Nameserver switch and domain name propagation

Question

I previously had a domain hosted on a dedicated server at the local university. We moved the hosting to a dedicated dreamhost server. In Dreamhost, I set up ums.org to be fully hosted by Dreamhost. Here are my settings:

Record (ums.org zone)   Type    Value
                         A      64.90.38.183
                         NS     ns1.dreamhost.com.
                         NS     ns2.dreamhost.com.
                         NS     ns3.dreamhost.com.
                 ftp     A      64.90.38.183
                 ssh     A      64.90.38.183
                 www     A      64.90.38.183

About 24 hours ago, I asked the local university to switch their nameservers to dreamhosts nameservers for our domain, so they were previously dns.itd.umich.edu and dns2.itd.umich.edu, I needed them switched to ns1.dreamhost.com, ns2.dreamhost.com, and ns3.dreamhost.com.

The old server was 141.211.146.163, the new server is 64.90.38.183.

When I do an 'nslookup -q=any ums.org', I get the following (I'm a developer, so I'm not entirely sure how to decipher this):

Non-authoritative answer:
ums.org text =

        "v=spf1 a mx include:wordfly.com ~all"
ums.org
        RP mailbox = johnp.umich.edu.ums.org
        text location = (root)
ums.org internet address = 141.211.146.163
ums.org nameserver = ns1.dreamhost.com
ums.org nameserver = ns2.dreamhost.com
ums.org nameserver = ns3.dreamhost.com
ums.org
        primary name server = dns.itd.umich.edu
        responsible mail addr = hostmaster.umich.edu
        serial  = 201208023
        refresh = 1800 (30 mins)
        retry   = 900 (15 mins)
        expire  = 2419200 (28 days)
        default TTL = 1800 (30 mins)
ums.org MX preference = 0, mail exchanger = logo.web.itd.umich.edu

ns2.dreamhost.com       internet address = 208.96.10.221
ns3.dreamhost.com       internet address = 66.33.216.216
ns1.dreamhost.com       internet address = 66.33.206.206

Since my primary name server is still dns.itd.umich.edu, is that something that needs to be changed?

When I look at 'A' records here: http://www.whatsmydns.net/#A/ums.org , it appears that it's about 50% propagated. However, it seems like some of these servers are switching back and forth (I checked yesterday, too).

When I look at 'NS' records here: http://www.whatsmydns.net/#NS/ums.org , it seems like my NS records were changed properly.

HOWEVER, when I go to http://whois.domaintools.com/ums.org or http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools#whois/type=domain&&value=ums.org&& , it still uses my old nameservers.

Which site can I trust? How can I tell if this is working? How long does this normally take? Are there any additional steps I need to take besides changing the nameservers?

Answer 1

It looks like your DNS server at Dreamhost is correct, but not a lot of detail on what is set at the domain registrar. Your nameservers should be set with the registrar of the domain (usually godaddy, Network Solutions, etc...), maybe whoever set those just added the new ones instead of replacing?

Otherwise it could just be taking a bit to replicate. Most domain changes are 90% done inside of 24 hours, but I have seen some (poorly configured) systems take 2 weeks to get up to speed.

Check your nameservers at the registrar level and if the dreamhost ones are the only ones listed you probably just need to wait it out.