4 ms·

NameCheap DNS servers are down

41 points by jitbit 15y ago

Someone can't handle all those Transfers from Godaddy. ping DNS1.REGISTRAR-SERVERS.COM - down ping DNS2.REGISTRAR-SERVERS.COM - down ping DNS3... - down etc... Update: their support rep has confirmed the issue and promises a fix within an hour

icebraining 15y ago
Ping is not a good way to check that, since it could be blocked. Try dig @dns1.registrar-servers.com [some-domain] Here it's slow but working.
- astrodust 15y ago
  Google keeps ping alive on their 8.8.8.8 nameserver, but that's probably just being polite. Most providers would rather block off ICMP than have to deal with the risk of getting flooded now and then.
deleted 15y ago
[deleted]
danvideo 15y ago
right now several are down... here's a better link: http://www.namecheap.com/status.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/status.aspx
Shank 15y ago
This is just one of the many reasons I use either FreeDNS or CloudFlare. I never rely on registrar provided DNS servers.
- jitbit 15y ago
  Tnx. Another option is ClouDNS, they're also free (for up to 3 zones)
- leoedin 15y ago
  While I agree with not locking yourself into one company for a lot of services, I'm not sure that using a third party DNS server puts you in a better position. The Namecheap servers were knocked offline by a DDoS attack. Do you believe that third party DNS servers are more resilient to that type of attack? At least with a registrar provided DNS server, you're a paying customer and so you can probably expect some form of customer service that you might not get with a free offering. CloudFlare is probably better set up to deal with that kind of attack because they have a paying customer base and specialise in resilient website operation, but whoever you're with, if a DDoS is big enough it'll be hard to protect against.
  - sirbyt 15y ago
    Amazon Route 53 is $6 per domain per year and they have a whopping 26 anycast locations and 100% uptime SLA.
    - RegEx 15y ago
      Just in case you ever want to backup your Route53 records... https://github.com/Hack56/Route53-To-S3 https://github.com/Hack56/Route53-To-S3
necenzurat 15y ago
DDOS attack http://twitter.com/Namecheap/statuses/178906079147728897 http://twitter.com/Namecheap/statuses/178906079147728897
- cskau 15y ago
  Report on their blog: http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309 http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309
- astrodust 15y ago
  Is this Anonymous testing their hacking tool before hitting the root servers?
eli 15y ago
They've been having problems for at least a week.
clyfe 15y ago
If you guys are looking for a free DNS service I'm building https://entrydns.net/ https://entrydns.net/ with a sysadmin friend.
- dne 15y ago
  Nice, but your SSL cert cannot be verified because you haven't installed the intermediate CA bundle: https://knowledge.rapidssl.com/support/ssl-certificate-support/index?page=content&id=SO9556 https://knowledge.rapidssl.com/support/ssl-certificate-suppo...
- fl3tch 15y ago
  Even has dynamic DNS. Looks interesting. Does it work with ddclient?
- jitbit 15y ago
  You don't support wildcard MX records and the whole MX-setup looks unfinished... :( Looks good tho
- aeden 15y ago
  Out of curiosity, how would you mitigate a similar DDOS attack against your system? Do you believe that your system would hold up against a DDOS similar to what NameCheap is experiencing?
jread 15y ago
If you are evaluating 3rd party DNS, I developed a tool for testing recursive dns query latency here http://cloudharmony.com/dnstest http://cloudharmony.com/dnstest - the test covers most major Anycast providers.
- jread 15y ago
 We have also created a report that summarizes and aggregates manged DNS performance and availability globally and regionally, features and pricing. It is still under development, and we intend to sell it in the future, but I'm happy to share it, and would appreciate feedback (caution it is a 10mb file): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20765204/CH-DNS_Report-12_2011.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20765204/CH-DNS_Report-12_2011.pdf - it is a good resource if you are evaluating different providers.
 - stock_toaster 15y ago
 Wow. This is great. Thanks for sharing!
- dfc 15y ago
 [17:16:45.286] missing ; before statement @ http://cloudharmony.com/speedtest.js?var=speedtest&callback=1&start=0&tests=t,w,l,d,g&serviceTypes=CDN,Server,Storage,Platform,DNS&regions=us,ca:2 http://cloudharmony.com/speedtest.js?var=speedtest&callb... Fatal error: Call to a member function getAffiliateOrStandardUrl() on a non-object in /var/dropbox/deploy/cloudharmony/lib/util/CH_SpeedtestUtil.php on line 802 [17:16:45.352] speedtest is not defined @ http://cloudharmony.com/js/run-speedtest.js:144 http://cloudharmony.com/js/run-speedtest.js:144
philip1209 15y ago
This is why I buy domain names on NameCheap then host the DNS on Rackspace.
AlexBlom 15y ago
Was wondering what was happening. At least they are responding fairly quickly to the queries.
jreposa 15y ago
Still waiting. Unfortunately, I can't seem to transfer the DNS from namecheap to Dynect, my usual DNS provider. It keeps on coming back as "Please try again. 541." Also, it's been on my todo list for at least a month. No excuses on my end.
- jitbit 15y ago
  This is odd, I managed to move my DNS hosting away from NameCheap about an hour ago and my domains are back up... Make sure you click "My domains - Domains - Transfer nameservers to webhosting"
bitsaplenty 15y ago
This is not the first time and it won't be the last time. I recommend AWS's Route53. It costs a bit of money but it's worth every penny.
dazbradbury 15y ago
Seems like even now, there are still problems. Here is a link to their blog post which they are keeping updated: http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309 http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309
jitbit 15y ago
Can't believe they're still down. GoDaddy's revenge?

