DNS for websites
Website DNS is the first hop of every page view.
If authoritative DNS is slow, attacked or stuck on a high TTL, the website never gets the request. Hosting DNS next to the registrar is not an architecture.
Move the zone to Cloud DNS. Flatten the apex to Cloud CDN, sign if you need DNSSEC, and keep TTLs low on records you cut over.
Why teams use Aptranet
What DNS for websites looks like on this network.
Cloud DNS answers on 210+ Anycast servers, with GeoDNS, health checks and a one-second minimum TTL for change.
Anycast lookups worldwide
210+ authoritative servers answer website zones close to resolvers.
Apex and www on the CDN
CNAME flattening lets the root follow the Cloud CDN hostname.
DDoS-protected authority
A DNS flood should not take the website name off the internet.
How to set it up
A cutover you can validate before DNS moves.
Create the Cloud DNS configuration, prove it on an Aptranet hostname, then point production DNS when the path looks correct.
- 1Import the zone
Bring existing A, AAAA, MX, TXT and CNAME records into Cloud DNS.
- 2Point the apex at Cloud CDN
Use flattening so example.com and www share the distribution.
- 3Delegate nameservers
Change NS at the registrar only after records look correct.
- 4Lower TTLs before the next migration
Website cutovers should not wait on a 24-hour TTL.
Outcomes
What changes once the hostname is on Aptranet.
- The website zone is on Anycast DNS
- Apex can follow Cloud CDN
- Mail and verification records remain intact
- Future cutovers can use a 1-second TTL
Keep reading
Related pages
More DNS use cases on the same Cloud DNS footprint.
Frequently Asked Questions
Only if you change records. Delegation can happen before you point the apex at Cloud CDN.
Yes. Flattening is designed so mail and alias targets can coexist.
Usually yes, to the Cloud CDN hostname. The apex uses flattening to do the same job.
Not required. It is available when you want signed answers for the zone.