your domains DNS1, and DNS2 etc) will affect the surfing experience. If these servers are slow to respond, then there will be a delay before the website is _first_ displayed - BUT your isp (how you connect to the net) will cache this request for some duration so the next dns request will not have to go to the hosting provider, and will generally be quicker. The cache can be great, since with a popular site, it may already be cached at your isp by some other user, but it can be bad, it you like to fiddle with dns settings, like me!

I hope that helped, if you want me to clarify anything, just ask!

Dave

The only reason this would matter is if it was a nameserver inm which was used for a end user to resolve internet addresses
ie : their isp's nameservers
as a slow isp nameserver can cause resolve timeouts and other issues.

******** is right. An isp with crappy nameservers can be just as bad if not worse than a webhosting company with crappy nameservers. Your browser makes a request to your isp's nameserver which looks up the authoritative name server for the website you are trying to browse.

Dave

Thanks for these responses. I am partially understanding.

For what it's worth, I've made my decision to go with NameCheap.com, and so far been happy with that decision.

TexasMan
http://www.apexwebsolutions.com (note: currently there is no site at this domain name, as I am reviewing suppliers for web hosting)