What is Anycast DNS?

DNS (Domain Name System) is a technology that powers the backbone of the Internet, allowing the mapping of domain names to the Internet address (called IP address) of the servers that hold the data of your website and email. Before someone can reach your website, they need to communicate with the DNS servers to obtain the actual location of your website’s data. Traditional DNS servers are physically located in fixed locations around the world that can be thousands of kilometers from your website visitors. This causes an additional delay before you or your clients can reach your website and view its content. (Video: How DNS works).

With Anycast DNS technology, your website’s DNS information is copied to dozens of locations around the world (instead of just one), and your visitors automatically fetch the information from the location that’s closest to them, considerably accelerating you website’s initial load time.

Web Hosting Canada’s Anycast DNS system has been built from the ground up in collaboration with CIRA, the .CA registry, with Canadians in mind. It includes 10 points of presence in Canada alone, to ensure the fastest possible domain resolution times for you and your clients. There are also points of presence in Europe, Asia, and the United States, thus ensuring near-instant DNS resolution to your domain worldwide. It is one of the most robust DNS systems available to Canadians today.