5 Benefits of using G Suite for my business

Business owners know the importance of choosing the best tools to work and keeping quality communication with every team member.

To be connected from anywhere, with the right tools to handle urgent situations, it is vital to boost business productivity.

What is G Suite (Google Workspace)?

G Suite is the set of apps provided by Google for businesses to manage their daily tasks and improve their productivity.

Originally known as Google Apps, it was released in 2006. Ten years later, it was rebranded as G Suite.

All your information is directly saved in Google data centers. Google backs it up in other data centers for security.

What does G Suite include?

As a reference, here you have some features of the Starter Business plan.

Cloud-based, no installation required.
Secure and custom business email.
30GB cloud storage per user.
100 participant video meetings.
Advanced security and admin features.
Standard support.
Free 14-day trial.

Add-ons and three different plans are available: Starter, Standard, and Plus. Rates are charged monthly and calculated per user. They go as follows $6, $12 to $18. There is an enterprise choice for custom solutions, but you need to contact Google for more details.

Benefits of G Suite

If you still wonder why to use the G Suite, check these benefits out.

Lots of handy tools to work all together

Buying one package, you get a bunch of tools to share with your team, such as emails, contact management, chat, video communication, cloud storage, docs, slides, sheets, calendar, and more. All these apps come with useful collaboration built-in features.

For billing, doubts, extra services, or troubles, you just have to deal with one provider and not with many.

And since G Suite is a cloud-based service, no matter people’s location or schedule, they can access the different apps at any time.

Productive collaboration for the team

Daily, people need to get updates from colleagues, have meetings, and make presentations with everybody’s information. All the tools to make this collaboration efficient are in G Suite. People can communicate internally, and all of them can work simultaneously in the same presentation, reading what others write, and receiving comments about the task.

Most of the G Suite apps can be sync for offline use.

No more worries about space

Secure space to storage is a big concern for all businesses, especially those with high demand for this resource like video, CAD, gaming, or e-commerce.

G Suite apps use Google Drive cloud storage. The Starter plan gives 30 GB storage per user, and it increases to 2 TB, 5 TB, or unlimited space if you get the Enterprise plan.

Work in a secure environment

The G Suite supplies businesses with a secure workspace. It protects your data through different technologies and policies.

Email service works with encryption in transit (TLS).
Every administrator controls the security settings. From controlling mobile devices, adding or deleting users, forbidding using less secure apps, etc.
2-step verification feature ensures every device connected to your network has been appropriately verified via phone.
Your data is not collected for advertising. The services included in the suite are free of ads.
The suite retains, archives, searches, and exports business data.
As we initially mentioned, your data is saved in Google data centers and backup.

Easy to use apps for your team

Apps included in the G Suite are intuitive. They have a friendly user interface, clearly organized options, and are very well known by most people. Rarely you need to train your team for managing them. And if you need to, it will be easy and fast.

Conclusion

Are you still not sure about getting G Suite benefits for your business? Don’t get stressed and use the free trial!

5 reasons to use Managed DNS

Are you getting too tired of seeing how slow your site loads? We bet you have found Managed DNS as a solution to speed up your website’s performance. But it is far more than just a speed booster. Let’s see the top 5 reasons to use Managed DNS.

Managed DNS – Why do you need it?

Multiple points of presence (PoP)

5, 10, 20, or even more! You can have PoPs in different countries and continents that contain DNS records. A user from a place far away from your Primary server will still get its query resolved incredibly fast. Without Managed DNS, the query will travel a long time until it gets answered. Set up PoPs in all the important locations for your business. Most companies offer plans with the most connected spots in North America, Europe, and Asia, and there are others with locations on all of the continents.

Better uptime (availability)

So let’s say you have 10 PoPs. There is a problem, a massive one, that brings 5 of them down. What do you think will happen? Your site or application will continue to function! One of the rest of the DNS servers will step up until all of them are back. Your users could experience a slightly slower experience, but you will stay online. Better availability is crucial for every e-commerce business now.

