Cannot access new website

Question

Hello, we have a new website created and hosted by a third party. Users cannot access the website from the office network. It can be accessed anywhere else outside the office network. Users can also surf the net as usual other than this new website. Nothing on our DNS servers have been changed before the new site went live. When we went live, the previous website would only appear not the new. We cleared out history and cache as well as cleared out cache of the firewall. Flushed DNS and registered DNS. We have a 2008 primary DC with DNS and a secondary 2012 R2 DC server replicating DNS. There was an A record pointing to the website domain with the IP of the previous IP hosting provider. I change this IP to the new provider IP and now when accessing the new site the following appears. "This site cannot be reached.... server IP address could not be found. Try running Windows Network Diagnostics. DNS_PROBE_FINISHED_NXDOMAIN.
THE LAST THING I TRIED WAS ADDING 8.8.8.8 ON THE SECONDARY DC ADAPTER AND MOVING IT UP AS THE PRIMARY DNS. I WAS THEN ABLE TO ACCESS THE NEW WEBSITE.

OBVIOUSLY A DNS ISSUE, BUT CANNOT SEE WHAT IT COULD BE? DOES THE NEW THIRD PARTY PROVIDER NEED TO POINT BACK TO OUR IP?

THANK YOU

Answer 1

Thank you for everyone's comments. A CNAME was required at the provider with the registered domain name to point to the IP of our location.
Thank you again.

Answer 2

Sounds a little vague but it may be a split brain setup is in order here.
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/networking/dns/deploy/split-brain-dns-deployment

--please don't forget to Accept as answer if the reply is helpful--

Answer 3

Hi,

Thanks for posting here.

Before we go further, may I confirm with you if the new website name is same as the internal domain name?

Best Regards,
Sunny

Answer 4

Hi,

Just want to confirm with you if the new website name is same as the internal domain name?

If yes, you could try the suggestion that DSPatrick provided.

And I would like suggest you to try the simplest way to see if the issue can be resolved.

The simplest way is change the website name to www.example.com, and then create a A record in DNS zone named www.example.com pointed on corresponded IP address.

Then please instruct your users to use http://www.domain.com to access the website.

Here is an article related to the website name is same as domain name .
https://blogs.msmvps.com/acefekay/2009/09/03/split-zone-or-no-split-zone-can-t-access-internal-website-with-external-name/

Hope my answer will help you.

---Please Accept as answer if the reply is helpful---

Best Regards,
Sunny

Answer 5

If you’re having trouble accessing a new website, there are several potential reasons for this issue. First, check your internet connection to ensure it’s stable and working properly. Sometimes, the problem could be due to your browser's cache or cookies; try clearing them or accessing the site in incognito mode. Make sure the website address is correct, as a small typo can prevent access. It’s also possible that the site is experiencing temporary downtime or technical issues on their end. If the problem persists, consider restarting your device or trying a different browser. If none of these solutions work, the website may be restricted in your region or your IP address may be blocked; contacting the website's support team for assistance might be the next step.