41 points by jitbit 15y ago

icebraining 15y ago

Ping is not a good way to check that, since it could be blocked. Try dig @dns1.registrar-servers.com [some-domain] Here it's slow but working.

astrodust 15y ago
Google keeps ping alive on their 8.8.8.8 nameserver, but that's probably just being polite. Most providers would rather block off ICMP than have to deal with the risk of getting flooded now and then.

deleted 15y ago

[deleted]

danvideo 15y ago

right now several are down... here's a better link: http://www.namecheap.com/status.aspx http://www.namecheap.com/status.aspx

Shank 15y ago

This is just one of the many reasons I use either FreeDNS or CloudFlare. I never rely on registrar provided DNS servers.

jitbit 15y ago
Tnx. Another option is ClouDNS, they're also free (for up to 3 zones)
leoedin 15y ago
While I agree with not locking yourself into one company for a lot of services, I'm not sure that using a third party DNS server puts you in a better position. The Namecheap servers were knocked offline by a DDoS attack. Do you believe that third party DNS servers are more resilient to that type of attack? At least with a registrar provided DNS server, you're a paying customer and so you can probably expect some form of customer service that you might not get with a free offering. CloudFlare is probably better set up to deal with that kind of attack because they have a paying customer base and specialise in resilient website operation, but whoever you're with, if a DDoS is big enough it'll be hard to protect against.
- sirbyt 15y ago
  Amazon Route 53 is $6 per domain per year and they have a whopping 26 anycast locations and 100% uptime SLA.
  - RegEx 15y ago
    Just in case you ever want to backup your Route53 records... https://github.com/Hack56/Route53-To-S3 https://github.com/Hack56/Route53-To-S3

necenzurat 15y ago

DDOS attack http://twitter.com/Namecheap/statuses/178906079147728897 http://twitter.com/Namecheap/statuses/178906079147728897

cskau 15y ago
Report on their blog: http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309 http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309
astrodust 15y ago
Is this Anonymous testing their hacking tool before hitting the root servers?

eli 15y ago

They've been having problems for at least a week.

clyfe 15y ago

If you guys are looking for a free DNS service I'm building https://entrydns.net/ https://entrydns.net/ with a sysadmin friend.

dne 15y ago
Nice, but your SSL cert cannot be verified because you haven't installed the intermediate CA bundle: https://knowledge.rapidssl.com/support/ssl-certificate-support/index?page=content&id=SO9556 https://knowledge.rapidssl.com/support/ssl-certificate-suppo...
fl3tch 15y ago
Even has dynamic DNS. Looks interesting. Does it work with ddclient?
jitbit 15y ago
You don't support wildcard MX records and the whole MX-setup looks unfinished... :( Looks good tho
aeden 15y ago
Out of curiosity, how would you mitigate a similar DDOS attack against your system? Do you believe that your system would hold up against a DDOS similar to what NameCheap is experiencing?

jread 15y ago

If you are evaluating 3rd party DNS, I developed a tool for testing recursive dns query latency here http://cloudharmony.com/dnstest http://cloudharmony.com/dnstest - the test covers most major Anycast providers.

jread 15y ago
We have also created a report that summarizes and aggregates manged DNS performance and availability globally and regionally, features and pricing. It is still under development, and we intend to sell it in the future, but I'm happy to share it, and would appreciate feedback (caution it is a 10mb file): http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20765204/CH-DNS_Report-12_2011.pdf http://dl.dropbox.com/u/20765204/CH-DNS_Report-12_2011.pdf - it is a good resource if you are evaluating different providers.
- stock_toaster 15y ago
  Wow. This is great. Thanks for sharing!
dfc 15y ago
[17:16:45.286] missing ; before statement @ http://cloudharmony.com/speedtest.js?var=speedtest&callback=1&start=0&tests=t,w,l,d,g&serviceTypes=CDN,Server,Storage,Platform,DNS&regions=us,ca:2 http://cloudharmony.com/speedtest.js?var=speedtest&callb... Fatal error: Call to a member function getAffiliateOrStandardUrl() on a non-object in /var/dropbox/deploy/cloudharmony/lib/util/CH_SpeedtestUtil.php on line 802 [17:16:45.352] speedtest is not defined @ http://cloudharmony.com/js/run-speedtest.js:144 http://cloudharmony.com/js/run-speedtest.js:144

philip1209 15y ago

This is why I buy domain names on NameCheap then host the DNS on Rackspace.

AlexBlom 15y ago

Was wondering what was happening. At least they are responding fairly quickly to the queries.

jreposa 15y ago

Still waiting. Unfortunately, I can't seem to transfer the DNS from namecheap to Dynect, my usual DNS provider. It keeps on coming back as "Please try again. 541." Also, it's been on my todo list for at least a month. No excuses on my end.

jitbit 15y ago
This is odd, I managed to move my DNS hosting away from NameCheap about an hour ago and my domains are back up... Make sure you click "My domains - Domains - Transfer nameservers to webhosting"

bitsaplenty 15y ago

This is not the first time and it won't be the last time. I recommend AWS's Route53. It costs a bit of money but it's worth every penny.

dazbradbury 15y ago

Seems like even now, there are still problems. Here is a link to their blog post which they are keeping updated: http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309 http://status.namecheap.com/?p=7309

jitbit 15y ago

Can't believe they're still down. GoDaddy's revenge?