You can set it up with a load balancing method and even make it automatic, so you don’t need to worry at all.

Scalability

You can start small, but if your site is getting more popular, you can expand your service. You can add more features to make it faster, more secure, or failed-proofed.

In some cases, when you are starting, you can satisfy your needs with a simple free plan. When the revenues and traffic go up, you can simply upgrade with a few clicks. Or you can plan a promotion campaign and upscale for a short period.

In the worst-case scenario that your business is struggling for a while, you can downscale. That way, you can lower your expenses and still stay operating.

Better cost

Can you create your own DNS? Yes, but this will be extremely expensive. Imagine searching all around the world and making local deals for servers. Negotiating prices with local Internet providers. In the end, you will get extremely tired, and you will pay many times more.

With a Managed DNS service, you don’t worry about hardware, and your concern is just to manage it properly.

Security

DDoS attacks from everywhere and pointing at everybody. This is the world that we are living in. With a Managed DNS, you could benefit from balancing the load between all the available DNS servers. That way, you can resist a certain level of bad traffic towards your site. Everybody has a limit, but if you want to increase your chances, you will need more servers and some of them to be DNS protected servers. That means that they can analyze the traffic and spot suspicious activities. They can then take further action to protect your DNS. There are different failovers to automate actions and keep your site up, by discarding packets, banning IP addresses, or redirecting the traffic.

Conclusion

So, did you get convinced by the utility of Managed DNS already? Yes, there are many benefits to use it.

Now the question is, which Managed DNS service provider should you choose. There are many good and well-priced DNS service providers. We will leave this decision up to you. Only you can best know your needs and budget.

SSL certificate – 5 reasons to use it

The security is, and it will be a constant concern for everybody, website owners, and users. Cybercriminals don’t stop hacking, so we can’t quit protecting our sites. Every upgrade or new development related to boosting security online is worthy of trying.

What is an SSL certificate?

SSL means Secure Sockets Layer. It’s a cryptographic protocol for connecting servers with users’ computers, or any other devices, ensuring data passing through them remains confidential.

Secure Sockets Layer is a data file that creates an encrypted link browser-server cryptographically. When they connect, the SSL certificate is validated, or no communication between them gets protected. This way, no one else but the user and the website could access the info (e-mail address, payment details, etc.) provided by the user.

Users can visually identify a website that has a SSL certificate through the extra “s” that appears after “HTTP”.

5 reasons to use an SSL certificate

Boost security on your website

SSL certificate protects your website and users from different threats. It prevents phishing that commonly works by cloning sites or pages. It requires a very high hacking level to make a convincing copy of a site protected with SSL.

SSL also prevents breaches while encrypting the data users send to your site. If someone intercepts this communication user’s browser-website (server), the SSL can detect and warn about a third-player involved.

Protect users’ data

No matter the website you own (blog, corporate site, portfolio, e-shop), there’s valuable information from users you must protect, from an e-mail, passwords, to sensitive card numbers.

SSL reinforces your site security by encrypting info going from one user device to another or device to server.

Be an authenticated and trustable website

To authenticate websites is another objective of SSL certificates. For installing a SSL certificate on your site, there’s a previous process for your identity to be verified.

Your identity is confirmed by an independent third-party authority in charge of issuing a digital certificate for websites. Once done, your website gets the signs that vouch for its integrity as an authentic, trustable website. Depending on the kind of SSL certificate you get, users can even check details about you and your organization directly on the website.

SSL authentication brings benefits for sites in terms of good reputation and trust.

Cover the requirements

For all kinds of websites, to protect their users’ data and be authenticated have become an obligation due to the serious threats to privacy that exist online.

In 2018, Google announced that websites without TLS/SSL certificates would be flagged with the warning message “Not secure website”. A security measure to make safer the online experience.

If the first thing your potential clients see while requesting your website is the “unsafe” warning in the URL field, they can quit immediately.

