IP address loads faster than domain name

I just signed up for a cloud server in Singapore. I myself am in Indonesia. I've got the domain name setup and everything. When I ping my IP address versus ping my domain name, the results are about the same. But when I load each of them through my browser, the IP address is quite a bit faster than the domain name. Would this be because of the DNS server? My distance between computer and server? Or something else? I'm using Namecheap's DNS server at the moment.

Need some advice from server gurus. Thanks!

rabbid

Posted 2011-04-28T15:29:59.217

Reputation: 351

Name resolution takes time, where as ping by IP skips that. So, I would say yes. You should use your ISP's DNS server if possible. – Vick Vega – 2011-04-28T15:37:54.120

Answers

DNS resolution takes time. Use a tool like firebug or the chrome dev tools to see how long resolution is taking.

JohnD

Posted 2011-04-28T15:29:59.217

Reputation: 276

+1: If you type in the domain name, the users DNS will go through the process of looking up the IP address, a step which obviously doesn't occur with a plain IP address. – Satanicpuppy – 2011-04-28T17:49:09.043

Thanks for your reply. I checked with chrome dev and the results vary. I have a couple Domain Names pointing to the same IP address. One of them took as long as 45 seconds (!!!), the other one within 3-4 seconds, but maybe that's because I had already loaded the first one in the same browser? Yikes, that's really3 long... – rabbid – 2011-04-29T01:48:35.173

Namecheap's DNS records will eventually be cached all over the world so if the TTL is big enough it shouldn't really matter. What I'm more concerned with is your selection in DNS servers; there are several DNS benchmarking tools out there that'll choose the right DNS servers for your computer, I know that Steve Gibson wrote one...

Kye R

Posted 2011-04-28T15:29:59.217

Reputation: 199

Thanks for your reply. The TTL is set to 1800, Namecheap's default I believe. Is that long enough? Sorry I don't quite understand what you mean by "my selection" in DNS servers. Do you mean me personally, on my local computer? I just let my ISP take care of it I suppose... – rabbid – 2011-04-29T00:49:38.820

I used Namebench for OSX just now. It told me Google's, Fast Net's, and Power.Net's DNS are best for me. I'll try inputting those in my router.

– rabbid – 2011-04-29T01:50:19.040

Try this DNS benchmarking tool, and see what is best for you in your location:

http://www.grc.com/dns/benchmark.htm

DaBaer

Posted 2011-04-28T15:29:59.217

Reputation: 754

Thank you! I will try that, and also I just tried Namebench. It gave me 3 fastest DNS. I'll try them on my router.

– rabbid – 2011-04-29T01:50:59.290