How to Implement Multi-Registrar DNS Hosting: A Technical Guide for Developers


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Yes, you can absolutely use multiple DNS registrars simultaneously for your domain. The Domain Name System (DNS) is designed to be distributed and flexible. While you can only have one registrar for domain registration at a time, you can delegate DNS hosting to multiple providers.

Here are three common approaches developers use:

// Option 1: Split DNS hosting
// Primary nameservers at Registrar A (e.g., register.com)
ns1.register.com
ns2.register.com

// Secondary nameservers at Registrar B (e.g., dnsmadeeasy.com)
ns1.dnsmadeeasy.com
ns2.dnsmadeeasy.com

For AWS Route 53 and Cloudflare working together:

# AWS Route 53 Zone File snippet
example.com.    NS    ns-123.awsdns-45.com
example.com.    NS    ns-678.awsdns-89.org
example.com.    NS    dana.ns.cloudflare.com
example.com.    NS    dave.ns.cloudflare.com

When implementing multi-registrar DNS:

  • Latency differences between providers
  • TTL synchronization challenges
  • Failover mechanisms

Watch for these pitfalls:

// Common DNS propagation check
dig example.com NS +trace
nslookup -type=NS example.com

Remember that changes might take up to 48 hours to propagate globally, though typically complete within a few hours.


Yes, you can absolutely use multiple DNS registrars simultaneously for your domain's DNS records. This practice is called DNS redundancy or multi-provider DNS, where you maintain identical DNS records across different registrar platforms.

Here's how to set up redundant DNS with two providers (Register.com and DNS Made Easy in this example):

// Sample BIND zone file that can be imported to both registrars
$TTL 3600
@       IN      SOA     ns1.primary.com. admin.example.com. (
                        2023110501 ; serial
                        3600       ; refresh
                        900        ; retry
                        604800     ; expire
                        86400 )    ; minimum

; Name servers - point to both providers
@       IN      NS      ns1.register.com.
@       IN      NS      ns2.register.com.
@       IN      NS      ns1.dnsmadeeasy.com.
@       IN      NS      ns2.dnsmadeeasy.com.

; A records
@       IN      A       192.0.2.1
www     IN      A       192.0.2.1
api     IN      A       203.0.113.5

; CNAME records
mail    IN      CNAME   ghs.google.com.
blog    IN      CNAME   domains.tumblr.com.
  1. At your domain registrar (where you purchased the domain), set the nameservers to include both providers
  2. Create identical zone files on both DNS providers
  3. Use the same TTL values across providers
  4. Implement DNSSEC consistently if enabled

Major tech companies often use this approach:

  • Twitter uses both UltraDNS and Dyn
  • Netflix combines Amazon Route 53 with their own DNS infrastructure
  • Cloudflare offers CNAME flattening that works alongside other providers

Use dig to verify all nameservers return consistent results:

dig example.com NS
dig example.com @ns1.register.com
dig example.com @ns1.dnsmadeeasy.com

Implement health checks on both providers to monitor resolution times and record consistency.

Be aware of these technical considerations:

  • Synchronization delays during updates
  • Varying propagation times between providers
  • Different API capabilities for automation
  • Conflicting DNSSEC implementations

Here's a Python script to synchronize records between providers:

import requests
from dns import resolver

def sync_dns_records(primary_provider, secondary_provider):
    # Get records from primary
    primary_records = requests.get(
        f"https://api.{primary_provider}/v1/zones/example.com/records",
        headers={"Authorization": "Bearer API_KEY"}
    ).json()
    
    # Push to secondary
    response = requests.post(
        f"https://api.{secondary_provider}/dns/records",
        json={"records": primary_records},
        auth=("username", "password")
    )
    
    if response.status_code == 200:
        print("DNS records synchronized successfully")
    else:
        print(f"Sync failed: {response.text}")

# Example usage
sync_dns_records("register", "dnsmadeeasy")