To receive online payments, e-shops must be PCI (Payment Card Industry) compliant. That means there are some requirements to guarantee websites are a secure environment to manage such transactions. Having a SSL certificate is one of those requirements.

Rank better on Google

Google has taken different measures pushing website owners to make the online experience safer. Since 2004, the company places better websites with a SSL certificate installed. They clearly improve their search engine ranking.

Conclusion

No effort is pointless about a security matter. The good news is, SSL certificates are affordable. There are different kinds and some come free when purchasing other digital services like web hosting. So be legit, protect users’ data, and do great businesses!

How to host a website locally?

Many articles are comparing different web hosting types like shared hosting vs cloud hosting or cloud vs dedicated, but it is rare to see local hosting. Can you host your website locally? Yes, you can host your site on a local computer and make it available online or use it for testing.

Why host a website locally?

Lower cost. You might already have a server at the office. You are using it for data sharing between the employees or for an email server. If it is powerful enough, you can just add extra functionality and use it as a web host. Yes, there are many disadvantages like IP address changes, keeping the server always-on, need for back up the internet and power supply, and more, but it is technically possible.

To test. You can have an identical version of your site locally and use it to test new features. That way, if something goes wrong, it will be on this local test server, and your site will continue to work. Test new software, new updates, and more in a safe environment where downtime does not matter.

How to host a website locally?

The easiest way of trying a locally hosted website on Windows is to use a WAMP server. WAMP is a package for Windows that includes Apache webserver software, Database – MySQL, and PHP.

Go to the WAMP’s site and get the 64bit version. Then install it on your computer.

When it is ready, you will see a new icon (WAMP) down on the right next to the time and date. Click on it and then navigate to phpMyAdmin. This admin panel will help you create a database.

There you need to create a root user and choose a password for the software. The next step is to click on the tab “Databases”, write the name for your database, and click create.

For this example, we will install the WordPress CMS. You can go for Joomla or another if you like and still follow the instructions.

So, we will go to WodPress.org and press the button “Get WordPress”.

You will get a zip file that you need to extract in “C:\wamp64\mysite” (change “mysite” with the folder you have chosen or create a new one).

Open your browser and write the following in the address bar:

http://localhost/mysite/

So finally, the installation process of WordPress begins. There you will need to add data from the previous steps about the database. Use the user “root” and the information about the database you recently created.

Continue with the installation process by choosing site’s name, username, password, and additional information.

Now you have successfully installed a WordPress site on your local hardware!

Your Localhost online, how?

By now, we have created a WordPress site, but only you can use it. We will need to change a few things so it can be available online.

Let’s go to the configuration of Apache:

C:\wamp\bin\apache\apache[VersionWillBeHere]\conf]

Open it with Notepad or another text editor, find the “Listen 80” and change the 80 number with your IP address. Find your IP address in some of the “What’s my IP address site” if you don’t know it.

So now it will look like “62.232.160.1:80”.

Then change the second thing that is “ServerName” with “ServerName YOUR IP ADDRESS”.

Then find “c:/wamp/www/”, and under it, you need to change the permission to:

Order Allow,Deny

Allow from all

Restart your Localhost, and everybody can get to your website by using the IP address.

Adding a domain to your site

Now the site is accessible only with the IP address. You can go and buy a domain from a domain register site and use it to provide access to the site.

Buy a domain, and in the control panel of the domain provider, you will need to add an A DNS record that connects the domain to your IP address where the site is hosted.

We are not finished yet. If your IP address is not static, you will need to do some more.

Go to the settings of your router. You will need to find NAT, virtual server, or forwarding.

We need to forward the port, so when your IP address changes, you don’t need to change the A record manually.

Forward the WEB or HTTP traffic to port number 80, and in the field, LAN IP Address, add the IP address that your device uses on the local network (not the previous IP address that we used). Apply the changes and save.

Now it is ready!

You can use a very similar approach for mac computers with MAMP and LAMP for Linux.

Creating a website locally is possible, but currently, it is worth it, only for testing.

