Hosts File

[Injust]

Hey,
I was wondering, is there any internet performance gain if you put a commonly used website's IP (like Google) in your Hosts file, so it doesn't need to ask a DNS server? I mean, because I have 30 websites I go on at least 10 times each day, and it lags when I open all of them

Thanks!

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Perhaps I'm not understanding your question, the Hosts File blocks web-sites.

Hosts File : Use in Windows 7 / Vista

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[Injust]

Nope. Many people use the Hosts file to block websites by redirecting them to 127.0.0.1, which redirects to localhost, going nowhere.
When the browser contacts a DNS server to find the IP, I'm using the Hosts file to remove that action. Google's IP is 173.194.75.94. I can enter "google.ca 173.194.75.94" in the Hosts file, and my browser won't need to contact a DNS server to fetch the IP, thus speeding up the loading process.

However, this is just an assumption. I need this to be verified.
Also, I know that there is the risk of a website's IP being changed

But thanks for helping.

 

[Injust]

See, Wikipedia says that Hosts files are used to "map hostnames to IP addresses". It can be used to map any website to a non-functioning IP address, in this case 127.0.0.0, but it can also be used to map the proper address

 

[Bare Foot Kid]

Helping is my pleasure mate, I learn that way too.


I'm not sure if using the Hosts File that way would work for what you want or not, though one thing I know is some sites have sever IP and that may cause issues and make it more trouble than it's worth.

 

[Injust]

Yeah...that's slightly problematic...

 

[rraod]

Instead of tinkering with hosts file, save the frequently used websites in to bookmarks in your browser and change the url to it's IP address in the bookmark properties. But I don't think you're going to save a lot of time in opening the websites.

You would be better off requesting your ISP for another DNS server's addresses.

 

[logicearth]

Windows already caches DNS records when you use them. So no adding them to the hosts file will not help any.
Open a Command Prompt and type "ipconfig /displaydns" that will show you all the entries that are cached.

 

[lehnerus2000]

You can but ...

Hey,
I was wondering, is there any internet performance gain if you put a commonly used website's IP (like Google) in your Hosts file, so it doesn't need to ask a DNS server? I mean, because I have 30 websites I go on at least 10 times each day, and it lags when I open all of them

You can put any sites you want in your Hosts file, but I'm not sure how much performance benefit there would be.

Perhaps I'm not understanding your question, the Hosts File blocks web-sites.

IIRC, before DNS servers you had to put sites in your Hosts file (for name resolution).

You can use it to:

• Replace a DNS request
• Block a website.

The entries don't even have to be "real" sites.

In my networking course, we had to add a "fake" site the Hosts file, because the TAFE campus doesn't allow students to modify their DNS server.
The "fake" site was a dummy website that we had created on a virtual server.

Windows already caches DNS records when you use them. So no adding them to the hosts file will not help any.
Open a Command Prompt and type "ipconfig /displaydns" that will show you all the entries that are cached.

It would stop the first DNS request being sent though (i.e. they won't be forgotten when you shutdown).

 

[Injust]

Windows already caches DNS records when you use them. So no adding them to the hosts file will not help any.
Open a Command Prompt and type "ipconfig /displaydns" that will show you all the entries that are cached.

BTW, when I enter ipconfig /displaydns in CMD, this comes up

 

[lehnerus2000]

Here's what Wikipedia says about Hosts files:
hosts (file) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

If you don't like Wikipedia, you can try the related links at the bottom of the page.

 

[Injust]

Yeah, I saw that

 

[FliGi7]

Unless you're in a situation in which your specific DNS server is extremely slow, the DNS request and response is an exponentially small fraction of the entire web page fetching process. If all of your pages lag and take time to load, that is most likely more of a bandwidth issue than a DNS issue. However, to rule it out, change your DNS server to something else like UltraDNS or Google's DNS server and see if that helps any.

 

[Injust]

Yeah, I'm using Google DNS, and I have tons of bandwith, but still lagging

 

[logicearth]

What security software are you running? Antivirus, firewall?

 

[FliGi7]

Browser plugins? Maybe you can describe the lag a bit more in depth as that's a very subjective term.

 

[Injust]

What security software are you running? Antivirus, firewall?

Just Microsoft Security Essentials. And just Windows Firewall

 

[Injust]

Browser plugins? Maybe you can describe the lag a bit more in depth as that's a very subjective term.

K, took many screenshots of "aboutlugins" and edited them into one

 

[logicearth]

Since you are using Chrome, it defiantly is not a DNS issue, Chrome maintains its own DNS cache. It also prefetches DNS records before you use them.

 

[FliGi7]

Can you describe in specific detail what the situations are in which the lag occurs and what exactly you're interpreting as lag? Basically walk us through every step of what happens.