What is happening to our website redirect?
We are decommissioning our old redirect servers and moving the redirect service to our modern Cloudflare infrastructure. This specifically affects clients who have domains currently pointed to our legacy redirect server IPs. If you have a domain like yourdomain.organization that redirects to www.yourdomain.organization and it's using our old redirect service, the underlying technology managing that redirect is being updated. This change does not affect the majority of our clients whose domains are already properly configured on our current infrastructure.
Why are you making this change?
This change enhances the security, performance, and reliability of your redirect service. The new service will support HTTPS (secure) connections, which the old system could not, and will be part of our more robust and secure production environment.
When does this change need to be made?
The legacy redirect servers will be fully decommissioned on July 31st 2025. We will notify affected clients well in advance through a Support ticket with a specific timeline for your action.
How will I know if I'm affected by this change?
We will proactively reach out to all affected clients via a Support ticket in your Finalsite Support portal. This ticket will clearly state that your organization is impacted by this change and will list the specific hostnames (e.g., yourdomain.organization, myschool.net) that you manage which are currently pointed to our legacy redirect IPs and require a DNS update. If you do not receive a Support ticket about this specific change, then your organization is not affected. You can also confirm this by checking your DNS records to ensure none of your hostnames are pointed to any of the following legacy IP addresses:
184.106.184.12650.56.64.4184.106.184.118184.106.184.142
Which IP addresses are being decommissioned?
The following legacy IP addresses, which previously supported our courtesy redirect service, are being decommissioned on July 31st 2025:
184.106.184.12650.56.64.4184.106.184.118184.106.184.142
If any of your hostnames point to these IPs, you will need to update them.
What do I need to do?
You will need to update the DNS records for the specified hostnames. This involves changing the IP address your hostname points to from our old legacy IP to our new Cloudflare IP (104.17.71.73). Specific instructions will be provided in your Support ticket.
Where do I make these DNS changes?
You will need to log in to the DNS service where your domain's records are managed (e.g., your domain registrar or DNS hosting provider).
What is a "TTL" and why is it important?
TTL stands for "Time To Live". It's a setting on your DNS record that tells DNS resolvers how long to cache (remember) the information before checking for updates. A lower TTL means changes will propagate faster across the internet, potentially reducing the window of any temporary service disruption during the transition.
How can I lower my TTL?
To lower your TTL, you would need to log into your DNS service and update the TTL value on your existing DNS record to a lower number (e.g., 300 seconds for 5 minutes or 60 seconds for 1 minute). This change itself needs time to propagate based on the current TTL. Therefore, you would typically lower the TTL at least 24-48 hours (or longer, depending on your current TTL) before you plan to make the IP address change. This allows the lower TTL to propagate, so when you make the actual IP change, it propagates more quickly.
When is the best time to make the change?
The sooner you make this change, the better, as it helps avoid any potential service disruption as we approach the July 31st 2025 deadline.
When you decide to make the change:
- Making the change during off-hours (e.g., late evening, early morning, or weekends) can help minimize impact if any temporary service disruption occurs during the DNS propagation period.
- Making the change during your regular business hours ensures that our Support team is readily available to assist you if you encounter any issues or have questions.
Regardless of when you make the change, please allow for the TTL time for the DNS updates to fully propagate across the internet. For example, if your TTL is 1 hour, expect it to take about an hour for the change to be fully effective for most users.
Will our website be down during this change?
No, your website content will not be affected or go down. This change only impacts the redirect service for hostnames that redirect (e.g., yourdomain.organization to www.yourdomain.organization). During the DNS propagation period (which is affected by your TTL), some users might temporarily see an error if they try to access the redirect hostname, but your main website (www.yourdomain.organization) will remain fully accessible.
Will the redirect still work after the change?
Yes, the redirect will continue to work as it always has. The only difference is that it will now be secured over HTTPS (e.g., https://yourdomain.organization will successfully redirect to https://www.yourdomain.organization) and operate from our more robust Cloudflare infrastructure.
Why did I receive this support ticket?
We are proactively sending out these support tickets to administrators registered in our support platform. We identify admins to notify based on their recent activity and engagement in the support portal, such as being the requester of the most tickets or having the most recent support activity. Our aim is to ensure this important information reaches someone who can act on it or escalate it appropriately within your organization.
I don't see the record you're talking about.
Please ensure you are looking at your public DNS records, as internal DNS records might be different. If you still cannot find the record we've referenced after checking your public DNS, you can likely disregard this message, as it may indicate that the record has already been updated or was no longer actively in use on the legacy IPs.
Do I need to update our internal DNS records too?
Yes, if you manage internal DNS records for your network, these records should also be updated to match the new public DNS records. This ensures that the redirect service works correctly for users both inside and outside your network, preventing any potential internal access issues.
What if I don't make the change by July 31st 2025?
If the DNS change is not made, any hostnames still pointed to the legacy redirect IPs after July 31st 2025 will no longer redirect and users attempting to access them will likely encounter a "site not found" or similar error.
Who can I contact if I have questions or need help?
Please refer to the Support ticket we will open for you. Our Support team will be available to answer your questions and assist you with the necessary steps.
Comments
Please Sign in to leave a comment if you don't see the comment box below.