GeoDNS explained

Every time users request a website, and it takes a long time to be loaded, they leave! Website owners know that it could be that the server is busy or the server is located too far from the user. But users do not care and just abandon the site and maybe never comes back.

That’s called latency. A severe problem for website owners that, fortunately, can be fixed!

What is GeoDNS, and how does it work?

GeoDNS (Geographical Domain Name System) means a traffic distribution process based on the requests’ location. This is possible due to a group of name servers strategically located on different spots (regions, countries, continents).

When a visitor requests a domain, a long and complex process of domain resolving gets triggered. And it must happen in a few seconds for the site to be served successfully and fast.

Once the visitor types a domain in the browser, a request will travel to a DNS resolver. In the case of GeoDNS, the DNS server will read the visitor’s IP address to know the user’s location. Already knowing that the request will be sent to the closest server. Finally, this last will serve visitor’s request.

The difference between a traditional DNS service and GeoDNS is that the traditional DNS servers have the same IP address for the domain. The GeoDNS have different IP addresses, depending on the region, and that is the magic boosting the speed.

Benefits of having GeoDNS

There are clear benefits of enabling GeoDNS for your domain.

Optimized distribution of traffic

Intelligent management of traffic is possible through GeoDNS. It is a load balancing solution. It ensures the closest nameserver to the visitor will respond to the request. Besides, through this distribution, traffic overload can avoid automatically.

Uptime enhancement

Having not a DNS server but a group of them is a great benefit. In case a server is down, the visitor’s request for sure will find another server that will answer.

Faster loading

Fast loading is vital to improve the users’ experience and a key factor to be ranked better in search engines. Considering the smart location process of GeoDNS, waiting time definitely will be shorter for your visitors. This is already a great advantage but, now that offering a positive user experience will also be taken into account to be positioned in the first search results, the benefit is even more valuable.

IP filtering (Geofencing)

To deny access or direct users from a specific region, a website you choose can be done through IP filtering.

A singer, contracted exclusively by a British company, will release a new set of songs. The access to the new material can definitely be restricted through IP filtering just for British users. IP’s coming from other countries will be dropped.

Ventures who want to offer different contents per continent can configure the access aligned with that objective.

For whom GeoDNS is?

GeoDNS is good for all kinds of businesses. Small and medium websites would like to have it for growing. And large companies, for running smoothly the big needs they have.

But let’s say there are specific companies that can get the most out of it. International companies (tech, banking, and more) managing massive amounts of traffic, content platforms, and their need of delivery for a worldwide audience or e-commerce, always looking for high uptime and low latency to guarantee profits.

Conclusion

GeoDNS is a technology that offers real benefits to your business. If your company is growing internationally or if you are already global, keep it in mind. Big needs require advanced and efficient solutions!

How to create a CDN?

Speed, speed, speed! We all want our sites and applications to load as fast as possible. Each moment of delay might make your visitors go away. So one of the most common approaches to increase the speed of a website is to use a Content delivery network (CDN). But how to create a CDN?

What is CDN?

Why is CDN important?

The content delivery network is what the CDN abbreviation is. It is a complex solution that focuses on delivering content to visitors faster by using routing and cache methods.

There are DNS servers that server that will check the origin of the request and redirect to the closest cache server shortening the length and time of each request.

How does CDN work?

The idea is simple, there are DNS resolvers on the way that analyze the DNS request, and based on the origin of the request, they will provide the IP address of the closest cache server (called delivery nodes by some service providers).

Those DNS servers are strategically located. Depending on your DNS provider, you can have many and put more in your most important region.

Instead of having Anycast DNS, where all of the DNS servers have the same IP address, here you can use a service called GeoDNS or Traffic Director (depending on your provider) and set different IP addresses for the different regions.

That way, you won’t send all of the traffic to the same origin. You can have a second or third web hosting located in those important places for you.

You will use those servers as cache servers, and you will put their IP addresses for the DNS server nearby.

