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We hosted our domain name and DNS with GoDaddy. Recently we had problem with our DNS and now it has been solved. Now we are planning to go for other DNS providers for our domains .

Is it safe to keep domain name with one provider and keep DNS with other provider? Is there any performance issue in hosting our domain name with one provider and DNS in other provider?

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This is quite common practice, so no there's no issue with this whatsoever.

Typically dedicated DNS providers provide better performance than the DNS service domain registrars bundle with their service, so if it's performance in particular you're worried about, you'll probably find things faster using separate providers.

Edit: based on closetnoc's comments let me expand on this a bit. I should say that I work for a company that provides DNS services so I have some level of bias here.

An Anycast DNS service will usually give you better performance than a Unicast service, as well as better availability; particularly if your site has visitors from all over the world. In my experience, it's common for dedicated DNS providers to offer Anycast services, but it's unusual for a DNS service bundled with domain registration to be Anycast. So that's what I based my generalisation on. Since the question mentioned GoDaddy, they appear to have an Anycast service (their 'Premium DNS' product) for an additional monthly fee, so I assume their free service is Unicast, but I don't know this for a fact.

I agree with closetnoc that looking at providers on a case-by-case basis would be better, so if performance is a concern for you, test the providers you're considering (ideally from regions where your site visitors are likely to be) against your current DNS and use that info to help with your decision.

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  • A agree, there is no performance penalty. I use GoDaddy for registration, Zonomi or Route53 for DNS, and AWS or M5Hosting for hosting. In fact, you can get better value and performance by evaluating and purchasing each service separately rather than bundling. – Stephen Ostermiller♦ Sep 11 '14 at 15:39
  • If you prefer the Bundle Method, be sure to disable parts of the Bundle you don't need, i.e register w/ GoDaddy who will charge for a mail service, and host with Company A. Company A also provides SMTP, so turn off GoDaddy's Mail option. – eyoung100 Sep 11 '14 at 16:08
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Tim is right to a point, however, I diverge from his experience with DNS hosting a bit.

You cannot generalize that DNS hosts perform better than registrars. You have to take this on a case-by-case basis.

Any registrar has to have a minimum mandated infrastructure that is highly robust. So any registrar should perform extremely well. These mandates do not exist for DNS hosts. There are better registrars and DNS hosts than others of course. Using quality providers for registration, optionally for DNS hosting, and for your site should satisfy anyone. However, a service provider with poor performance is much harder to detect.

GoDaddy has an outstanding reputation. There is no need for an external DNS host. I would recommend not confusing the issue unless you have a specific reason to.

It is extremely common that a site is registered, the DNS records hosted with the registrar, and the site is hosted by another service provider. There is good reason to do this especially in light of the many offerings and advantages that different hosts provide. However, let us not forget that some high quality registrars are also high quality web hosts too.

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    "GoDaddy has an outstanding reputation." This needs clarification. GoDaddy have an absolutely dreadful reputation, with an entire section of their Wikipedia page listing some spectacular PR blunders. And with no "minimum mandated infrastructure" defined in ICANN's Registrar Accreditation Agreement, I would definitely recommend reading this ServerFault Q&A, then switching to a dedicated DNS host if maximum performance is a priority. – Tom Brossman Sep 14 '14 at 10:47
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    I recommend that anyone read the links provided carefully to; 1: assess whether the so-called GoDaddy controversies are abusive or appropriate, 2: to determine that whether or not the bar is set high or low for becoming a registrar. While there is no hardware requirements and network schema, you will find that the requirements are substantial and that audits are regular. I used to consult in this area and I assure you that registrars MUST make a significant investment in their infrastructure and reliability, archiving, services, and so on. Again, I suggest reading these links very carefully. – closetnoc Sep 14 '14 at 15:19
  • I do research within the Internet security realm. I do DNS stability testing daily all day. GoDaddy does not show up on my radar at all while others do. Not all registrars are created equal. I left room in my answer for variations within the services provided. I used to be a web host and was for many years and used GoDaddy after Network Solutions immediately without a single incident or issue. So from my perspective, GoDaddy has one of the best reputations out there. However, I do recognize that any organization does not do everything right all the time. You choose based upon experience. – closetnoc Sep 14 '14 at 15:26

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