That way, the DNS request will go very fast to the first DNS resolver that can provide an answer, and after that, it will redirect to the cache server and saves a ton of time.

How to create CDN?

Choose a CDN provider or check a combination between GeoDNS and web hosting.

You can go straight to the big could like MS Azure or Amazon’s AWS and get a CDN from them. It will probably work fine, but it could be a lot more expensive.

Another option is to get a Managed DNS service and a few web hosting services at the locations that best suits you. That will save some money, and you can be less dependent on a single provider.

Set up your web hosting servers.

No matter which option you have chosen, you will need to decide where you want to have your data. Make it closer to your users so they can load your content fast.

You will need to get the IP addresses of the servers you have chosen and later use them with your DNS settings.

In your DNS, you will need to create a DNS load balancer. You must choose points of presence, where you will have a DNS server with DNS records. You will need to add the appropriate DNS records, use the server from before, and redirect the traffic to the closest server.

Most of the CDN DNS providers will have so-called Pull Zones. A pull zone will be your cache where images, CSS, and JavaScript will be saved automatically. You can create one and go to the next step.

WordPress settings for the cache plugin

Now that you have set up your CDN, you need to adjust your WordPress site. Use a cache plugin. In it, you need to enable page cache, stop minifying, enable database cache, stop object cache, enable browser cache. And the last step is the most important, enable CDN and choose the CDN type.

Conclusion

It is not really hard to create a CDN. Based on your provider, you will have different steps, but the basic idea is the same. Create one and enjoy the benefits.

5 Best WordPress caching plugins

Is your WordPress website experiencing a slow performance? It can be due to poor hosting service, but also, every new addition to make your site more attractive (images, content, etc.), and the traffic growth can slow it down.

Slow loading directly affects users’ experience and search engine position, so speeding the site is critical. WordPress caching plugins is an easy way to do it!

What’s a caching plugin?

Caching means storing website data in a provisional storage area (cache) to get them faster every time a user requests your site through a browser.

A caching plugin is a software that creates a static version of your site (HTML), faster to load than the dynamic, heavier version.

Now, check out the features of the best 5 WordPress caching plugins!

WP Rocket

Easy to use for experts and beginners.
Installing and caching through one-click.
It’s a paid plugin. For caching, one site $49, three sites $99, and an unlimited number of sites $249. Anual prices.
Page cache, cache preloading, gzip compression.
Lazy loading, for images to be loaded only when users scroll them.
Concatenation, minification (JavaScript, HTML, CSS files), DNS pre-fetching, CDN support.
It optimizes the site’s database to remove unnecessary data.
Page and browser caching.
CloudFare and multisite compatible.
It works smoothly on the demanding e-commerce sites.

To consider:

There’s no free trial or free version. It offers a 14-day money refund guarantee.

WP Super Cache

Free and open-source of Automattic, the venture behind WordPress.
Three modes for caching. Simple, for regular users, without editing PHP files. Expert allows advanced users to modify the .htaccess file. Super caching, to cache pages for known users (regularly logged into the site, commentators, etc.).
Simple caching and cache rebuilding (cache on the site isn’t deleted every time that a comment is posted. Instead, it rebuilds the cache and shows the old page to other users).
CDN support, page cache, gzip compression, advanced-cache preload.
Removes old, useless files to optimize.

To consider:

It might be hard to set up fully.

W3 Total Cache

It’s free and open-source.
It’s integrated with a CDN.
Well suited for regular desktop and mobile sites.
Minification, feed optimization, HTTP compression.
Gzip compression, page cache, object cache.
Database cache.
Support for Google AMP.
Compatible with different hosting solutions (shared hosting, clusters, dedicated servers).
CDN linked to the media library to see the optimization of your images.

To consider:

Beginners can find this plugin hard to use.

Comet Cache

Easy to install, friendly dashboard.
Free and paid versions are available. One-site license costs $39, three-sites license $99, and unlimited sites license $139. They’re one-time rates!
It uses WordPress browser caching with Apache server to avoid multiple roundtrips server-browser.
You can choose the CDN (CloudFront, MaxCDN, or another).
It caches tags, categories, pages, posts, RSS feeds.
It generates site statistics about cache status.

To consider:

Both versions include kind of the same features. The main difference is, the paid one does all the job automatically.

WP Fastest Cache

Easy installation.
Free and paid versions. One site license is $49.99, for 3, $125, and for five, $175—one-time fees.
.htaccess file is changed automatically.
Blocking cache for specific posts or pages (Short Code).
CDN, SSL, Cloudflare support.
Cache for mobile devices and for logged-in users.
An automatic preload, or create a cache of the whole site.
Auto-clean cache (Cache Timeout).
WP-CLI cache clearing.
The paid version includes disable emoji, minification (HTML, CSS), Gzip compression, adds expires headers, combine (JS, CSS), leverage browser caching, mobile cache, widget cache, lazy load, etc.

To consider:

The free version has limited functionality.

Conclusion

There’s a wide variety of WordPress caching plugins. Paid and free, less or more complex. The decision is yours!

5 Best E-commerce hosting providers

So, have you decided to jump on the e-Commerce wave?

To start well, you need to build a reliable and fast loading e-shop. And that’s directly connected with having an efficient, fast, and secure hosting provider.

There are many! Check until you find the one that best fits your business objectives. Consider e-Commerce websites demand more resources than a blog or a corporate site.

Here you have a reliable starting point, our top five E-commerce hosting providers.

A2 Hosting advantages:

Different plans (VPS, dedicated server, shared and reseller hosting) focused on e-commerce.

Turbo servers, *twenty times faster than regular ones.

Unlimited disk space (SSD).

Datacenter locations in America, Europe, and Asia.

Free SSL certificate.

It has “Perpetual Security” –dual hosting firewall for stopping users without permission, free HackScan to prevent threats, and DDoS protection.

Free automatic backups.

Free migration for new users or upgrade a plan.

Prices from $2.99 monthly (shared hosting) to $99.59 monthly (dedicated server).

A2 Hosting disadvantages:

Its uptime is competitive but not the highest.

Migration cost if you downgrade or change location.

Bluehost advantages:

Mid-level plans with a robust set of features to build new e-commerce.

High uptime.

It includes free standard security: SSL certificate, Secure Shell Access (SSH), hotlink, and Spam Assassin protection.

From 100 GB SSD to unlimited SSD storage, depending on the plan.

Unlimited bandwidth.

For WordPress site owners, it offers integration with WooCommerce plug-in.

You can pay a month, a year or three years.

The standard plan costs $19.95 (monthly for a year contract). The Premium plan for $32.95 (monthly for a year contract).

Bluehost disadvantages:

Speed is good, but nothing remarkable.

Migration is free for just one site.

It has servers in the USA only.

Renewal rates can go expensive.

Siteground advantages:

Auto-install feature for e-commerce applications.

Cloudflare CDN and SuperCacher tech for quicker loading.

Six own data centers in North America (1), Europe (3), Asia (1), and Australia (1).

Free e-commerce transfer, shopping carts with installation, and an optimized e-commerce server.

High uptime with a guarantee (compensations for downtime).

Daily and free backups.

Unlimited bandwidth.

Free SSL certificate, own in-house system to monitor servers.

Free advanced spam protection for incoming/outgoing messages.

Rates from $6.99 monthly (StartUp plan) to $14.99 monthly (GoGeek plan).

Siteground disadvantages:

There’s no automatic site setup.

Low storage space (starts at 10GB). Not really suitable for image/video-heavy websites.

Its entry-level plan (StartUp) only hosts one website.

InMotion advantages:

Two levels of e-Commerce plans. SSD shared e-commerce hosting for beginners and SSD VPS e-commerce hosting for already high-traffic shops.

Good uptime, not the highest.

One-click install (Softaculous tool) for paid apps. It’s free on shared hosting, not on VPS plans.

SSD storage, from 10GB (Lite plan) to 200GB (Pro and VPS-3000HA-S plans).

Unlimited bandwidth.

UltraStack servers to optimized website performance (load time, speed…).

Free SSL and malware protection.

InMotion disadvantages:

Not the fastest.

Servers located just in the USA.

No free backups.

Hostinger advantages:

It provides a Cloudflare DNS.

Data centers in North America, Europe, and Asia.

Solid uptime.

Fast servers and speed.

Unlimited bandwidth and from 10GB to 100GB SSD.

Free SSL certificate, BitNinja security, an email spam filter included.

Free daily or weekly backups.

Affordable. Pricing from a $0.99 monthly plan (if you sign for 48 months), and on.

Hostinger disadvantages:

Limited services in some plans (basic plan: 1 email, just 1 FTP Account, 100GB bandwidth).

No free backups.

Renewal prices can go high.

CONCLUSION

There are hosting providers for all size e-shops. The best way not to get lost is to know your real business needs. Read the terms and conditions of their policies carefully. Be sure you clearly understand the included features in your plan, money-back-guarantee conditions, the real limits of “unlimited” features, introductory and regular pricing, etc.

Now, amaze the world and when you become a billion-dollar company, just tag us!

Secondary (Backup) DNS – Why use it?

DNS is great! It allows the Internet to exist. Without it, we have no other viable alternative to connect so many devices in one united web. Imagine a text document with all the IP addresses of all the host and connected devices in the world. And somebody that is manually editing each change, just impossible!

We have a DNS for managing this, but often, it experiences problems. If you have just a primary DNS server and no Secondary (backup) DNS servers, you could be in big trouble. If it gets attacked, your site won’t be reachable until it gets up again.

What is Primary DNS (Master DNS)?

The Primary DNS, also known as the Master DNS, is the one that has the original zone file. It has the DNS records, and all the changes happen inside this one. When you add records, you are adding them to the Primary DNS server.

What is Secondary DNS (Backup DNS)?

The Secondary DNS, also known as the Backup DNS or Slave DNS, is a recursive DNS server or servers that has or have a copy of the zone file. It will have a copy of the DNS records, but it will just copy the information from the Primary DNS. If you change any DNS record, you will need to wait until the Secondary DNS servers update. This depends on the values that were set inside the SOA (start of authority) record. Inside the SOA record, you can see the refresh rate and TTL value.

So, in short, the Backup DNS is a system of recursive DNS servers that has a read-only copy of the DNS records. The Secondary DNS will stay on, even if the Primary DNS is down, and will still resolve queries as long as the values inside the SOA record allows it (for a certain time until the data is not current anymore).

It is a good practice to have a Secondary DNS with a different provider. That way, you could have better chances to stay up in case of attack.

Why should you use a Secondary DNS?

There are 3 main reasons to have a Secondary DNS:

Use Secondary DNS to withstand attacks. The most obvious reason is to have a network of secondary DNS servers that can still respond to queries even if your main DNS server is down. Your potential visitors will still be able to get a normal experience, thanks to this backup, for quite a while until you have the chance to get the Primary DNS up and running again.
The Secondary DNS could boost network performance. Having multiple points of presence can serve you to create a load balancing network. You can manage the traffic and spread it between the multiple DNS servers. You can provide faster response and has less weight on your Primary DNS server.
Have a backup copy of the DNS records. If, for some reason, your Primary server gets compromised and you lost all your DNS records there, you could still get them back from the Backup DNS. You won’t need to start creating your DNS records from zero.

Conclusion

Having a Secondary DNS is a great decision. The cost is not very high, and it can really increase redundancy and your DNS security. For as little as a few bucks per month, you could keep your site up, even if your Master DNS is down. Some may say that “it is like giving armor to an armadillo”, but the DDoS attacks have really increased in numbers and strengths during the last years, and it is not good to try our luck.